Seattle teachers strike nears end as union, district reach tentative agreement

After four days of striking, Seattle teachers late on Monday evening came to a "tentative agreement" with the school district over the details of their contract.

Teachers will likely vote to suspend the strike at an 8:30 a.m. vote, so that members may consider the proposed agreement.

Seattle Public Schools said it would send a message to families later in the day on Tuesday with more information about when school might start.

In a Facebook Live video, Jennifer Matter, Seattle Education Association president, called the tentative agreement “huge.”

The union said the agreement would also boost staff pay, one of its demands.

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Seattle School Board President Brandon Hersey said he had been briefed on the agreement and that it puts more services toward students learning English and those with disabilities.

“We’re just really excited that our teachers have an agreement that hopefully, if ratified, they can be really proud of, and that is gonna help us make sure that we’re focusing on the kids,” Hersey said.

Union and district officials have not publicly released the tentative agreement and were not immediately available for interviews.

Email from Jennifer Matter, president of the Seattle Education Association, the teachers union, to membership late Monday evening:

"Great news, #SEAStrong Members!

"We stuck together, made our strength and unity known, and our action worked. We are excited to announce we have achieved a Tentative Agreement (TA) with Seattle Public Schools. Our solidarity on the picket lines and the enormous community support we received made all the difference. We should all be proud of what we accomplished and what we stood up for: student supports and respect for educators.

"Our tentative agreement is for a 3-year contract with Special Education ratios maintained and improved in areas, adding baseline mental health staffing in all schools, and raises above IPD every year. There's so much to share and we'll do our best to provide more detail as soon as possible.

"We will send members a summary of the tentative agreement shortly along with FAQs as soon as those are ready. The SEA Board is calling a General Membership Meeting for Tuesday morning, September 13 at 8:30 a.m. to hear highlights of the TA and to vote to suspend the strike. It’s important that every member attend. You will receive a personalized link directly from zoom tonight. Each link is good for only one attendee-- do not forward. If someone else uses your link, you both will be removed from the meeting.

"Ratifying the TA is part of our democratic union processes and to respect members' voices we are keeping the TA among members only until it is ratified. We extend our deepest gratitude to the hard-working Bargaining Team Members.

"This contract negotiation is one more step (albeit an important one!) along our years- and even decades-long journey to achieve the schools we all deserve. We made real progress not only in our contract but also in rallying with our community these past several weeks. After two incredibly difficult years impacted by COVID and so much more, it is beautiful to know that the community love and support for educators and our public schools is as strong as ever. We can and must continue to connect and rally with our communities for the schools our students deserve, whether at the John Stanford Center or down in Olympia.

"Our public schools truly are the ❤️ of our community."

The district updated families immediately with an email:

“Dear SPS Families and Staff,

Seattle Public Schools (SPS) and the Seattle Education Association (SEA) have come to a tentative agreement on the educators’ contract.

For now, the details of the tentative agreement are confidential. SEA members will review the proposed contract and vote tomorrow on whether to lift the strike.

Tomorrow afternoon, we will share an update on the start of school.

This was an incredible effort by the SPS and SEA bargaining teams. We want to thank everyone on both teams who worked hard to come to a resolution.

A special thank you to our educators who are the backbone of our school district. They work hard every day supporting our students and families. We are proud to move in a direction that will better meet the needs of our students and staff.

We are looking forward to beginning school and welcoming students and staff for the 2022-23 school year.

Sincerely,

Office of Public Affairs

Seattle Public Schools”