Seattle teachers union leaders and school district officials did not meet for contract talks over the weekend, a union spokesman said, despite significant differences still dividing the two sides in negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement.
The current deal expires late Monday night. Leaders of the Seattle Education Association have called for all 5,000 union members to meet on Thursday to vote on a tentative agreement, if there is one. If there isn't, the teachers could vote to go on strike.
Compensation tops a list of issues that still divides the two sides, ranging from union demands to guarantee 45 minutes of recess to teacher evaluations.
After opening bargaining by offering a 7 percent pay increase over three years, Seattle Public Schools officials increased their offer to 8.2 percent pay increase over over the same period. With a state-funded cost-of-living adjustment, the district says teachers would see a 13 percent pay increase.
Union leaders are hoping to secure a 21 percent salary increase over three years, arguing the district has new state and local revenues to spend and that its budgetary reserves are well-padded.
"We believe the district has money. We believe there was an additional $38 million that were not present last year," said SEA president Jonathan Knapp last week. "That's what we're here for, is to figure out how to use it."
In his most recent bargaining update, Seattle Public Schools superintendent Larry Nyland said the district's proposal "would enable our teachers to be among the highest paid in the state, which they well deserve."
In addition, the two sides are haggling over a district proposal to lengthen the amount of time students are in classrooms each day by 30 minutes.
District officials want to build that increase into asked teachers to give up 20 minutes of the before- and after-school prep time that's currently part of their contractual day, thereby increasing the amount of time they work by 10 minutes. But teachers say this prep time is valuable and the district's proposed salary increase is too small for the extra time they'll work.
The union is still driving for other changes. They want the next contract to ease caseloads for "educational staff associates," such as counselors and physical therapists and provide for an equity committee in every district building.
As Seattle's talks drag on, several other western Washington school districts have already reached tentative contract agreements. Union members in the Everett, Auburn, Shoreline, Renton and Highline districts are all set to vote on new deals soon.
