Teacher strikes across Western Washington
classes are cancelled today in the Seattle,
Kent and Eatonville school districts
as those districts and their teachers
remain at odds over their contracts.
Team coverage ahead this morning on King
5 Angelique Cockade live in Eatonville,
with the latest on the strike affecting you.
Families there. First, let's get to King 5.
Kayla Lafferty live in Seattle,
where teachers will also hit the
picket lines in the coming hours.
Kayla, what's the latest here in Seattle?
Well,
the Seattle Education Association
tweeted at 4:30 this morning
that their bargaining team was
up at work and ready to continue
bargaining to figure out this
contract with Seattle public schools.
But one thing as this strike is
happening is a drop in enrollment
in Seattle public schools.
With a drop in enrollment comes
a drop in funding.
And with a drop in funding comes
stress from parents about the
quality of the education their
their students are getting in.
A stress point is special education.
That's something that teachers are
calling for in these contracts.
Negotiations and it's something
that a parent I spoke to said
she fights for every day.
Across
the US, the pandemic brought the
largest single year drop in public
school enrollment since World War
Two, and here in Seattle,
data shows public schools will
continue to see their numbers fall.
Unfortunately, trend right
now is is still down.
In the 2019-2020 school year,
there were fifty 3630 students.
The 2020-2021 school year saw
52,381 students,
1200 less than the previous year.
And predictions for the next several
years show the drop as a trend.
According to data from the
district's budget meeting,
the enrollment rate is predicted
to drop by several 100 to
1000 each year until 2026.
And according to Seattle Public
Schools, enrollment is down
due to families moving away
as well as nationwide,
there's a declining birth rate.
Money from the state to the schools
is based on enrollment numbers,
and there's been a decline
when there are less students.
Less money from the state is
allocated to the district.
And that's bad news.
For parents who feel the
district is already underfunded,
parents like Cheryl Lynn Crowther.
You like? I know you like to read.
I like to read books. Brother
son Max was born with physical
and intellectual disabilities.
She is board president of the
Seattle Special Education PTA.
He needs specially designed instruction,
modified curriculum, those types of things.
But we're also talking about students
who have dyslexia, who have ADHD,
who have anxiety, who have autism,
a statement from SPSS to KING5 reads in part.
The district routinely strategizes
to prioritize providing the best
possible education for students.
In general, decreases in funding
may necessitate shifting staff
in some schools, Crowther says.
Special education is already
understaffed and under.
Resource and shifting staff causes
extra stress on a system that's already
near a breaking point, especially
after the challenges COVID-19
brought to education.
Education for students with
disabilities was never done right,
but we really need inclusion in every school,
and we need the support.
We need the we need the funding.
State needs to provide the
funding to make sure that students
like my son and students like.
You experience that they know
how to be in the classroom and
that everybody does better.
And we did ask Seattle Public
Schools for an on camera interview
on their dropping enrollment rates
and what that means for the budget.
They told us they may be able to
provide an interview down the line
once they get the official enrollment
numbers for this school year.
But with that, we'll send it to
Angelique cockade, who's in Eatonville,
where teachers are also striking.
Good morning, Angeli.
Yeah,
good morning, Kayla.
So listen, the lights are on here
inside Eatonville Middle School,
but starting at 9 here and then at
the high school later this morning,
teachers will be out here picketing
and parents getting that message.
That school was cancelled last night,
but again, this is not going
to be a complete surprise.
Teachers had spent Labor Day
weekend sharing their community
petition and car and window signs.
There was some sense of hope yesterday
though when teachers did hold
open houses to welcome students,
but then after another round of
unsuccessful negotiations last night.
The Union Eatonville education
associations claimed the district
continued to decline offers to
speak about issues like class size,
staffing and workload.
Now the Union president is putting the
pressure on the new Superintendent,
Gary Neal,
saying he can choose to do the right
thing and settle a fair contract now.
In that message to parents,
last night the district apologized
for the inconvenience to families.
They also said they will keep
families updated with any new
information as they get it.
For now,
reporting live here in
Eatonville Angela Cockney KING5.