(The Center Square) – The union representing Seattle teachers has voted to authorize a strike, putting the start of the school year on Sept. 2 in jeopardy.
The in-person vote at the Seattle Convention Center on late Wednesday night was overwhelming in favor of the strike, with a 91% margin. If contract negotiations don’t result in a settlement by Sept. 1, the day before school is scheduled to start, the strike resolution authorizes a walkout.
The 6,000 members of the Seattle Education Association don’t just represent teachers but paraprofessionals and counselors in the 50,000-student system. They last walked out in 2022 in what turned out to be a five-day strike.
The current contract expires on Aug. 31.
The union is demanding wage increases above inflation and smaller class sizes, but the district is balking at the requests, insisting it is financially unable to fund the increases and add positions the union wants.
“We don’t want to strike, but unless the district starts prioritizing student learning and supports, the district is giving us no choice,” SEA President Ibijoke Idowu said in a statement.
She did not address the wage increases the union wants in the statement.
Idowu didn’t respond to requests for an interview with The Center Square.
The union is asking for 1.5% to 5% wage increases above inflation increases, depending on the position, in a multi-year contract that would extend through the 2028-29 school year.
But the district is only willing to pass along a yearly 2.6% cost-of-living adjustment, money that is fully funded by the state of Washington.
At school board meetings, Superintendent Ben Shuldiner has stressed that SPS must focus entirely on “limiting overspending” instead of offering salary increases.
School system Chief of Staff Bev Richnod, who is in charge of public relations for the Seattle Schools, did not respond to The Center Square’s requests for comment.
But district officials have publicly said that Seattle Schools are grappling with a looming $87 million budget deficit for the 2026-27 school year and a depleted $30 million rainy-day reserve, down from a recommended $135 million.
Vicki Murray, senior education policy director at the free market nonprofit Washington Policy Center, said investing in great education means investing in teachers, but noted that Seattle teachers’ salaries are among the highest paid in the country.
“They make into the six figures,” she said.
Statistics show that the median salary for a Seattle School system teacher is $134,000.
Administrators, who are not part of the potential strike, make even more, north of $250,000 a year, she noted.
However, the teachers union also represents paraprofessionals who can earn as little as $50,000 a year.
But Seattle School system officials say the issue is not whether increased wages are deserved; the issue is that the district doesn’t have the money to fund the increases.
Part of the district’s financial problems is due to losing students.
The district lost nearly 4,000 students in recent years, driven by families moving away due to Seattle’s high cost of living and by parents choosing to send their children to parochial and private schools because of concerns about the quality of education offered at Seattle schools.
Washington state funds public schools based on student enrollment, meaning that every departing student removes roughly $20,000 in annual state revenue from the budget.