(WSB photo)
4:51 PM: No word yet on how today’s contract talks between Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association went/are going. But on this day after voting to authorize a strike if no deal is reached in the next week, many educators spent an hour on informational picket lines before or after their workday. Above, Louisa Boren STEM K-8 educators along Delridge minutes ago. Adding photos from other schools shortly.
5:43 PM: Teachers from Gatewood Elementary were stationed at the busy corner of Fauntleroy/Alaska:
(WSB photo)
Several blocks south on Fauntleroy, the Fairmount Park Elementary line:
(Texted photo)
From Alki Elementary:
(E-mailed photo)
And the first group we heard from after the vote last night, Genesee Hill Elementary:
The sign on the left in their photo is a big issue in addition to salary, teacher Stephen Katz told us in a conversation during the picketing, as one of the chants was for “full-time counselors! full-time nurses! full-time librarians!” Even GH – the most populous elementary in West Seattle – has only a part-time nurse, he explained. Katz – who teaches third-graders at GH – has a unique perspective, having worked in the private sector, including as a small-business owner, before becoming a teacher at age 50. He and the GH teachers will picket again 3:30-4:30 pm tomorrow; most of the other schools we heard from also plan to do it again tomorrow, either before or after their workdays – they are all continuing to prepare for the scheduled first day of school one week from today, as contract talks continue. Also: The union has just announced that it and the district will be back at the table tomorrow, saying “some progress was made” today.
ADDED LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT: We’ve also received a photo from Pathfinder K-8:
They too will be out picketing again tomorrow – 7 am to 8 am outside the school on Pigeon Point.
| 6 COMMENTS