Seattle didn't have its scheduled first day of school on Wednesday because
teachers were on strike after contract negotiations stalled.
Three parents of Seattle students wrote an op-ed supporting the teachers, citing the victory the Seattle Education Association already won in getting the city to agree to a 30-minute guaranteed recess for students, an issue that parents had been organizing around. Sara Lang, Jana Robbins, and Naomi Wilson point to other union priorities that are also parent priorities, but not district priorities:
We have watched with dismay as the classroom curriculum is narrowed and instructional time increasingly devoted to test preparation, rather than to a holistic education. SEA has proposed to eliminate unfair and unreliable methods of evaluating teachers based on test scores, as well have teachers work with the district to decide if any more standardized tests are to be given besides those mandated by the state and federal government. This is an important step that would emphasize optimal learning in the classroom.
Parents have long raised concerns regarding access to special education, and the district faces a federal investigation on this issue. SEA proposes to have a hard limit on therapist caseloads, which is an important way of making sure that kids in special education get the attention they need.
SEA has proposed to ensure more than just six schools have equity teams to address persistent inequalities in our communities and our schools. They’re also seeking more office staff to manage overcrowded schools. These too are reasonable proposals that we are stunned the district has refused to accept.
Teachers are also seeking a bigger raise than the district is prepared to give them without a fight—even as the district pushes for teachers to work longer hours in an extended school day—and the parents write that "As Seattle residents, we also know that this city is becoming a more expensive place to live and raise a family. That's why we believe teachers are right to ask for a long overdue raise." Seattle teachers have gone
six years without a state cost-of-living increase.
Washington state is the site of some major ongoing battles over education, with the state supreme court having recently ruled that public funding for charter schools—which are privately operated and aren't accountable to local elected school boards—was in violation of the state's constitution. That ruling came hard on the heels of another court decision fining the state $100,000 a day until the legislature fixes a broken system of education funding statewide.