Snohomish Education Association - A Letter to Parents

Pay is not the only issue
Another frustration for teachers is that district letters focus on salary and insurance issues, when many more issues are on the table. Although salary is important to teachers, it is not by any means the only issue. Following is a list of points on which teachers have asked for compromise:

Class size: When we went to work in August to prepare for classes, some teachers received class lists with 39 to 42 students in one class. To teachers, this is completely unacceptable; having so many students makes excellent teaching very difficult. It represents a serious lack of respect for teachers who are trying to do their best for students.

One of the ways SEA encourages the district to keep class size low is by setting limits (triggers) that require the district to compensate teachers when the number of students exceeds the trigger. SEA does this for several reasons. It encourages the district to use money set aside for compensation to hire extra teachers to reduce class size. This requirement can discourage the district from overloading classes. Another reason is that it provides money to hire educational assistants and pay for supplies. It can also be used to compensate teachers who have more students. SEA has asked that the district reduce the triggers in secondary classes by two, and also lower the triggers for secondary remedial classes. The district is offering no changes to current contract language on this issue.

Workload relief for special education teachers, speech language pathologists, occupational and physical therapists: Currently, no class size triggers exist in these categories. Last year student numbers exceeded 45 and 70 in some cases. In recognition of these teachers' heavy workload and the difficulty of finding special education teachers, SEA originally proposed a $1,000 stipend; an increase of the current 2 planning days to 4; and a caseload and class size formula that could generate additional planning time or compensation in lieu of planning time. Since then, the SEA has reduced the stipend proposal to $600. The district originally offered to increase the current 2 release days to 3 only for special education teachers, and proposed a caseload and class size formula that was higher than SEA's. Since August 21, the district has not made any additional effort to compromise on this issue.

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Salary: In its letter of September 5, the district said its latest proposal offered a 4.9% salary increase, which included a 3.03% state funded COLA. That statement was misleading. Because the state cut one professional development day from what teachers received last year, teachers will receive only the equivalent of a 2.7% COLA.

To further evaluate the district's salary offer, keep in mind that the district's portion of that pay increase is just 1.7%. The district originally offered to pay a 1.13% salary increase the first year, and a .5% salary increase the second year. Later, it increased that offer to 1.7% the first year, and .9% the second year. Sea's most recent position shows a greater willingness to compromise. Its original salary increase proposal was 5.6% the first year, and 2.5% the second year. It has reduced this position to 3.5% the first year, a 2.1% compromise. SEA has kept the second year position the same. Altogether, the district has moved less than 1% from its original offer.

Insurance: In its September 5 letter, the district said it had offered to increase its insurance benefits to $81.37 per month per full time employee. While this does represent an increase over the previous contract, it fails to recognize the increasing out-of-pocket premium costs for teachers.

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Teachers are parents and community members, too
Teachers know many parents are struggling to pay for daycare while the strike continues; many of us have children we must keep in daycare, too! We want this strike to end as soon as possible, but we are dismayed at the district leadership's unwillingness to compromise on important issues. The district's most recent offer does a disservice to the teaching profession and damages our ability to provide Snohomish children with high quality education.

Ask district leaders to compromise (Contact the district)
If you have questions or concerns not addressed in this letter please stop by our picket lines to get more information on Sea's positions. Share this letter with your friends, family and neighbors. Visit the SEA website at www.snohomishea.org. If you support our efforts, please consider joining us on the picket line or call the district superintendent and school board to ask them to compromise. We want to be in the classroom with our students!

Sincerely,

The Snohomish Education Association and Teachers of Snohomish High School

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