MARYSVILLE — Teachers in three Washington school districts have staged brief walkouts, calling for better pay and asking state legislators to completely fund a voter-approved initiative that would lower the number of students per class.
Teachers in five other cities —Bellingham, Ferndale, Blaine, Mount Vernon and Anacortes — plan similar half- or full-day walkouts Friday. Seattle teachers will decide next week whether to stage their own strike.
The Seattle Times reports that Wednesday’s strikes involved about 700 teachers.
Teachers from the Lakewood School District in Marysville held signs saying “Good schools require good funding,” on an interstate overpass. Schools in that district and the nearby Stanwood-Camano School District were closed.
Stanwood-Camano teachers met in a park and marched around town.
In Arlington, classes were taught Wednesday morning but teachers rallied in the afternoon.
In Clark County
At this point, no Clark County school districts have planned to participate in a one-day strike. Members from local districts are in Bellevue April 23-25 attending the Washington Education Association representative assembly.
The WEA is sponsoring a rally at 9 a.m. Saturday in Olympia. Teachers from Vancouver, Evergreen and Battle Ground districts plan to attend the rally, along with teachers from around the state.
“My guess is we may be hearing about some local thing after Saturday,” said Rob Lutz, president, Evergreen Education Association.
“We’re planning to participate in the rally on Saturday, but we have no plans at this time (for a one-day strike),” said Lynn Maiorca, president, Vancouver Education Association. “We’re taking about 18 delegates to the convention in Bellevue.”
“As far as I know, we won’t be participating in a one-day walk-out,” said Ted Schelvan, president, Battle Ground Education Association. “About 10 members will be at the state convention. I don’t know how many folks will be driving up to Olympia for the rally. We will have a presence there as well.”
