Teachers in Wash. end walkout

KENT, Wash.--A 17-day teacher strike here ended September 14 when members of the Kent Education Association (KEA) voted with a 94 percent majority to accept a tentative agreement under the threat of a court injunction that would have fined teachers $200 a day for each day the strike continued.

The new contract has some gains on class size, the issue that sparked the walkout, though the final agreement isn't what teachers had been demanding.

Kent School District is one of the only--if not the only--district in the state with no class size limits in middle and high schools. Some secondary classes have as many as 35 to 45 students, teachers said.

The new contract lowers the class size cap in elementary classes to 29 for kindergarten through third grade, and 32 for fourth grade through sixth. But there will still be no class size limits for seventh grade and higher, which is a disappointment for teachers.

But the new court order for fining teachers, due to go into effect the following day, was on everyone's minds as union representatives announced the tentative agreement on September 13.

The KEA began negotiations with the district in the spring, but couldn't come to an agreement, and had been working with a mediator since August. When no agreement was reached, 86 percent of the union's membership voted to go on strike August 26. One day after the strike began, the district filed for an injunction against the teachers striking. King County courts approved the injunction on September 3, ruling that the strike was illegal, and teachers had to go back to work on September 8.

But the teachers refused to be intimidated. On September 7, KEA members met and voted 74 percent to defy the injunction and not return to work. A group of teachers from one school came to the meeting dressed in orange sweatshirts, with their school names and serial numbers on the back, to make a bold statement: We are ready to be jailed if necessary.

Parents organized support through the Kent Parents Coalition, and attended picket lines to voice their enthusiastic support. Also, students held sit-ins and demonstrations at the regional courthouse. Before the September 7 union meeting, about 100 parents lined the way in and gave teachers high-fives as they entered the building to vote on whether to continue with the walkout.

At a rally and picket held in front of the school district office on September 4, about 500 teachers turned out for a spirited demonstration. "I had about 40 students with [Individualized Education Plans for kids with disabilities] on my case load last year," one teacher said. Another pointed out that one day's funding for the military could solve all of the district's funding problems.

After administrators rejected a KEA proposal that would have which saved the district $200,000 and still lowered class sizes, a King County Superior Court judge threatened sanctions on the union of $200 a day for each teacher on strike and $1,500 a day for the union, for as long as the walkout continued.

On September 13, the KEA announced the tentative deal at a rally of teachers and supporters. Speakers praised the teachers for standing up on class size and making this issue a priority in the Puget Sound region. "Teachers in Kent have stood up with teachers from King County, Pierce County, Skagit County to say that, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,'" said James Bible, president of the local NAACP.

Charles Allen, one of the parents who led the way in organizing solidarity with the teachers, spoke out for recalling the Kent School Board. "The Kent School administration willfully demanded their way without regard for those whose voices should be considered first," Allen said. "The voice they chose to ignore is that of our teachers."

The new contract leaves much to fight for on class size, and Kent teachers are determined to continue the struggle.