September 15, 2015
By Steve Wishnia and Neal Tepel
Seattle public schools remained closed Sept. 14, the fourth day of a strike by city teachers. The Seattle Education Association made a lower offer to the school district the day before—a two-year deal with a 4.75% raise the first year, 5% the second, and a 3% cost-of-living increase from the state—but said district officials had been too recalcitrant for them to get close to an agreement that would enable them to come back to work.
“We want to be there. We want to be there now,” Phyllis Campano, the teachers’ bargaining chair, told reporters. Other issues in the strike include the district’s proposal to lengthen the school day, student testing and teacher evaluations, and caseloads for school psychologists and other specialists. Read more
