Over 5,000 Seattle teachers and paraprofessionals picketed through the day yesterday in front of the 97 schools in the Seattle School District on what should have been the first day of class.

The strike continues today, and teachers have said they will demonstrate until a satisfactory resolution is met in their contract dispute with Seattle School District.

The move comes after the Seattle Educators Association and the Seattle School Board could not reach an agreement on array of contract issues centered on professional pay, guaranteed student recess, staff evaluations, standardized testing time, recess time and workload relief.

SEA moved to strike even after the Seattle School Board passed a motion to take legal action against SEA.

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

"It's disappointing that the school board is grasping at legalistic straws rather than focusing on ways to provide the support that educators need to be successful with students," says SEA President Jonathan Knapp. "We won't be scared into abandoning our commitment to winning a fair contract.”

Joe Kelly is teacher of Language Arts and the Department Chair at Ballard High School. Kelly is picketing with over 50 teachers in front of the high school at NW 65th Street and 15th Avenue NW. Kelly is also on the SEA negotiations committee and has been teaching with the district for 18 years.

The Ballard News-Tribune caught up with Kelly yesterday around noon. The teachers had been picketing since 8:30 a.m. As Kelly commented on the strike, motorists honked and cheered from the street as they passed the picketers. A few made gestures with their hands.

“I think the community support has been overwhelming, “ said Kelly. “People understand that teachers don’t want to strike. I don’t want to be here. I want to be teaching. That’s what we work to do. It’s (the strike) a hardship for the community, but I think people understand that teachers want a fair and equitable contract, and not just for us but for their own kids,” said Kelly.

Kelly said that from the start the district emphasized equity to be kept in mind during negotiations.

“I think that we’ve made some strides. I don’t think that the two sides are all that far apart. … From the start they said we are going to couch this in terms of equity and that this will be a sort of good faith bargaining -- as it should be. I think that’s exactly right. “

Teachers picketing at BHS. The strike is the first of its type since in Seattle since 1985.

However, to Kelly and SEA, equity looks a little bit different than what the district has in mind.

For example, a major issue Kelly commented on is that SSD proposed longer school days without teacher compensation. The district has proposed to increase the current school day by 30 minutes for more instructional time. However, the district does not plan to pay teachers for the added time.

“We are not necessarily opposed to a longer instructional day, but we’d like to be compensated for it, and at the same time, we’d like to know why exactly would we have a longer instructional day. Is the longer day equal to more effective students? I don’t think it necessarily does.”

Kelly said that since the district doesn’t plan to implement the longer school day until year three of their proposal, SEA wanted to take it off the bargaining table and give time for educators to look at research and consider if a longer school day is an worthwhile option for students.

“We thought it was a golden opportunity for the district to say ‘that’s a good idea.” It’s a really good time for them to be able to reach out to educators and do the research they are required to and see if this is the right thing to do for Seattle Public Schools, rather than at the 11th hour trying to stuff this thing through.”

The district countered by taking the bump in instructional time down to 20 minutes without teacher compensation. SEA did not accept and moved to strike.

Another issue Kelly commented on was the guaranteed recess that SEA has been advocating for. Some Seattle schools only allow a lunch recess with no time for unstructured play. Kelly said that he has two sons attending school in the district and that he knows how important recess is for kids.

“Recess is important for the obvious reasons that kids should run around, and it should be more than this guided practice of PE. … It’s also a time for kids to work on compromise and navigate how they play together in a way that is fair or not so fair, and if it’s not so far, how to you respond.”

The sentiment was shared across the city.

Tabitha Burns’ daughter attends second grade at Hazel Wolf K-8 at the John Marshall Building near Green Lake. Burns was at the demonstration yesterday with her daughter to show her support for teachers. She said the strike did complicate her schedule in order to care for her daughter but that she supports the teachers striking.

“I hope that the strike does not have to last very long, but I stand by these teachers 100 percent. … I think it’s really important to show the school district that what they are doing is incredibly unfair,” Burns.

Teachers striking at Hazel Wolf K-8 at the John Marshall Building.

Burns works as a nurse and commented on how district nurses and paraprofessionals are overworked. For instance, nurses have caseloads from multiple schools and administer medications, keep track of allergies and tend to bumps and bruise for sometimes over 1000 students.

“I could not imagine it. What the school nurses do is amazing work -- to keep track of the complicated medical situations that so many kids have between allergies and medication for things like ADHD and diabetes. … It’s incredibly unfair.”

Burns also commented on how SSD wants to add 30 minutes of instructional time. She said the district should add more time for breaks or recess if they add instructional time.

“I work more than four-and-half-hours I get a 45 minute break as an adult, and we expect our children to sit still in a chair and try to learn without some kind of recess break doesn’t make any sense. … The fact that they (district) only are guaranteeing 30 minutes of recess is criminal.”

Is the strike about money?

The Ballard News-Tribune asked Kelly what he thought about the teachers’ strike being portrayed in other Seattle newspapers as being primarily about money.

“I think that’s a convenient sound bite. Money is part of it. There is no doubt about it. But the district framed it from the start: it’s about equity, and I think it’s about equity for the most at risk students, particularly in special education. … I’d say those are much better sticking points than money.”

Meanwhile, as teachers strike in Seattle, the State of Washington 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.

Kelly said that although the strike is a local issue, there are implications beyond Seattle.

“This is about the district. We are trying to send a message to the district that we are at the bargaining table too, and we want a fair and equitable contract. That said, I think there are probably ripples out to the state. We are not the only ones striking. … We send a message to the district and from there the district sends a message to the state.”