The Seattle Education Association board has recommended that its members approve the strike, and a vote may be taken later this week.
Approval of a strike does not mean that a strike will take place, but it does give union leaders the authority to call a strike if the union and the school district cannot reach an agreement at the negotiating table.
Seattle Public Schools and the union, which has about 6,000 members, have been in negotiations since June, district officials said. SEA is not only changing the model for special education and multilingual programs, but also focusing on higher wages.
“The SEA board did not make this decision lightly,” union president Jennifer Matter said. “The SEA Board will either accept what the school district has been providing – basically lack of student support, lack of workload release, lack of respectful wages, or unite for the students we know. I think you understand that you have to choose between or do, and educators need it.”
Seattle’s contract expires on Friday and the first day of school is September 7th. If SEA and Seattle schools can’t come to an agreement before school starts, educators may go on strike. The SEA will hold a membership meeting on Wednesday night and votes for the strike could begin as early as Thursday, Matter said.
In an email to families, SPS said negotiations over special education and multilingual programs were causing delays.
The decision to seek permission to strike came as the strike in the Kent School District entered its second week. Teachers in her third-largest school district in King County are raising salaries and demanding manageable case numbers for staff who work with English learners and special education students.
The school district’s proposals include higher salaries, more social workers in high and middle schools, more comprehensive special education programs and staff training, and more student-learning-based programs, according to emails SPS sent to families. Includes staff support for language-speaking students. School-specific needs, educator professional development. SPS also suggests maintaining staff levels and minimizing disruptions during the holidays.
“The SPS proposal reflects the district’s educational philosophy of putting students first, creating inclusive learning spaces, and offering educators and staff generous rewards that include professional development, career opportunities and benefits. We are outlining plans along the ‘district.
The goal of unions and school districts is to make special education programs more inclusive, Matter said. She said she asked to spend more time, but that would require more staff. The SEA wants the contract to include teacher-student ratios, she said Matter, but the school district disagrees.
A statement on the school district’s website reads: “We are committed to improving the level of service and inclusion for special education students by focusing on student needs rather than fixing staff ratios. We are working on it,” he said. “The key is to increase teacher training so that we can effectively integrate special education students into the classroom.”
Education for multilingual and English learners is also under negotiation. Currently, students needing these supports must attend certain schools that offer language services. SEA’s goal is to expand English Learner and Multilingual Services to more schools so that students who need these services can attend nearby schools.
Matter said the union is also negotiating competitive wages and livable wages for teachers living in Seattle. We pay a base salary that ranges from $123,000. The last Seattle teachers’ strike was in 2015. In 2018, unions also voted to approve a strike, but the deal was resolved amicably.
