THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. — Members of the North Thurston Education Association marched to the North Thurston Public Schools’ offices Thursday morning to hold an informational picket.
Association Vice President Katie Agren said the picket aims to send a message to the school district:
“We need the district to support us in reducing our workload so we can be there for the kids,” Agren said.
The union represents 970 educators in the school district and has been in negotiations throughout the year to come up with a new collective bargaining agreement before the current contracts end at the end of August.
Association President Ray Nelson said that addressing the teachers’ workload is the top priority in these negotiations. But that’s not all that educators are calling for.
“Genuine collaboration with the district so that we’re an equal partner in the running of the district,” Nelson said. “Lastly is compensation, because the cost of living has gone up and people need some relief from that.”
Nelson also highlighted the stress that teachers face when operating in an environment meant to help cope with the aftershocks of a global pandemic.
“The teachers in this district recognize the work is going to be hard, they know that, and for some of that, they’re willing to step up to the plate. But there comes a point, and I think we’ve been there for a little while, where the extra investment that it’s going to take is going to mean time from their personal lives,” Nelson explained. “To plan more powerful lessons, more targeted lessons to individual students and smaller groups because of the learning gap that has occurred due to the pandemic, I will do that, but I do need to be compensated for it.”
After the picket, union members met with officials from the district to sit down at the bargaining table.
Nelson said he’s cautiously optimistic, but it’s unfortunate that it had to get to this point.
“I don’t want to be doing this,” Nelson said. “I’d rather be doing things that support teachers in their everyday work and getting them ready for school than this kind of thing.”
Now, Nelson simply hopes that the district’s educators get what they need in time to be there for Thurston County’s students.
“We really need to focus on getting kids back on track, but that means providing teachers with the resources they need to do that, not continue to pile stuff on,” he said.
The North Thurston School District released a statement saying negotiations are currently underway and district officials anticipate school will start on time.
Meanwhile, union members said they’ll be meeting again on August 31, and today’s negotiations will determine what their next move will be.