Will They Strike? The Clock is Running
Via The Seattle Times:
The Seattle teachers union voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike late Wednesday, setting the stage for a potential delayed start of the school year.
If a tentative agreement is not reached with Seattle Public Schools by the end of the day Tuesday, the strike could begin the next day, on Sept. 2, the district’s planned first day of school.
The vote to authorize a strike does not guarantee that it will actually happen. The bargaining team — representatives from the union and SPS — will keep negotiating “around the clock” until the contract ends Aug. 31, union representatives said. Bargaining can continue even on Sept. 1 — and if an agreement is reached that day, the strike will be called off, union spokesperson Julie Popper said.
Over 90% of their membership in attendance voted to authorize the strike if needed.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the union and the district still had 50 items they had not reached tentative agreements on, according to the union.Agreements have been reached on seven items, including American Sign Language interpreters, employees’ right to return after being reassigned to a different building, timekeeping, artificial intelligence and school safety, including protocols to protect immigrant students in the district.
Among those outstanding agreements are three key priorities for the union: teacher pay, special education staffing and class sizes.
I knew that last year the SEA had been nice enough to take give the district a one-year extension from the previous contract. I didn't know it included a 2.5% raise, probably with a cost of living raise from the State as well. Now, the union wants a 1-3% raise for certification staff and a 3-5% raise for classified staff. Again with a 2.6% cost of living adjustment from the state.
So let's just examine the raise issue.
For 2022-2025, they negotiated this: 7% in the first year (that did include the cost of living increase), 4% in the next year and a guarantee of at least 3% the next year after that.
In 2026, 2.5% plus the state's 2.6%. Altogether that's about a 16% increase over four years.
The average Seattle teacher salary is now $96,170 annually, and the average salary for Seattle classified staff is $67,858, according to the union.
The average teacher salary in the US is $74,495, according to the NEA.
However Seattle is one of the most expensive cities in the U.S. to live in.
California has the highest paid teachers and Washington comes in 4th on that list.
However Seattle is one of the most expensive cities in the U.S. to live in.
California has the highest paid teachers and Washington comes in 4th on that list.
Comments
The board was essentially engaged in magical thinking. There was never adequate support- ever. “ Differentiated” learning was supposed to take care of everything! This, after the HC committee recommended not breaking the model until an effective model was in place which never happened. The roosters are now coming home to roost.
I can not support further teacher raises. As MW points out, teachers have received significant raises over the past 4 years- and the district is bankrupt.
- Time for state takeover-
After several teachers' strikes that achieved concessions from the district the union likely feels pretty empowered. Hopefully Superintendent Shuldiner will be able to negotiate a reasonable settlement. But the district finally seems to be out of money so it's easy to imagine an extended strike that ends with not much of a win for the teachers.
-can't look away
Any strike is going to bring more attention to the issue of school funding in the first place since we need to make sure that Seattle teachers can afford to live and work in Seattle. This is sure to put more pressure on Gov. Ferguson to grow the pot in any way he can. You posted the other day about the federal tax credit coming on line for 2027 for states that opt in. I am very sympathetic to the Democratic worries that this is a back door to vouchers, but it's not enough to cover private school tuition. My kids are out of school, so I like the simple fact that I could make a substantial donation to a "scholarship granting organization" that benefits public school students INSTEAD of sending it to D.C. (in fact, it actually hasn't been determined yet if the $1700 is an individual cap, and a household could possible get a $3400 credit). This how fast that could add up? I think it would be better for Ferguson to get out in front of this and get organized to ensure equitable distribution. Otherwise, organizations like schools foundations in Bellevue and Mercer Island could end up getting even more. And we need rules in place so districts don't end up dependent on the funds like they did ESSER. Here's one recent article about it: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jul/19/school-supplies-or-school-vouchers-a-new-federal-k/
What am I missing?
Emile
--Teacher
DG
SOS
Emilie, you said, "I am very sympathetic to the Democratic worries that this is a back door to vouchers, but it's not enough to cover private school tuition."
And I can tell you that when Arizona made their "education accounts" universal, the flood of people was quite large. But 75% of those people already had their kids in private schools. In essence, it was a rebate for them, including people who are rich. There is NO reason to be doing this for people and it's just a slippery slope once. you start. As well, AZ doesn't make anyone in any kind of private school situation take any state test.
Tell me how it makes sense for a state to NOT know how their K-12 population is doing educationally. A state's children are its future economy. And don't get me started on the abuse of about what gets paid for in the name of "education."
That's what you are missing (not to mention using public dollars to fund private schools that discriminate against LGBTQ students and their families.)
Thank you for that correction, Teacher.
SPS Parent, those are valid questions that I think need to be put into another post.
This business of all of public education "failing" is just wrong.
Here's something to think about. The Seattle district has been borrowing from capital funds. At some point they need to pay that back. They have to balance their budget. So let's say they need to pay back $30 mm per year for some number of years, and the current year deficit is $80MM. That's a $110 MM swing from the current situation. How is it possible to get that when the total budget is about $1.3 billion? The numbers need a lot of analysis, but so far they seem to be ignored.
Of course, we all know that the salary increase are more important to the union than class size/workload reduction. But lets get those cards on the table...lower class sizes help everyone, teacher, parents, and students.
No one I'm talking to is as concerned about raises as they are by the loss of autonomy looming over our individual school buildings. For example, the District has mandated that our school cut our 3rd recess. Another school might be cutting choice time in kindergarten. I am guessing that these cuts are needed to make time for the new $$$ ELA curriculum that SPS is adopting. (It's a good curriculum, but the authoritarian tone with which SPS is rolling it out is not sitting well with many.)
There are rumors that our Building Leadership Teams will be diminished. There are rumors that option schools are back on the chopping block. Someone has reported that our superintendent wants "managers rights" restored in SPS. Whether it's true or total hearsay, morale is in the toilet right now and that is absolutely influencing how people feel about deciding to strike.
Still wishing that it won't come to that, but we will see.
- Mrs. Teacher
I don't want cookie cutter schools but honestly, I've felt for along time that, too often, schools got to go their own way. It was confusing why School A did this but not School B.