Tacoma School District to Teachers: Stop the Strike, or We'll Make You Stop
This week, Tacoma's school kids got an extra week of summer, as their teachers and school board fought over contract negotiations, which ended in a district-wide teachers' strike. Now, the AP is reporting, the Tacoma School District is requesting an injunction to force the teachers off the picket lines and into the classrooms.
Technically, the Tacoma School District has the legal high ground--as we discussed last week, Rob McKenna made it clear years ago that educators (and other public employees) in Washington State don't have the right to strike during collective bargaining--but for many, it's the teachers who are in the right.
Since the teachers' contracts expired on Sept. 1, they've been butting heads with district leaders over multiple critical issues, including fair pay and manageable classroom size. Because, the Tacoma Education Association is arguing, even in times of budget cuts, the educators of Tacoma's 28,000 students is a priority, and without these protective measures written into the contracts of every educator, that's simply not possible.
The Tacoma School District is scheduled for a Superior Court hearing this afternoon, which may end in the desired injunction, which would try to strong-arm the teachers back into their classrooms. According to the AP, union lawyers for the teachers will be standing by with a response.
