In southwest Washington, educator strikes stall the start of school

Strap on your backpack and get ready to flub your locker combination for the next nine months: It’s back to school season.

Wednesday was the first day for students attending Seattle Public Schools. The district appears to have avoided a strike by reaching a tentative 11th-hour deal with the union representing school custodians, cafeteria staff, and security workers.

But tens of thousands of students in southwest Washington are still waiting for their school year to get started. That’s where two teacher strikes are stretching into a second week.

Educators at Evergreen Public Schools in Vancouver and the neighboring Camas School District have walked off the job.

Grace Deng, a reporter at The Washington State Standard, caught up with "Soundside" to talk about what motivated union members to vote "yes" and activate a strike.

"Evergreen educators are asking for more [special education] support, more planning time, more staff, and higher wages that take into account the cost of living as we deal with inflation," Deng said. Camas educators are also striking over special education support, planning time, and wages.

A negotiating sticking point for educators in both districts is an inflation metric called the implicit price deflator, a national metric for inflation, Deng said.

Educators in the affected districts want school officials to stick with the Consumer Price Index, a local metric for inflation that measures the inflation rate in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.

"The unions are saying that the districts want to switch metrics now, because it would be cheaper for the districts going forward," Deng said.

But the school districts say this switch is necessary as drops in enrollment have led to budget shortfalls. According to Deng, Evergreen Public Schools is facing a $19 million budget shortfall, which forced them to lay off every teacher librarian in middle and high schools within the district. The Camas School District is looking at a $5 million to $7 million budget cut for the upcoming school year.

As of Wednesday morning, teachers in both districts are still on strike, and Deng said there hasn't been much movement since negotiations stalled on Monday.

"At Evergreen they've had face-to- face talks. That included the district superintendent, and a union rep I spoke to this morning and said she hopes his leadership will help," Deng said. "But it really doesn't look like there's much movement on that front."