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.