SEATTLE — By Tuesday, families will learn whether teachers in the state’s largest school district will authorize a strike.
Seattle Education Association, the union representing teachers, said they do not want to strike, but if negotiations fail, it could be a possibility. Teachers met at Judkins Park on Labor Day to make signs and last-minute preparations in case they do end up on the picket line.
Yan May is a parent anxious for answers. She is waiting to find out when her twins, who are enrolled in Seattle Public Schools, will start Kindergarten.
“I hope that they will be opening on time,” May said.
Several districts are dealing with some uncertainty. Classes have been canceled and teachers have been on the picket line since August 25 in Kent. There's a possibility of a strike in other places like Eatonville, where contract negotiations continue. In Port Angeles, the union and school district reached a tentative agreement on Monday.
“To me you have people that are making decisions and not respecting what the people who are on the ground are saying,” said Joyce McDonald, a retired Seattle Public Schools teacher who still serves as a substitute. She said teachers want more student support, workload relief, and respectful pay.
Over the holiday weekend, Seattle Public Schools sent families and staff a letter warning that a delay for the start of school is likely. It also states that the district asked Seattle Education Association to consider an agreement called a memorandum of understanding that would have guaranteed an on-time start to school, while allowing negotiations to continue. The district says the union rejected that proposal.
"To me that is a distraction because to me all we need is the district to match our sense of urgency and to be at the bargaining table,” said Jennifer Matter, President of the Seattle Education Association.
Grades 1 through 12 are scheduled to start on Wednesday in Seattle. The union and school district both say they want to start on time, but right now, both sides are still at the bargaining table.