‘Tremendous progress’ in Seattle teacher talks

Negotiations continue to start class Monday

SEATTLE — On the third day of a teacher strike in Seattle on Friday, picketing staff members at Hazel Wolf K-8 compared their stats. Some had logged 35,000 steps. Jessica Thomashow, a third-grade teacher, noted that she’d walked the equivalent of a half-marathon each day.

“The first day was rough,” said Carrie Widener, a special education teacher. “You can’t imagine what it does to your body to walk up and down the sidewalk for eight hours. But your body adjusts, and we feel strongly about what we’re doing.”

The strike — over issues that include class size, support for special education students and those who are learning English, and pay — has delayed the start of school since Wednesday for some 49,000 students.

But Superintendent Brent Jones said in a video message to families Friday that Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association had made “tremendous progress” toward ending it. The sides were prepared to bargain through the weekend, and a decision on whether to begin classes Monday was expected over the weekend.

“We agree on the ‘what,’ the fundamentals: adequate support, safe environments and high quality instruction,” Jones said. “We want the same things. Our ongoing negotiations are about how we achieve that support, safety and quality.”

Districts around the country have faced labor challenges as the pandemic put extraordinary stress on teachers and students alike. An infusion of federal stimulus money has helped stabilize school district budgets, and teachers unions have sought to improve pay, resources and working conditions after a difficult few years.

Many districts, though, have fretted about using short-term funding to pay for long-term costs, such as increased salaries.

In Seattle, teachers have seen healthy raises since their last strike in 2015, with many making more than $100,000, thanks largely to a new state education funding model. The union has said it is primarily focused on winning raises for its lower-paid members, including instructional assistants and front office staff. Paraeducators in Seattle Public Schools start at $19 an hour — nowhere near enough to afford to live in the city, many say.

Picketing teachers have stressed that their main concern is educational and emotional help for students, especially those with special needs or learning difficulties. The union said 95 percent of its voting members approved the strike.

Seattle Public Schools has sought to increase the amount of time disabled children spend in general education classrooms, and also to eliminate ratios dictating how many students may be assigned to each special education professional. The district says that would allow it to focus on student needs rather than fixed staffing ratios, but teachers worry it would mean less support, higher case-loads and less time to spend with each student.

Gene Johnson The Associated Press Guillermo Carvajal and Erin Carroll, staff members at Northgate Elementary School in Seattle, picket outside the building on the third day of a teacher strike on Friday.