Gov. Chris Gregoire Tuesday night was asking for frequent updates on negotiations between striking Tacoma teachers and the school district. Just after 11 p.m. the union said no talks were scheduled for today.
Gregoire indicated if there was still insufficient progress, she might call the two sides to Olympia today to confront them in person, Gregoire spokesman Cory Curtis said.
He said the governor was hopeful that wouldn’t be necessary.
“She wants the deal done. She’s putting the pressure on them,” Curtis said.
Schools remained closed for a seventh day today in the wake of a teacher strike that began Sept. 13. Without a settlement, the union said teachers planned to be back on the picket lines today in front of several elementary schools.
A Pierce County judge has issued a temporary order telling teachers to go back to work, and on Tuesday, some of them reported receiving a mailed notice that they could face sanctions in court if they don’t return to the classroom. Some teachers said on Facebook that the notice didn’t count because it came by mail and wasn’t served on them in person. They also criticized the money the district spent to mail notices to teachers.
But Judge Bryan Chushcoff authorized the use of first class regular mail in his order signed Monday. Andy Coons, president of the Tacoma Education Association union, said he planned to give a deposition in the legal case today.
As talks continued Tuesday evening, Coons appeared at a community meeting held to support teachers at First United Methodist Church in downtown Tacoma.
He said teachers have been touched by the outpouring of support they have received from both parents and students. He said teachers aren’t trying to drag out a settlement.
“If there’s a settlement, there will be a ratification meeting that will be that evening,” he said. “We want to be back in schools the very next day.”
School district officials have said they would likely provide a day’s lag time between any settlement announcement and students’ return to school, to ensure teachers have time to conduct a ratification vote.
The two sides are still negotiating around three main issues: teacher transfers and reassignments, pay and class size.
Both sides have proposed contract language that would create a committee to resolve the most contentious issue – transfers and reassignments. But how the committee would work and whether its work would be binding without a teacher vote is still being debated.
District spokesman Dan Voelpel said late Tuesday that the district has offered what it feels is significant proposals on both the committee idea and on salary. But he said there was no movement back by the teachers union.
The union said it made two proposals. “We were ready to bargain, they weren’t,” said a teacher negotiator.
At the Methodist church Tuesday, parents and students said they stand behind teachers in their fight.
“Teachers are with our children often more waking hours than we are as parents,” said Susan Dobkins, mother of a Stewart Middle School student. “They are the counselors, supporters and cheerleaders for our children. We owe it to them to stand up with them at such a difficult time.”
Fifth grader Juliette Amiotte said she wants her teachers to get a fair contract.
“I don’t think it’s fair that they are getting bullied around,” she said. “That’s just wrong.”
While some parents took to the picket lines with their kids, others brought them to the Puyallup Fair. Attendance was up by more than 27,000 over the same point last year, according to fair officials.
Tacoma students Victoria and Elizabeth Teo were in the crowd Tuesday with their mom, Diane, who took the day off work.
Victoria, 8, a third-grader at Geiger Montessori, proudly showed off a new purchase – a fuzzy white hat with cat ears. But, the girls said, they’re disappointed the school year has been interrupted by the strike.
Elizabeth, 15, a sophomore at the district’s Science and Math Institute, said she supports her teachers because “they work really hard.”
“But I would like to be in class learning right now,” she said.
Luis Alarcon, an eighth-grader at First Creek Middle School who came to the fair with his family, said he felt the same way. He said he’s tried to keep his academic juices flowing during the strike by reading on his own, but the time out of class “is kind of hurting my education.”
Social media has kept parents, teachers and students in touch during the strike. Both the school district and the union have Facebook sites where comments are being posted.
One frequent commenter is Greg Smith, a stay-at-home dad for his two children, ages 9 and 13. He said he’s been trying to understand both sides in the dispute.
“ I don’t really have a side,” Smith said. “I’m more concerned as a parent that there has been little communication from the TEA. I knew what the district wanted. All the TEA said was, we want a fair contract. And when you asked them, ‘What is a fair contract?’ they couldn’t tell you.”
He said he loves the teachers, but he said he disagrees when he hears the union say it is acting on behalf of kids.
“No, they’re not,” he said. “It’s their job to advocate for the teachers, not kids. The union isn’t doing this for the kids.”
Smith said that for him and his kids, the strike is inconvenient. But he said other families are hurting.
“I know some students who aren’t doing really well across town, and I don’t think the strike is doing them any good,” he said.
Staff writers Jordan Schrader, Kathleen Cooper, Sara Schilling and Debbie Cafazzo contributed to this report.
Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635 debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com
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