Will Seattle Schools Open on September 7th?
Seattle Schools' Twitterfeed reflects a tweet that's been there at least three days about high school start/end times. Not a word at all. No new updates at their webpage.
The Seattle Education Association's Twitterfeed is cheery photos of various schools and their teachers wearing their red education shirts.
However, they have this notice posted TODAY (bold mine):
Together in SEA, we are speaking with one strong voice for what our students and educators need. Last night, the membership approved language for a strike authorization vote. Voting begins Thursday, 9/1 at noon and closes at 9:00a.m. on Monday, September 5. SEA will announce voting results on Tuesday, September 6 and a strike, should we not reach a TA by then, will begin on September 7.
Timeline
I will note that the SEA does appear to be putting Special Education needs/resources at the top of the list. They do mention pay increases but "particularly for the lowest paid staff."
Timeline
September 1-4: Members vote on strike authorization
September 6: Announcement of strike authorization vote
September 7: First student day if we reach a TA or first day of strike
September 6: Announcement of strike authorization vote
September 7: First student day if we reach a TA or first day of strike
I will note that the SEA does appear to be putting Special Education needs/resources at the top of the list. They do mention pay increases but "particularly for the lowest paid staff."
Comments
We want hourly staff to be able to live in the city because we desperately need them as they are integral to what we do in the classroom.
The district has been given so much more money over the last 5 years and yet...they keep taking things from us or just hiring more and more central administrative staff.
If they aren't going to deploy those tax dollars to the classrooms then they need to give it back to the taxpayers.
-Theo M.
-Tyred
DE
I wonder if the current impasse can't be demystified in one of the following ways:
1) In their bubble, which is a very thick and well-sealed bubble, the SPS administration sincerely believe the special ed service model is a systemic racist scam, with no real reason to exist, and all of those students can be moved to the general classroom without much impact.
2) In dissolving the special ed service model, and moving those students to the general classroom, SPS does not mean to increase the burden on classroom teachers. They mean to change what classroom teachers do. In the future, teachers will focus on teaching students furthest from educational justice (who are currently sequestered in special ed). Students too close to educational justice will keep busy with self-directed study on automated platforms like IXL and Amplify, or if that's working too well for them, they can be focused entirely on learning about privilege and justice. One way to do the latter is to have them participate in classroom activities centered on the needs of students furthest from educational justice. If privileged parents complain, teachers can hand them a lollipop and suggest that they suck it. Teacher workload will not increase at all. This would seem like a logical next step for SPS after eliminating advanced learning.
The mystery from a parent's perspective is -- why is SEA fighting this? The district's plan would seem to align exactly with the ideology of union leadership.
Point number 2 is also close to the mark but slightly off in a key respect. They don't actually want teachers to focus on the kids furthest from educational justice. They want *all* kids busy on IXL and Amplify and whatever ed tech snake oil they recently got sold on using. They're not intending at all for even the kids furthest from justice to get additional help. SPS admins merely cite those kids as ostensible justification for what is in reality a one-size-fits-all educational model in which every child is treated like widget.
This is corporate managerial mentality straight out of how Amazon runs a warehouse, but with social justice language used to dress it up and make it harder to oppose.
SEA fights this because they don't want that corporate managerial mentality.
Insider
Fascinating question. I have a couple thoughts. 1) Politics. I doubt School Board members would go head to head with SEA in this union-friendly town. It’s also not super clear that SPS is in the right, they are asking for big work changes. Perhaps if they backed away from a huge shift in working conditions there would be more political cover to seek an injunction. 2) Would teachers follow an injunction, and what if they didn’t? There is a teacher and general labor shortage. If teachers walked away, what *would* SPS do? Have the National Guard teach class? Maybe in Normal Times, but I think an injunction is highly unlikely. now.
Nah, Bro
Getting an injunction is an interesting question and not one they would like because it will ultimately undercut the district ability to bargain.
Teachers are considered essential workers yet we don't get the legal rights to bargain like police and firefighters. If they seek an injunction we then sue for our essential workers rights which are far stronger than our current rights and then the districts lose their leverage completely.
On a side note if a judge tried to order me to go to work in an abusive environment I would not do so. I would show up to my day in court and demand my rights as an Essential Worker and hopefully we would never have this district money-hoarding driven negotiations in the first place.
Also, the only reason this district runs is because of the educators. Central admin does nothing but chase its own tail and rehash the same failed plan every few years. Audit their finances.
Theo M.
There are MANY public employees who work under expired contracts and don’t walk off the job. And teachers told us over and over again they weren’t “essential” during COVID and kept schools closed way longer than necessary. Which is true? Teachers strike for leverage. If the district is offering a reasonable pay increase (which I think is true if the 5.5% bump provided by the state), they should show up and work *under current contract conditions* while bargaining continues. We are not bargaining about workplace safety anymore. We were here in 2015 when teachers struck for six days until everyone figured out there was no more money. Emotions are coming in hot but shutting the district down again when the kids finally stopped being feral won’t sit well with the public for long.
Back Away