Seattle teacher: ‘Why would I go years without a pay increase?’

UPDATE: Seattle teachers and the school district have reached a tentative agreement that could end the strike. The teachers’ union will review the details and then vote.

—Original story—

There’s absolutely no way the Seattle teacher’s strike will end without Seattle Public Schools increasing salaries.

At least, that’s what one would glean from the conversation KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson had with Kit McCormick.

Dori asked McCormick if she would be OK with a state income tax used to help fund education, but not increase teacher salaries.

“Absolutely not, Mr. Monson,” she responded. “Why would I go years and years and years without a pay increase?”

The Seattle teacher told Dori there needs to be an adjustment to employee salaries that haven’t received much attention in that last several years, even though The Seattle Times reports they have received about a 5.5 percent raise in the last two years with levy money. She struggles to pay her bills as things are right now.

Related: Seattle teachers say district refusing to listen to prime causes of strike

Students have yet to sit at their desks this school year as teachers enter their second week on strike. Teachers are now seeking a two-year deal with a 4.75 percent raise the first year, and 5 percent raise the second. That’s in addition to a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment from the state. That proposal is a decrease from a previous request from the union, which would give teachers a 15.3 percent raise over two years.

Dori argues that many Seattle teachers &#8212 the fourth highest paid in the state &#8212 are already making livable wages. He went through a public database, where he found many teachers are making more than $60,000 a year before benefits. However, some argue that those numbers are deceptive and teachers are not making what they should.

One of Dori’s main concerns is the creation of a state income tax to meet teacher demands. Why should people, even those making less than $60,000 a year, be forced to pay a tax so teachers can make more? he asked.

“Because I need to make more money,” McCormick responded. “I’m a teacher of 28 years and I can barely afford to pay my bills.”

McCormick argued that if a tax was imposed, it would be the people who could afford to pay it that would be doing so. Families within the school district are in support of the teacher strike, she added.

What about the teachers making $80,000 to $90,000 a year? Dori asked. Do they need more as well?

“I think [$80,000 to $90,000] is a good salary,” McCormick said, adding that she doesn’t think many &#8212 if any &#8212 teachers are actually making that kind of money. “I think people, after years and years on the job, deserve a raise.”

But when you add a teacher’s salary to benefits, they do pretty well, Dori said.

It’s the cost of democracy, McCormick added. People are taxed to pay for things such as roads, police and other functions of government.