Teachers In Tiny School District On Whidbey Island Strike

Teachers in the tiny South Whidbey Island School District joined Pasco educators on strike Thursday, as school employees in the state’s two largest school districts got ready to walk out on Friday. Other issues to reaching a contract include class sizes and teacher pay. It was in response to the latest collective bargaining agreement offered by district officials.

Along with protesting on Maxwelton Road, they also marched through downtown Langley.

As union executives call for new strikes to close schools, it is helpful to know how much teachers make now.

School board president Jeffrey Bierman says the resolution was a precautionary move and the board hopes the district will have no need to seek an injunction against the strike. It was rejected at an association meeting Wednesday night and educators voted 97.4 percent in favor of a strike. There were no adults anywhere, except for us standing outside of the fence.

Teachers’ disappointment stems from raises offered to colleagues in neighboring districts.

The union wants an annual 6 percent increase over that span.

“The people who have been minimized and under paid for several years, will perhaps see more of an increase in their salary than perhaps somebody who is making forty or fifty thousand dollars a year”, Rose said. “They won’t give us case loads”.

Pasco’s teachers remain out of the classroom for a third straight day.

“I’m OK with not having to keep up with Everett, because they’re number one in the state, so I understand that”, said high school history teacher Mark Eager.

In comparison (to what?), at the private Bright Water School in Capitol Hill, students get outdoor time ranging from one hour to four hours a day.

“But we still have to ratify the contract”, she said. “For us to be willing not to go in says how strongly we feel”. Yet too many families have to prepare for a different ritual – when a teacher strike hits their local school.

The district is still hopeful a tentative agreement will prevent a strike.

Contract negotiations continue in Pasco, but exchanges between the district and the union – at least online – is getting heated, with both sides accusing the other of lying to the community.

Eager added that the district has done a good job of retaining money at the end of the year, which is added to the district’s fund balance reserves.

Overall teachers, parents and even kids just want answers.