Fifty-three thousand Seattle children continue to be kept out of class as the Seattle teachers union strike moves into its second week.
The Seattle Education Association and the Seattle Public Schools district continued negotiations over the weekend but couldn’t reach an agreement to end the strike. The union has more than 5,000 members.
Classes were scheduled to begin Sept. 9, but the strike has now claimed four school days. The district will still be required to offer 180 school days this school year, regardless of the strike. As a result, teachers will get paid in full despite striking.
The union and the school district can’t agree on teacher pay and whether to implement a longer school day.
The district’s proposal would give teachers a starting salary greater than $50,000 a year, while senior teachers would earn just under $100,000. Both figures are a 14 percent raise spread over three years.
The district is seeking to lengthen the school day by 20 minutes, and says its proposed salary hikes are proportional to the extra time teachers would have to spend in class. Elementary students in Seattle Public Schools have six hours and 10 minutes of instruction time per day. That makes it one of the shortest instructional days in the state, according to the district.
Negotiators are making progress on at least one front. The two sides agreed to give elementary school students a minimum of 30 minutes of recess every day.
