Striking teachers say pay gap makes Seattle tough to afford

In a press conference today the Seattle Public Schools Board said a state mediator would be in place Thursday morning to help negotiate the matter.

The strike in Washington’s largest school district affects about 53,000 students.

Howard said school officials will let families know as soon as possible whether there will be school Monday. The district’s proposal is 9.2 percent over three years, in addition to the same adjustment.

Washington Education Association spokesman Rich Wood said the strike is “an issue of respect”. Seattle teachers won widespread praise a few years ago by refusing to administer these “high stakes” tests.

Teachers want to live close to their schools and be a part of those communities, but rents continue to rise while educators’ salaries have stagnated, she said.

Amanda Poch, a 31-year-old kindergarten teacher at West Seattle Elementary, said she was “incredibly disappointed” that talks broke down.

The sides failed to reach an agreement on a contract Tuesday.

The unions seek to prevent any political struggle on these issues by keeping all strikes limited and isolated.

“We are trying our best to decrease those costs”, she said.

“Last year I tried to buy a house in Seattle, not even in the neighborhood I teach, just anywhere in Seattle, and that was a laughable experience”, said history teacher Kara Macdonald, 35.

The President of Richland’s Education Association, Ken Hays, also spoke to the teachers Friday afternoon to emphasize the curriculum differences on either side of the river, “not only do we have curriculum, we have a curriculum committee, several of them actually, and a curriculum cycle”. “You have bargained in good faith and now are striking for your members, for your students, for the broader community-and, really, for people everywhere who are working for vital public schools and social justice”.

The SEA has promised to remain on strike regardless, and there’s precedent for that not far away: Teachers striking in the Pasco district, in Washington state’s tri-city region, ignored a judge’s order on September 4 to return to work.

The district has agreed to review what’s being taught at all grade levels in Pasco, but the timeline and funding for that aren’t set in stone. They’ve also gone five years without a state increase in contributions to employee health care.

One of the issues the union has raised is that teachers haven’t received a cost-of-living increase in six years, despite a strong local economy. The general sense of prosperity has boosted public support for the teachers because it doesn’t seem fair for them to get left behind as so many get ahead. Teachers in Seattle will be unable to solve the problems in their district outside of a political fight against these forces.