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Washington’s third largest school district, Tacoma School District, entered its second week of negotiations with the Tacoma Teachers Union. Approximately 26,000 students remain out of school and 1,900 teachers are on the picket lines despite the court’s decision that the teachers must return to work.
A main issue of the strike is how and when teachers are reassigned to other schools—with the teacher’s union wanting more transparency and to weigh in on this issue and the school district wanting the ability to reassign teachers regardless of seniority.
“There’s a misconception here and it’s a very narrow circumstance where we move teachers around. It is at most one to two positions per school and we do it so that the teachers and the students have the best chance at success. We focus on matching the teachers’ skill set and needs of the students and not base it on seniority; we look at broader qualifications,” said Dan Voepel, spokesman for the school district in a phone interview.
The teachers’ union wants more transparency in how decisions are made. “The district bases their criteria of transferring teachers on subjective criteria and is open to each administrators’ interpretation. The criteria needs to be objective, transparent, measurable, consistent, and with our 65 worksites, implemented fairly,” said Rich Wood, spokesman for Tacoma Education Association. Wood said he does feel positive about the negotiations, which have been happening almost “nonstop.”
Negotiations between the Tacoma Teachers Union and the school district continue. Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire has told both sides in a statement, “If no deal is reached by 3 p.m. this afternoon [Sept. 21], both the district and the union will report to my office and stay until their differences are reconciled and the school doors reopen.”
