Dori, Seattle teacher debate wage increase

A teacher strike in Seattle wouldn’t be all about the money, according to one Seattle Public Schools employee.

Michael, a teacher at Chief Sealth International High School, told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson that the additional pay teachers are demanding is more about fairness and retaining high-quality teachers than about earning more.

Teachers are making more in the Everett School District, for example. Michael mentioned two of his friends, who took jobs in that district, immediately earned $10,000 more a year.

Related: No way Seattle teacher strike is about the kids

The district needs higher salaries to attract and keep quality teachers, Michael explained. That might not be true for everyone, but it will make a difference for a district with about 3,000 teachers.

“Right now, Seattle doesn’t do that,” he told Dori.

Seattle teachers are on the brink of a strike, after contract negotiations between the teachers union and school district have faltered. The main demands from the union are: higher wages for teachers, more recess for students, less testing, equity and better special education caseloads. Teachers want an 18 percent salary increase over three years; the district is offering an 8.2 percent increase, which would come with a longer work day.

On Monday night, the district said it offered $62 million as a counter to the $172 million worth of requests from the Seattle Education Association. It also increased staff for special education and increased wages. The district said it hasn’t heard back from the union yet.

Michael argues that the raises teachers want really isn’t as much as it looks on paper. Because teacher pay is based on both a base salary close to the state salary schedule and supplemental pay from local contribution, paychecks would not go up a full 18 percent, he said.

So then it isn’t all about the money and is about the students? Despite Michael’s argument, Dori isn’t buying it. Though he knows teachers are fighting for more than money, it’s still about the money.

“I do think it’s about the money,” he told Michael. “It’s always about the money and money isn’t about the kids.”

Why do teachers always say it is about the students? Dori wondered. When he asks for a raise, he doesn’t pretend it’s for his listeners.

It’s about retaining and attracting high-quality teachers, Michael reiterated.

If not all teachers are good, then why would the district want to pay them more money? Dori countered. Either the district has sub-standard teachers who aren’t deserving of a raise, or its teachers are fine and the district doesn’t need to spend more, he said.

“If they’re not high-quality, how are they deserving of a 20-percent raise?” Dori continued.

OK, but what about the vote last Thursday in Benaroya Hall which seemed unanimous? Dori said it’s difficult to believe that there would be no opposition.

There were people who opposed the idea of a strike before the vote, Michael responded. Ironically, many of those not in favor of the strike said they can’t afford to do it.

Dori pointed out that now taxpayers will have to subsidize a strike because the city of Seattle is offering free, full-day childcare through Friday.