Bellevue Teachers Strike! + Child Care Options

Bellevue School District teachers will start their strike tomorrow. Negotiators have assisted the bargaining process since Saturday. Those close to the negotiations predict the strike lasting all week. But let's not forget when contract negotiations broke down in 2003, Marysville teachers staged the longest school strike in state history - 49 days.

We Called It!

[Child Care Options At Bottom]

Bellevue School District teachers will start their strike tomorrow. Negotiators have assisted the bargaining process since Saturday. Those close to the negotiations predict the strike lasting all week. But let’s not forget when contract negotiations broke down in 2003, Marysville teachers staged the longest school strike in state history – 49 days.

Enjoy this exerpt from the latest bulletin posted on the Bellevue Education Association website:

District violates labor law, attempts end run with members

District administrators are at it again. Less than a week after BEA squelched the district’s plan to use principals to sell teachers on the curriculum web’s flexibility, HR Director Spencer Welch sent a mass e-mail Sunday night trying to bargain directly with BEA members in violation of state labor law. Welch instructs district employees to read the district’s bargaining proposals, then urges teachers to conclude the district offer is “fair and generous.”

The district’s decision Sunday to engage in bad-faith bargaining bodes poorly for averting a strike. BEA negotiators will return to the table again today, but hopes are muted. In two bargaining sessions Sunday, the district refused to respond to a compromise package from BEA that comprehensively addressed the three key issues that must be resolved before an overall contract agreement is reached: retooling requirements that teachers follow the district’s pre-scripted, minute-by-minute lesson plans, pay that reflects Bellevue’s high cost of living so the district can compete for top teachers, and heading off the district’s proposed takeaways on health insurance payments.

Here is what the local papers are saying about the Bellevue Teacher Strike:

Seattle Times

Contract talks with the Bellevue School District reached an impasse over the weekend, and a mediator was called in to help. District spokeswoman Ann Oxrieder says a lengthy negotiating session ended late Monday afternoon without a contract.

Bellevue Reporter

The teachers marched out of a 5 p.m. meeting Monday at Odle Middle School with no agreement with the Bellevue School District. Teachers had voted in June to go on strike if a tentative contract had not been reached by Sept. 1.

From 4-5 p.m. Tuesday, teachers will mass in the parking lot of the Bellevue School District headquarters to picket that night’s school board meeting. Teachers will not go into the district office building. The teachers’ strike will be an item on the board’s agenda.

BEA spokespersons encouraged parents to join teachers on the picket lines, saying they could show up at any school to show their support. The BEA also asked for people with homes near each school to make their bathrooms available for teachers.

Seattle Post Intelligencer

The disagreements in Bellevue have centered on curriculum and compensation issues — especially the district’s technology-based standardized curriculum that teachers say is overly conformist.

Meanwhile, compensation has been a sticking point. The school district says a variety of issues including budgets cuts and a set state salary schedule hobbles their ability to raise compensation levels.

KING5

While salaries vary depending on experience, the average Bellevue teacher earns $58,000. The district has offered a 1.5% raise the first year and a 1% raise the second. It’s important to note, this is on top of the state’s cost of living adjustment which in 2009 will be 5.1 percent.

KOMO News

“It makes no sense to start school and have poor have education where education is lacking in some way. And so we’re asking for some patience until we can guarantee the education they get in the classroom is quality education,” said Michele Miller with Bellevue Education Association.

School district spokeswoman Anne Oxreider says they’ve done what they can and the union appears to be stalling. She said it was up to teachers to make progress in the last few hours, but a lengthy negotiating session ended late Monday afternoon without a contract.

How our state compares to the nation

Three facts provided by the League of Education Voters show how school funding in Washington compares to the rest of nation.

• Washington is in the bottom half of the nation in per-student spending.
• Our national ranking in teacher salaries is 19th.
• Class sizes in Washington are the 4th highest in the country.

For those of you interested, the following graph outlines where the Belleve School District receives its funding.

CHILD CARE OPTIONS

1. Starting Tuesday: The Boys & Girls Club of Bellevue will open an expanded day camp for elementary-age children at the South Bellevue Community Center, 14509 S.E. Newport Way, from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cost is $40 per day ($20 for those already enrolled in the after-school program). Campers will need to bring their own lunch, but snacks will be provided. Registration information: 425-452-4240.
2. Starting Thursday: If needed, two other city community centers will open for children ages 5-12, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Cost is $40 a day; financial assistance available. Students must bring lunch; snacks will be provided. Registration required. Information will be available on the city of Bellevue Web site, www.bellevuewa.gov, or by phone at 425-452-6885.