Seattle teachers, school officials to resume talks Saturday
SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle
teachers and officials from Seattle Public Schools say they will resume
contract negotiations Saturday after three days of a teacher strike that
has delayed the start of the school year for about 53,000 students.
Talks stalled this week after the latest contract proposal was submitted Tuesday. "We'll let families know as soon as possible whether there will be school next week," Howard said earlier Friday. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said Friday that if the strike continues into next week, the city's Parks and Recreation department will offer drop-in activities for up to 3,000 children at its community centers.
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Washington state's largest school district and the teachers union remain at an impasse over pay raises, teacher evaluations and other issues. The educators, who have not received a cost-of-living pay raise in six years, have joined other workers pushing for higher wages that compete with the city's growing, highly paid tech workers.
Olga Addae, a science teacher at Franklin High School, walked the picket line Thursday with other union members who said they will stay out of the classroom until the district offers a fair compensation package and agrees to stop cutting student services.
"We're doing this for the students and for a better school system," said Addae, a teacher of 21 years. Teachers want to live close to their schools and be a part of those communities, but rents continue to rise while educators' salaries have stagnated, Addae said.
Seattle Public Schools offered a pay increase of nearly 9 percent over three years. The teachers union countered with a 10.5 percent increase over two years. Teacher salaries range from about $44,000 to more than $86,000 for more experienced educators with advanced degrees, according to the district. In comparison, tech workers can easily draw six figures.
Rents have ballooned by more than 37 percent since mid-2010, according to Apartment Insights Washington. The median rental price for homes in Seattle in July was $2,354 a month, Zillow reports, compared with a national average of $1,376.
The city is having a housing crisis because more than 40 percent of the new jobs in the region are with Amazon.com Inc. or Boeing Co., and their starting salaries are twice as much as an experienced teacher, Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata said.
"That means the people who are educating our children are finding it difficult to live in the city where the children they teach live," he said.
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