Instead being the first day of school for Seattle Public School students, tomorrow teachers will strike at all of the 97 schools in the district.

More than 5,000 Seattle teachers and paraprofessionals will start picketing in front of schools tomorrow at 8:30 a.m.

The strike comes after the Seattle Educators Association and the Seattle School Board could not reach an agreement on array of contract issues.

Negotiations center on professional pay, guarantee of student recess, staff evaluations, standardized testing time and workload relief.

Another major issue is that the district has proposed to increase the current school day by 30 minutes for more instruction time. However, the district did not include paying teachers for the added time in their proposal..

Negotiations began in May, but the district and SEA were unable come to an agreement before the deadline of August 24.

In a statement, SEA President Jonathan Knapp said, “Seattle teachers and support staff are unified and resolute in working for a fair contract, and we’re willing to do what it takes to get one. The Seattle School Board must get down to work and move on these crucial issues so our students can start school on time."

SEA represents about 5,000 educators and professionals in the Seattle School District, and Seattle is the largest school district in Washington State with 53,000 students.

The strike tomorrow is the first one relating to teacher contracts since 1985.

Mayor Ed Murray issued a statement today on the ongoing negotiations between the district and SEA.

“Over the weekend, I spoke with Superintendent Nyland, School Board President Sherry Carr and Seattle Education Association President Jonathan Knapp,” said the mayor. “I encouraged all parties to come together to reach an agreement as quickly as possible so that kids can begin their school year. During those conversations, I offered to help and assist in any way I could.”

The mayor also announced that the City would extend city-sponsored youth programs at several community centers and camps to help with childcare while teachers strike.

Meanwhile, Washington State is being fined $100,000 a day for what the Supreme Court says is the State's inability to fund education for its 1 million K-12 students. The sanctioned money is going into a fund devoted to education.

However, SEA stated that the strike tomorrow is more about the local issues and not about the larger state funding issues.

Look to the Ballard News-Tribune for coverage of the strike tomorrow.