Washblog

The teachers union estimates that 160 to 170 teachers will lose their jobs this summer, said Glenn Bafia, executive director of the Seattle Education Association. "I guess we were a little surprised that it was going to be that high," Bafia said. Fifty-nine secretaries and classroom assistants also were given layoff notices last week, Bafia said. Though after the union compared a list of names, it estimated that number to end up in the mid-70s, he said. . . . One of those being laid off is John Houston, an eighth-grade language arts and social studies teacher at McClure Middle School on Queen Anne. He is in his fifth year teaching with Seattle Public Schools. "According to the union, I'm the senior-most one," he said.

Random emails from union Assembly Reps?

whatever.

rmm.

http://www.liemail.com/BambooGrassroots.html

Seattle Public Schools and the teachers' union have agreed to negotiate any work day changes, avoiding a potential legal fight.

"We agreed to begin negotiations on the work day issue and other financial matters sooner rather than later," SEA Executive Director Glenn Bafia said in a statement Friday afternoon. "This is a good resolution."

Last week the union had threatened legal action because of a letter Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson sent out that teachers believed terminated the contracts of all 3,300 members.

The letter, which district officials later said was mailed prematurely, said teacher contracts need to be changed because of education cuts at the state level. Lawmakers reduced the funding for Learning Improvement Days -- planning days for teachers when students don't attend classes -- from two to one.

The reason the SEA objected in the first place to the letters was that the move amounted to the district negotiating with the teachers individually instead of collectively. It was, in the union's view, an actionable unfair labor practice that went right to the heart of the right to bargain collectively.

When the district (and by extension the superintendent) say the letters were sent out prematurely, they are lying. These letters were soon followed up with registered letters in order to comply with state legal requirements. Many of my colleagues received these registered letters this week. If they were premature, the district would have rescinded them. Instead, it pressed what amounted to a union-breaking action. Apparently the district has now backed down

Gov. Chris Gregoire told the state's largest teachers union Thursday night that everyone in Washington is being hurt by the national recession that blasted a big hole in the state budget.

Gregoire offered verbal support for teachers, but little else during a speech before the Washington Education Association's annual convention. The speech came as thousands of teachers across the state are receiving layoff notices for the next school year.

"The fact of the matter is, everyone has felt the pain," Gregoire said. "It is devastating."