More than 50,000 Seattle students finally get to start their school year Thursday. That’s more than a week later than originally scheduled, thanks to a teachers’ union strike.
The Seattle Education Association and the Seattle Public Schools district had been fighting over salary hikes. The school district was offering raises above a cost-of-living-adjustment, but the SEA wanted even more.
In the final agreement, teachers and school employees will receive 9.5 percent raises over three years, in addition to their state cost-of-living adjustments,
the Seattle Times reports.
The union declared victory, but the final salary hikes were not close to its initial demands. “We won the fight on this contract agreement,” union bargaining chair Phyllis Campano said. Originally, the union was seeking a 21 percent raise over three years. By Sunday, it was seeking a 9.75 percent raise over two years.
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In a win for the union, the district will no longer use test scores as a factor in teacher evaluations.
In spite of the strike, there doesn’t appear to be much bad blood between Seattle Public Schools and the teachers’ union. “We are grateful to both bargaining teams for working literally through the night to resolve differences,” Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Larry Nyland said in a statement. “It was just an incredible effort by both bargaining teams, who all care deeply about students.”
Thanks to the strike, the district must add six days to its schedule over the course of this school year. It also needs to alter graduation dates.
Jason Russell is commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.