SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
No way Seattle teacher strike is about the kids
Sep 4, 2015, 12:41 PM | Updated: 2:27 pm
Seattle teachers have agreed to strike if their union can't reach a deal with the Seattle School District. At least the teachers are doing it all for the students, KIRO Radio's Dori Monson says. (KIRO Radio/Jillian Raftery)
(KIRO Radio/Jillian Raftery)
A teacher strike in Seattle is imminent.
Unless the Seattle School District can reach a deal with the teacher’s union before the first day of school (Sept. 9), teachers will strike.
The vote to strike was held Thursday night in Benaroya Hall, with what seemed to be 100 percent unanimity. But 100 percent unanimity is a little curious in a room with at least 2,000 people, KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson explained.
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The vote seemed unanimous when the room erupted in support of a strike. However, nobody would dare disprove of a strike in a room filled with thousands of angry teachers. If someone did, they would be blackballed and chastised, Dori said.
“They want us to believe the vote to strike was 2,000 to zero,” he continued.
Teachers are asking for more recess for the students, more instructional time and better class sizes. Oh, and let’s not forget an 18 percent pay raise over the next three years — the school district is offering 8.2 percent over three years.
“I think this is an incredible moment for the future of public education,” one teacher exclaimed after the vote was made.
Well, of course it’s incredible, Dori said. An 18 percent pay hike would be incredible.
“Luckily, money grows on trees,” he said.
But remember, salaries are not the only issue.
“If you see the list of things we are supporting, we are fighting for the kids,” another teacher said Thursday night. “This is a fight for the students and they’re going to come out ahead at the end of this.”
The kids?
“I didn’t realize the 20-percent raise was for the kids,” Dori said. “They’re doing it for the kids, that is so nice.
“I thought they were doing it for themselves.”
So if teachers are not only fighting for their own wages, but also the students’, that means — hold on, let’s check the math — that the students would get absolutely nothing. Wait a minute, so when that teacher said the students would “come out ahead,” he wasn’t talking about more pay?
“He was trying to pull a fast one on us, that teacher there,” Dori said.
Then again, who would argue against more recess?
