Kent educators’ strike opens school year
Seattle
Over 1,700 educators went on strike in working-class Kent, Washington, near Seattle, to open the school year. On Aug. 22, 1,600 school workers voted by 94% to walk out, according to Kent Education Association Vice-President Layla Jones. Picket lines of the KEA went up Aug. 25, and by the weekend the union was still locked in negotiations with the district. (Seattle Times, Aug. 25)
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Kent educators take strike vote on Aug. 22. Credit: thestand.org
The Kent School District has 25,000 students; 70% are students of color, and many are from immigrant communities. Like in working-class schools everywhere, Kent school workers and teachers have been forced to educate under extreme hardship, before and since COVID-19. Educators in Kent say they are greatly understaffed in a number of areas due to government austerity and a lack of support from the pandemic.
The KEA demands a pay increase, smaller class sizes and more manageable caseloads for staff working with English learners and students in special education. About 25% to 30% of the students at Kent-Meridian High School are English learners.
A release from the KEA says: “At issue are several anti-union proposals — including contractual proposals against workplace discrimination — and the district’s refusal to pay a state-funded, cost-of-living pay increase.”
Kent educators went on strike in 2009 for 15 days. They were forced back to work at that time by the threat of an anti-worker injunction from the Superior Court, which threatened heavy fines.