Bellevue Teacher Strike
Lindsay Larin, with the Bellevue Reporter, has just written a piece on the current threat of a teacher strike for Bellevue schools. I can't help but feel a little disappointed the school district has no readily available information on its website about the potential strike.
Lindsay Larin, with the Bellevue Reporter, has just written a piece on the current threat of a teacher strike for Bellevue schools. I can’t help but feel a little disappointed the school district has no readily available information on its website about the potential strike.
The Bellevue School District website lists Ann Oxrieder, Assistant to the Superintendent, as a possible source of information. Reach Ann by phone: (425) 456-4127 or via e-mail: oxriedera@bsd405.org. Ann was quoted in a June 11th, 2008 King 5 New article defending the need for standardized curriculum.
Having consistent curriculum across the board allows students to have the same experiences, even if they move around from school to school
The Larin article indicates no settlement has been reached, although the Bellevue Education Association and the Bellevue School Board still have limited time to reach agreement.
On June 10, teachers in the Bellevue School District voted to go on strike on the first day of the new school year if they don’t reach a tentative contract with the district by then.
According to the BEA, at the moment, there remains a pretty big split between the sides and it does not appear an agreement will be reached, however the hope is to reach a settlement.
The Washington Education Association website quoted, Bellevue Education Association President, Stephen Miller:
Bellevue School Board’s bargaining team has done little or nothing to address the need for better pay and has ignored the concerns teachers have about the Web curriculum.
“Except for the calendar, they have not responded to any of our proposals in seven bargaining sessions,” said Michelle Miller, BEA Bargaining Team chair.
Which side needs to abandon their position; or are both sides just hurting the students they are charged to protect?
Great News! The Bellevue School District has updated their website http://www.bsd405.org/. The BSD has posted strike updates and provided 4 methods for keeping up-to-date on strike news. Kudos BSD
This is great news? What about 4 year olds who are looking forward to their first days of school? Are the teachers holding them hostage? Is education blackmail legal and/or ethical?
These ‘negotiations’ appear to be nothing more than blackmail. For pre-K children like Jackie Kennedy, this seems like nothing more than blackmail!
$180 a month for 5 hours a week is already ridiculous. How many other Bellevue residents are receiving the same raise in pay? Come on teachers – it already seems like you don’t care. What gives you the right to demand an increase in pay over others already paid lower than you for much more work? If you want to teach – just do it. If not, get out of town!
You should not be allowed to hold my 4 year old hostage! You are putting OUR lives on hold and I cannot support that!
Just because teachers are not making minimum wage does not mean they are not entitled to ask for wages commensurate with their duties and responsibilities.
Further, while a compensation package is certainly one of the issues in the negotiations, it is not the only the issue in the negotiations.
Does Jackie always understand things exactly the same way other children do? Does Jackie always understand things at the exact same speed that other children do? I would imagine that Jackie is very special to you, but no two children are exactly alike.
If Jackie gets a second explanation or another way of looking at things, you can thank these ‘negotiations’, because the way in which children are being taught is an important component of what this is all about.
This is also about making sure that education is still an art and still retains the opportunity for making individual adjustments to particular student needs as necessary. This is about making sure that student education is not just an assembly-line process.
It is disconcerting to me to see a school district that believes that a one-size-fits-all education is an appropriate mold.
It is disconcerting to me to see a school district that distrusts its teachers to the extent that they want to tell teachers how to spend each and every minute of every class period.
It is disconcerting to me that a district would actively discourage teacher creativity in helping students to understand concepts.
It is disconcerting to me that teachers who want to help their students feel as if they must hide their efforts from the district, for fear of reprisal and potential termination.
Frankly, I agree that it would be disappointing if these negotiations were not completed for school to start as scheduled.
That being said, this debate being held between the district and the teachers’ union will shape the direction of education for years to come in this district. What does Jackie deserve?
It’s bad enough that I get to worry over the possible Boeing strike. Now I get the added fun of a teacher’s strike. That is illegal.
The constant greed of today’s general population is enough to make me physically ill.
My boyfriend who works for Boeing is more than happy with his wage, his benefites and the overall package that Boeing offers. The currently proposed contract goes above and beyond general expectations and yet, the union is screaming STRIKE!
Now, in a city with the highest paid teachers, I’m reading how the teachers are whining about teaching style controls – that it’s not about the money. Reality check? There are 7 different styles of learning with a majority of the population falling into 3. From what I learned a few years back, it’s just practical to cater to those 3 styles. With 20-30 kids in a classroom, exactly how do teachers propose to be able to cater to all and their particular style of learning? And exactly how will my kids benefit from not being at school while teachers illegally squabble over this?
Yeah, I’m thinking it’s a ruse. It’s about the money. It is always about the money.
I am very angry with the teachers position.
We came this August to Bellevue from Fairfax county of Virginia where one of the best education is being provided by the highly motivated teachers.
Here, completely different and our 7th grader kid is deeply disappointed with the strike and has changed the image of school teachers.
Why were they not able to negotiate more intensively prior to the school start while they had several months of summer break. Just unbelievable.
I was also shocked to hear the Boeing strike.
We may not able to survive the life of this awful region.
Virginia Slim, so sad to hear your are less than thrilled with your move to this wonderful part of the world. Bellevue is the best place to live. We have some of the most talented, dedicated teachers. The strike will be over eventually and you, and your child, will be able to see for yourselves. The teachers strike has been caused by the school district and the Superintendant, not the teachers, failure to negotiate a reasonable cost-of-living increase. The teachers were ready, willing and able to negotiate all summer and the Superintendant failed to hire a mediator with the union. You’re right, JUST UNBELIEVABLE! It is embarrassing that we are among the richest communities in the WORLD and we pay our teachers soooo poorly! We lose our top 10% of teachers every year– emmigrating to other states that show their respect and value to their teachers with higher salaries, better benefits and more appreciation.
WOW, there seems to be a LOT of misinformation floating around out there.
I have to start by saying, I am not a teacher, I do have children and I do greatly value and admire those who have chosen to devote their lives to serving our children and our community.
These are just a few of the erroneous statements I’ve seen:
“city with the highest paid teachers,” “4-year-olds… teachers holding them hostage?” “How many other Bellevue residents are receiving the same raise in pay? Come on teachers – it already seems like you don’t care.”
The truth?
The strike is the cause and responsibility of the School District, the Bellevue School Board, and the Bellevue School Superintendent. Teachers do not want to strike.
I urge you all to understand all sides of the argument before you judge.
Please visit http://www.bellevueea.org/ and watch and read objective local news sources for the FACTS.
Teachers are, and have been for decades, grossly underpaid. It’s pathetic that they are having to FIGHT for a meager pay raise that STILL will not raise them to a salary level commensurate with education, trianing, experience, work ethic, etc.
Our teachers can’t afford to live in Bellevue.
Please, use the vast resources of websites like bellevuebubble and do your research. The cost of living in Bellevue is 4x to 6x more expensive than surrounding communities.
Our teachers make LESS THAN HALF (in most cases LESS THAN ONE THIRD) the salary of most Bellevue Residents. Meanwhile teachers are expected, by the administration and the school board, to take an active roll in extra-curricular activities and their students’ community activites. Most teachers who work in Bellevue commute from surrounding communities. During our ongoing energy crisis it is the responsibility of us all to find alternatives to commuting.
How can we expect teachers to want to work in Bellevue when they can live elsewhere and work elsewhere, make much more money, commute less and receive appreciation from their communities?
In other nations, teachers are among the most revered profession and their salaries reflect that. Some people on this website, and others, are under the very misguided impression that all teachers work part time 9a-2p, Sept-May. It is almost laughable, that in this day of broad information, there are still people out there that still choose to think Teachers work anything less than overtime in a thankless, exhausting job. Teachers don’t go into their profession to “get rich” and our teachers in Bellevue are not greedy. It’s disgusting and embarassing to hear our community members gripe and denying teachers’ their due.
I’ve seen first hand, teachers in our schools. I encourage you all to do the same– research your facts. They are dedicated. They arrive early and stay late. They are at school during school vacations and summers.
If you figure-in the countless hours teachers spend, before and after school, grading, planning curriculum, attending conferences, mandatory meetings and training, classroom set up as well as volunteer hours they devote to students (YES I’ve seen many of our teachers volunteer their time at the school) you would see that their hourly rate is far below minimum wage, let alone the national poverty level.
In addition, teachers are REQUIRED to attend and receive certification in on-going education– additional education at their own expense. How many other professions require their employees to attend additional training (not to advance their position, but just to keep their job) and require those employees to pay for it themselves?
Child care professionals and teachers are raising our children. Whether you have children or are childless, these children will one day be leading our nation.
Raising teachers’ salaries is not just our civic responsibility to correct their pay inequity, raising teachers’ salaries is an investment in our children and our FUTURE.
C’mon “Clyde Hill Mom” (who is too afraid to back up her statements with her name). The obvious truth is nobody has decided to strike except the teachers – it is nobody else’s fault.
From what I can gather the district has negotiated in good faith and made many compromises. Not sure I would say that about the teachers.
I’d like to wonder where you get your “statistics” and question if they are close to accurate.
The statistics of how many teachers are actually at school during summers and vacations would be very interesting – the parking lots are always empty and the lights off – are they walking there and working in the dark?
Apparently some are not aware, but there are many, many professions which require additional and ongoing training and certifications – teachers are definitely not alone in this.
Your point that Bellevue teachers earn less than minimum wage is ridiculous and laughable.
I too value teachers a great deal and hope they decide to call off their illegal strike and get back to work (their feet won’t be so sore and the smiles can return to their faces).
I graduated from the Bellevue schools system and did have some great teachers who really cared about the kids and their education – but I can assure you there were plenty more that were just going through the motions to pick up a check – and some that just didn’t give a care. I don’t think all teachers should be put on a pedestal, but do think the great ones should be properly rewarded.
The sad part about this strike is that some teachers will be actually losing their jobs due to their demands, programs will be cut and class size will increase. How can that be good for our children, or our future?