Tag Archives: South Kitsap Education Association

If Seattle teachers’ strike has you wondering about Kitsap schools

Schools in North Mason and South Kitsap opened on schedule today. Bainbridge, Bremerton, Central Kitsap and North Kitsap schools opened Sept. 2 as planned. That’s not news … unless you’re North Mason celebrating the opening of a new high school.

Earlier this spring, there was talk among local union leaders of a possible long-term strike this fall to follow up one day-walkouts. Four of the six teachers’ unions (South Kitsap, Central Kitsap, North Kitsap and Bainbridge Island) were protesting lack of progress in the state Legislature over funding of K-12 education. So if you’re a Kitsap or North Mason parent reading today about the the teachers’ strike in Seattle, you may be wondering if teachers on the Kitsap Peninsula will follow suit.

True, Kitsap and North Mason teachers, along with others in the state, have complained about stagnant wages, saying a teachers’ cost-of-living increase and temporary pay boost allocated by the state, is inadequate compensation to attract and retain high quality teachers. They say that the $744 million in new spending for schools approved in Olympia over the 2015-2017 biennium doesn’t meet requirements of the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision.

Seattle teachers have the same complaints, but they are also in the midst of contract negotiations. According to the article by the Associated Press, “The district has offered a pay increase of nearly 9 percent over three years, and the union countered with a 10.5 percent increase over two years. Phyllis Campano, the union’s vice president, said the district came back with a proposal that the union ‘couldn’t take seriously.'”

The strike, which began Wednesday, affects 53,000 students.

Teachers in Pasco, with 17,000 students, also are on strike.

But these strikes are mainly about local issues and not tied to the larger debate about education funding, according to Rich Wood, a spokesman for the Washington Education Association, quoted in the AP article.

Most educators and legislators agree that the current system, which relies heavily on local levy funds, results in inequity in teachers’ pay and student opportunities from district to district. An overhaul is needed, most agree. In the meantime, districts negotiate with unions to supplement the state’s pay schedule.

North Kitsap School District recently completed negotiations with its teachers, and the school board on Wednesday (today) will consider the new contract.

With local schools starting on time, it would seem like talk of a strike has died down. But at least in South Kitsap, union members did consider a longer term strike, electing to hold off pending the Legislature’s response to recent court sanctions.

The state Supreme Court held the Legislature in contempt over McCleary and, in the absence of a special session, is fining it $100,000 a day. Nineteen senators, including Republican Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, and Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, who caucuses with the Republicans, issued a follow up statement saying the court had overstepped its authority.

On Aug. 31, the South Kitsap Education Association opened the floor to discussion of a long-term strike, according to union president John Richardson. Members did not vote on a strike but approved a proposal to leave their options open. They authorized their representative council (leadership) to bring a strike motion before members in January, or not depending on progress the Legislature makes as it goes back into session.

“They’d like to do more action, but at this point, they’re not sure what will move the Legislature,” Richardson said. “Also, they want to see what happens with the contempt order.”

I have not contacted other local union leaders, since schools were opening as scheduled. I will be following this and other developments related to McCleary as the saga continues.

Chris Henry, education reporter for the Kitsap Sun

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South Kitsap: Teachers strike, here’s what could have happened

South Kitsap schools appear to have dodged a bullet. Sorry kids, probably no extended summer vacation for you.

The South Kitsap School District and its teachers’ union, which earlier this week agreed to strike over class sizes if needs be, reached a tentative agreement on a three-year contract late Friday.

Today, as I sat in the district office, summoned for a 1:15 p.m. press conference with SK Superintendent Michelle Reid, I thought things could have gone either way. So I researched what might have happened if the district and the South Kitsap Education Association had not reached an agreement, given the teachers’ union vote to strike earlier this week if a contract were not approved.

Districts can seek a court order forcing teachers back to work, as happened in the 2011 Tacoma teachers’ strike, I found.

A 2006 opinion issued by then-Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna said state and local public employees, including teachers, have no legally protected right to strike.

State statutes establish no specific penalties against striking teachers; that’s up to the judge. Teachers, as in the Tacoma strike, have defied court orders.

During a 2009 Kent strike, teachers faced the threat of a $200 per day court imposed fine, but a resolution was reached before penalties were imposed.

Since 1972, court injunctions have been granted in 28 of 34 cases in which they were sought to end strikes, according to an analysis of data from the state’s Public Employment Relations Commission by the Freedom Foundation. In one case, union officials were jailed.

The Freedom Foundation is a conservative think tank promoting government accountability.

In Kitsap County, there have been six strikes or near strikes over the years, two involving court injunctions. South Kitsap was involved in one near strike in 1975.

In 1974, Central Kitsap teachers had planned a one-day walkout before the contract was resolved. In 1975 in South Kitsap, there was a lockout of teachers by the district administration, delaying the start of school that year by three days.

In 1977, Bainbridge Island School District was one of eight districts statewide with impending strikes. Bainbridge teachers defied a court injunction during the four-day strike.

In 1978, Central Kitsap School District administrators hired replacement teachers, and school continued during a five-day strike, with no injunction.

North Kitsap teachers were on strike for five days in 1986; there was no court action.

The longest strike in Kitsap’s history was in 1994 in Bremerton School District. The district sought an injunction, which teachers voted to defy. An agreement was reached, however, before a court order was approved.

South Kitsap teachers had support from students, who posted their thoughts via Twitter, at #wearenotsardines.

By 7 p.m., I was starting to feel like I was on Pope-watch. Would it be gray smoke or white? The mood of people on both sides of the bargaining table was hard to read, poker faces all. But as the day wore on, I thought, “If they were really at an impasse, they all would have gone home.”

And sure enough, shortly after 7 p.m., a joyful burst of applause erupted from one of the district office conference rooms, where bargaining had been going on, hot and heavy, since 8 a.m.

The SKEA membership has yet to ratify the contract, but union President John Richardson expressed satisfaction in the agreement reached with concession on both sides.

(If you want the details of what those concessions are, you can read my story on the Kitsap Sun’s website.)

“We are happy to finally have a tentative agreement that makes real progress toward smaller class sizes,” Richardson said. “We thank the community for their support and look forward to our meeting on Tuesday.”

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South Kitsap Schools’ Post-Labor Day Start a “Tradition”

Ah, the first day of school: the smell of new pencils, the look of new clothes carefully chosen, the sound of eager voices, children ready to hit the books for another year.

But wait, one district was missing.

On Wednesday, as students in North Mason and all other Kitsap County schools returned to the classroom, students in South Kitsap School District continued with their summertime sloth and frivolity.

At least the kids in my neighborhood could be seen soaking up those precious last dabs of summer sunshine, getting in the last few games of basketball, a last bike ride. Some I know personally took the opportunity to sleep in until all hours, before the rude shock to their systems of having to make the bus in the cold, gray dawn.

I called Greg Roberts, assistant superintendent of personnel, to ask why South Kitsap schools resume Sept. 8, a week later than other districts.

“For years, South Kitsap has always started after Labor Day, so there’s a tradition on that,” Roberts said.

On the calendar, Labor Day cycles year by year farther into the month before jumping back to near the beginning, Roberts said. This year, the difference in start time between schools that start before Labor Day and after is more pronounced.

Families in South Kitsap have told district officials that they like having the extra time at the end of the summer, Roberts said. And really, if you think about it, the other districts will be just getting up a small head of steam, when wham, there’s a three-day weekend.

The decision has nothing to do with the South Kitsap Education Association, the teachers’ union, which recently ratified a new three-year contract with the district. Teachers have the right to bargain for starting before Labor Day, but it’s never come up in Roberts’ memory.

South Kitsap’s late start does not mean that students get fewer days of schooling, Roberts said. South Kitsap compresses its 180 student days over nine months so that the last day of school, June 15, is within a day or two of most other school districts in the area.

So, to all Kitsap and North Mason students and their families, enjoy this Labor Day, and as you bid adieu to summer, stay safe, have fun and make memories to carry you through the winter.

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