SEATTLE — As Pasco teachers walked the picket lines for a second day on Wednesday, a series of marathon contract negotiations in Spokane may be moving school employees closer to an agreement, while Seattle teachers are heading toward a strike vote today.
Teachers have already gone back to school in the state’s largest school district, but Seattle’s nearly 53,000 students aren’t due to arrive until Wednesday.
A spokesman for the statewide Washington Education Association said union and district bargainers have scheduled a meeting Friday with a state mediator. So even if Seattle teachers vote to strike today, they still could reach an agreement before a walkout affects the start of school.
Seattle teachers say the sticking points in their contract negotiations involve class sizes, student discipline, testing, recess and teacher pay.
