Washington State teachers ordered back to work (Tacoma)

[nadinbrzezinski]

(AP)  TACOMA, Wash. — Thousands of students in Washington state's third-largest school district will be spending a second day out of class as school officials seek a court order to force hundreds of striking teachers back to work.

A Superior Court hearing has been scheduled at 9 a.m. Wednesday on the Tacoma School District's request for an injunction to order nearly 1,900 teachers back to work. The district's lawyers contend that public employees cannot legally strike under state law. Tacoma Education Association spokesman Rich Wood said union lawyers will be ready with a response.

The district has canceled Wednesday classes for Tacoma's 28,000 students. In Washington state, only the Seattle and Spokane school districts are larger.

Teachers hit the picket lines Tuesday after voting overwhelmingly Monday night to strike over issues that include teacher pay, class size and the way the district's teachers are transferred and reassigned. Tacoma teachers had been working without a contract since school started Sept. 1.



http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/13/ap/business/main20105786.shtml

Some DU'ers are involved.

[iemitsu]

1. thanks for posting this.

the district and the media are misrepresenting what is really happening, as usual.
no teacher in this district would have voted to strike over the pay issue. class size is important and should not be raised as we already have the third largest class size in the state.
it is the districts refusal to remove vague and untested evaluation language from the contract proposal that caused this strike. this language can and will be used to reassign teachers, hire, and fire teachers at a whim.
this is not a power that the district has ever had and they did not need to force a strike over it.
the administrators and the paper are being dishonest in their efforts to break the union.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. You welcome

They always do, but analysis is not for here.

[Generic Other]

2. The Tacoma teachers are on average older thus higher on salary schedule

They are striking over seniority and whether they can be fired at will. The high paid teachers have MA's because the district promoted the idea years ago in exchange for raises. The district wants to replace the older more experienced ones for cheaper new ones. Sounds like a TFA scam to me.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. I just posted the nooz

Analysis is for others. Alert madfloridian. Right up her alley.

[Generic Other]

5. The paper is hostile and not reporting honestly

Hope the school doesn't get its way.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. As I said I just posted

Will do the analysis off site, tonight.