breetheflea
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Location: PNW
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Post by breetheflea on Aug 23, 2018 1:11:49 GMT
Most of the school districts in my area are preparing to strike. School is supposed to start on the 29th. Rumor is since they are bringing in a mediator that it will make the issue take longer to resolve... Anyway... My question...for anyone that has dealt with this. If this strike does happen and the first day of school is delayed how much of a delay until school starts up? I mean, they resolve their problem, does school start the next day (even if it's a Friday)? Our school district goes by days of school, not hours, so if there is a delay, I'm sure they'll tack all the days onto the end of the year  I am rambling...but while I like the idea of more summer vacation, not knowing when it will end (sort of like snow days in the winter) won't be so fun! |
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Post by busy on Aug 23, 2018 1:19:19 GMT
There was a strike in my district my senior year in high school. The strike started within the first week of school and lasted about a week. My memory is that there was a one day lag between the strike being settled and school restarting because an agreement wasn't reached until the evening and there wasn't time to notify everyone for school the next day, get transportation set, etc.
We didn't happen to have any snow that year, so the strike basically ended up taking up the snow days that are built into the schedule each year. We only had to go to school one day past the originally scheduled end of the school year.
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Post by librarylady on Aug 23, 2018 1:23:11 GMT
What state?
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breetheflea
Drama Llama
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Location: PNW
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Post by breetheflea on Aug 23, 2018 1:26:01 GMT
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Post by melanell on Aug 23, 2018 1:54:30 GMT
My question...for anyone that has dealt with this. If this strike does happen and the first day of school is delayed how much of a delay until school starts up? I mean, they resolve their problem, does school start the next day (even if it's a Friday)? Our school district goes by days of school, not hours, so if there is a delay, I'm sure they'll tack all the days onto the end of the year  I live in PA and we have the dubious honor of being the highest state in the nation for teacher strikes, so we've dealt with many of them over the years, and when our district isn't dealing with one, good chances that one or more other local districts are instead.
You likely will not immediately know the length of the strike before it starts. Here in PA, they have to tell us in advance (They used to be able to tell us the morning of.) and they have to strike continuously (They used to be able to strike 2 days, go to school 1 day, strike 1 day, go to school 1 day, strike 3 days, etc. It was awful.). But "in advance" doesn't mean that they will tell us "We will strike one week, from date A to date B." What it means is that they will say "A strike will start Date A and continue at least until the next meeting on such and such day." Then the day of the meeting, we'd get another update.
Here they are also allowed to strike a second time later in the year. We have laws about how long the original strike and second strike can last. Ours have to do with how far we'd have to go in the year to make up the days.
Yes, days do need to be made up, and it will likely vary by state and by district on how they do that. Our district shortened holiday breaks and eliminated some single days off entirely (like President's Day), but we still had to tack a few days on to the end of the year, and that was on top of all the extra snow days we also had to tack on. So our kids went to school almost 3 (calendar) weeks beyond the original last day of school.
You might find that several local businesses and organizations start programs during the strike. We see community & youth centers & libraries offer programs & classes, local day cares offering strike drop in rates, and some local organizations (and sometimes the striking teachers themselves) helping with providing food to kids who would have had free lunches and now do not.
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Post by kels99 on Aug 23, 2018 3:27:08 GMT
As soon as I saw the title of this thread, I was going to guess that you're in WA. I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of strike votes taken this year. We'll see.... |
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Post by freecharlie on Aug 23, 2018 3:41:00 GMT
I've never been on strike, but I would think there would be at least one between the agreement and going back to work. They would need to notify staff and parents.
I hope the teachers get a fair deal
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Post by Skellinton on Aug 23, 2018 3:57:07 GMT
Most of the school districts in my area are preparing to strike. School is supposed to start on the 29th. Rumor is since they are bringing in a mediator that it will make the issue take longer to resolve... Anyway... My question...for anyone that has dealt with this. If this strike does happen and the first day of school is delayed how much of a delay until school starts up? I mean, they resolve their problem, does school start the next day (even if it's a Friday)? Our school district goes by days of school, not hours, so if there is a delay, I'm sure they'll tack all the days onto the end of the year I am rambling...but while I like the idea of more summer vacation, not knowing when it will end (sort of like snow days in the winter) won't be so fun! Why would the mediator take it longer to resolve? I have not heard that. |
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breetheflea
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Post by breetheflea on Aug 23, 2018 4:58:26 GMT
Most of the school districts in my area are preparing to strike. School is supposed to start on the 29th. Rumor is since they are bringing in a mediator that it will make the issue take longer to resolve... Anyway... My question...for anyone that has dealt with this. If this strike does happen and the first day of school is delayed how much of a delay until school starts up? I mean, they resolve their problem, does school start the next day (even if it's a Friday)? Our school district goes by days of school, not hours, so if there is a delay, I'm sure they'll tack all the days onto the end of the year I am rambling...but while I like the idea of more summer vacation, not knowing when it will end (sort of like snow days in the winter) won't be so fun! Why would the mediator take it longer to resolve? I have not heard that. It was from an article someone posted online it didn't give a reason it just said that if a mediator was called, negotiations would take longer and don't expect school to start on time. All I can think is one side writes something on paper, then the mediator carries it on horseback to the other side of town, they have to read it and write back, repeat. Maybe there are dinosaurs involved...yes I'm being silly. I think the smoke has gone to my head... Our district teachers contracts are also up for renewal this year so I'm sure that isn't going to help (I'm in VPS). |
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Post by anneinwa on Aug 23, 2018 5:11:37 GMT
Most of the school districts in my area are preparing to strike. School is supposed to start on the 29th. Rumor is since they are bringing in a mediator that it will make the issue take longer to resolve... Anyway... My question...for anyone that has dealt with this. If this strike does happen and the first day of school is delayed how much of a delay until school starts up? I mean, they resolve their problem, does school start the next day (even if it's a Friday)? Our school district goes by days of school, not hours, so if there is a delay, I'm sure they'll tack all the days onto the end of the year I am rambling...but while I like the idea of more summer vacation, not knowing when it will end (sort of like snow days in the winter) won't be so fun! Another person in the same boat. My daughter’s district voted to strike today (something like 98%). My understanding is they have a just under a week to resolve this before school starts, so hopefully an agreement will be reached. If they do strike at the beginning of school I think it becomes a day to day thing. Frustrating to the extent we have to stick close to home. Mycontact says as soon as they settle, they will return to work. Days missed will be tacked on to the end of the school year. I am hoping if winter is mild, scheduled make up snow days can be used as well. |
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Post by Skellinton on Aug 23, 2018 5:14:01 GMT
Why would the mediator take it longer to resolve? I have not heard that. It was from an article someone posted online it didn't give a reason it just said that if a mediator was called, negotiations would take longer and don't expect school to start on time. All I can think is one side writes something on paper, then the mediator carries it on horseback to the other side of town, they have to read it and write back, repeat. Maybe there are dinosaurs involved...yes I'm being silly. I think the smoke has gone to my head... Our district teachers contracts are also up for renewal this year so I'm sure that isn't going to help (I'm in VPS). We are neighbors, I am ESD but as close to VSD as you can be without being in VSD, It is super stressful, I agree. I don’t see the teachers giving in and I understand, but I worry what will happen if the district gives in and in two years there is a massive shortfall. The 17% raise isn’t sustainable. I do agree they need a raise, but the district offer was pretty generous and takes into account what will happen in 2 years when the money from the state disappears. I wonder what will happen to all the building replacements going on? I imagine the ones not started will be in jeopardy, don’t you think? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2018 5:19:12 GMT
Our school is going to strike. I think the teachers are the highest in the 3 districts, it must be benefits that they are going after.
I am glad my kids are not in public school anymore.
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CeeScraps
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Post by CeeScraps on Aug 23, 2018 11:36:11 GMT
The staff needs time to vote on what was agreed on so there may be at least a day delay.
The other issue is when there is a strike the time made up is negotiated too. So, if your district is on strike for 5 days it doesn't mean that there will be 5 days made up. The staff wants all the days made up but the powers that be may want to ding the staff by not making up all of the days.
Please know your teachers do not want to strike. The powers that be have dug in and aren't listening. Oh, and the other thing is that when negotiations start both sides of the table (staff/board) know what money is available no one goes into this in the dark. So, the teachers are asking for something that they already know is there.
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breetheflea
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Location: PNW
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Post by breetheflea on Aug 23, 2018 12:24:40 GMT
It was from an article someone posted online it didn't give a reason it just said that if a mediator was called, negotiations would take longer and don't expect school to start on time. All I can think is one side writes something on paper, then the mediator carries it on horseback to the other side of town, they have to read it and write back, repeat. Maybe there are dinosaurs involved...yes I'm being silly. I think the smoke has gone to my head... Our district teachers contracts are also up for renewal this year so I'm sure that isn't going to help (I'm in VPS). We are neighbors, I am ESD but as close to VSD as you can be without being in VSD, It is super stressful, I agree. I don’t see the teachers giving in and I understand, but I worry what will happen if the district gives in and in two years there is a massive shortfall. The 17% raise isn’t sustainable. I do agree they need a raise, but the district offer was pretty generous and takes into account what will happen in 2 years when the money from the state disappears. I wonder what will happen to all the building replacements going on? I imagine the ones not started will be in jeopardy, don’t you think? In our district the new buildings/new playgrounds/remodels were a tax bond specifically for building so I don't think the money can go anywhere else. I don't remember if the school district was pitching in any of the construction costs though. Construction could be delayed... that would stink. |
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paigepea
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Post by paigepea on Aug 23, 2018 12:57:32 GMT
When I was in gr 12 there was a 2 week strike. When my girls were younger the public board started with a strike that was 3 plus weeks. My girls started because they are in the private system and we had a lot of kids sign up for our school at the last minute.
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Post by ccookwood on Aug 23, 2018 13:05:13 GMT
When I was in 7th grade my school went on strike at 9:00 am when we were already in school. They evacuated all students to the parking lot we stood around for an hour then they settled and we returned to school
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Post by Skellinton on Aug 23, 2018 15:02:47 GMT
We are neighbors, I am ESD but as close to VSD as you can be without being in VSD, It is super stressful, I agree. I don’t see the teachers giving in and I understand, but I worry what will happen if the district gives in and in two years there is a massive shortfall. The 17% raise isn’t sustainable. I do agree they need a raise, but the district offer was pretty generous and takes into account what will happen in 2 years when the money from the state disappears. I wonder what will happen to all the building replacements going on? I imagine the ones not started will be in jeopardy, don’t you think? In our district the new buildings/new playgrounds/remodels were a tax bond specifically for building so I don't think the money can go anywhere else. I don't remember if the school district was pitching in any of the construction costs though. Construction could be delayed... that would stink. That is good news about the buildings, I couldn’t recall if the district was kicking in either or not. |
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Post by Skellinton on Aug 23, 2018 15:16:00 GMT
The staff needs time to vote on what was agreed on so there may be at least a day delay. The other issue is when there is a strike the time made up is negotiated too. So, if your district is on strike for 5 days it doesn't mean that there will be 5 days made up. The staff wants all the days made up but the powers that be may want to ding the staff by not making up all of the days. Please know your teachers do not want to strike. The powers that be have dug in and aren't listening. Oh, and the other thing is that when negotiations start both sides of the table (staff/board) know what money is available no one goes into this in the dark. So, the teachers are asking for something that they already know is there. I am a teacher, I know they don’t want a strike. The problem is that the state has given a huge windfall of money to the schools for 2 years. The increase they are looking for isn’t sustainable, what is going to happen in two years when that money is gone? I absolutely agree they need a raise, the district has offered one that isn’t that far off for 2 years and actually surpasses what the union is asking in the third year. It isn’t like the district isn’t offering a raise of almost 15%, up to 17% the third. The union is asking for 16.2 immediately. I know there are other things too, but as a teacher myself what worries me and frustrates me most is class size. How in the world are the districts ever going to decrease class size if they can’t pay the teachers they have? It is a horrible situation all around, and I am hoping it gets resolved before school starts. |
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Post by epeanymous on Aug 23, 2018 18:07:01 GMT
This happened in Seattle in 2015. School was supposed to start on the Wednesday after Labor Day, but the teachers were on strike; the following Tuesday, they reached a deal, and school started two days after that, on Thursday.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2018 20:09:43 GMT
CeeScrapsThe vast majority don’t want to, but sometimes there are those few. 🙁
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Post by PolarGreen12 on Aug 23, 2018 20:17:07 GMT
We had one of the biggest strikes ever here in OK last year, it lasted more than a month. Once it was over each individual district decided how to handle the lost days. Our schools have so many inclement weather days built in to the year. Even with those built in days there was still time to make up. Some added 30 minutes on every day till school was out. Some just added days on at the end. We have some school districts that only go 4 days, so they did 5 days for the rest of the year.
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CeeScraps
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by CeeScraps on Aug 24, 2018 11:13:32 GMT
One of the other issues lots of the public don't understand is that when they say there is a 10% raise given to the staff that's not the whole picture. When the administration say that it means that the whole staff, the whole teaching staff has a pot of money that is a 10% increase. That pot of 10% money is divided amongst each and every staff member.
When it is divided....some staff get 2%, some get 1/2% (yes, not a typo), some get more. NOT every staff member gets a 10% raise. The amount given to each member has to do with their longevity in the district. Now, that DOES NOT mean that the most experienced staff get the largest percentage. Most times the most experienced staff get the smaller percentage.
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Post by Skellinton on Aug 24, 2018 14:06:59 GMT
One of the other issues lots of the public don't understand is that when they say there is a 10% raise given to the staff that's not the whole picture. When the administration say that it means that the whole staff, the whole teaching staff has a pot of money that is a 10% increase. That pot of 10% money is divided amongst each and every staff member. When it is divided....some staff get 2%, some get 1/2% (yes, not a typo), some get more. NOT every staff member gets a 10% raise. The amount given to each member has to do with their longevity in the district. Now, that DOES NOT mean that the most experienced staff get the largest percentage. Most times the most experienced staff get the smaller percentage. Are you in Washington? |
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Post by Darcy Collins on Aug 24, 2018 14:17:10 GMT
One of the other issues lots of the public don't understand is that when they say there is a 10% raise given to the staff that's not the whole picture. When the administration say that it means that the whole staff, the whole teaching staff has a pot of money that is a 10% increase. That pot of 10% money is divided amongst each and every staff member. When it is divided....some staff get 2%, some get 1/2% (yes, not a typo), some get more. NOT every staff member gets a 10% raise. The amount given to each member has to do with their longevity in the district. Now, that DOES NOT mean that the most experienced staff get the largest percentage. Most times the most experienced staff get the smaller percentage. I'm not from Washington, but read a few articles yesterday to get up to speed. It doesn't sound like that's the case in this situation: katu.com/news/local/teacher-strikes-loom-as-negotiations-continue-for-many-washington-schoolsI'll be interested to see how this plays out. Several of the proposals from the districts already exceed the new allocations from the state, and it sounds like there is now a limited ability to supplement with property taxes. |
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Post by Skellinton on Aug 24, 2018 14:20:02 GMT
One of the other issues lots of the public don't understand is that when they say there is a 10% raise given to the staff that's not the whole picture. When the administration say that it means that the whole staff, the whole teaching staff has a pot of money that is a 10% increase. That pot of 10% money is divided amongst each and every staff member. When it is divided....some staff get 2%, some get 1/2% (yes, not a typo), some get more. NOT every staff member gets a 10% raise. The amount given to each member has to do with their longevity in the district. Now, that DOES NOT mean that the most experienced staff get the largest percentage. Most times the most experienced staff get the smaller percentage. I'm not from Washington, but read a few articles yesterday to get up to speed. It doesn't sound like that's the case in this situation: katu.com/news/local/teacher-strikes-loom-as-negotiations-continue-for-many-washington-schoolsI'll be interested to see how this plays out. Several of the proposals from the districts already exceed the new allocations from the state, and it sounds like there is now a limited ability to supplement with property taxes. Yes, I don’t think the divide she was talking about is correct in this case. This is another good article. www.opb.org/news/article/strike-clark-county-teachers-raises-washington/ |
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Post by kels99 on Aug 24, 2018 17:33:42 GMT
The issue in my district (I'm a sub, so I have no money involved here) is that the district used to give a base salary + TRI pay for working extra teacher training days, ect. They are now getting rid of that TRI pay and offering a % increase. To the public, I think it looks like an acceptable raise, but in reality, many teachers will actually be getting a pay cut because that TRI will be gone.
I *think* that TRI is being done away with across the state, but not sure.
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Post by gmcwife1 on Aug 24, 2018 18:23:04 GMT
Our school is going to strike. I think the teachers are the highest in the 3 districts, it must be benefits that they are going after. I am glad my kids are not in public school anymore. I'm with you, I'm glad all my kids have aged out of the public school system! |
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Post by honeyb on Aug 24, 2018 22:53:41 GMT
The issue in my district (I'm a sub, so I have no money involved here) is that the district used to give a base salary + TRI pay for working extra teacher training days, ect. They are now getting rid of that TRI pay and offering a % increase. To the public, I think it looks like an acceptable raise, but in reality, many teachers will actually be getting a pay cut because that TRI will be gone. I *think* that TRI is being done away with across the state, but not sure. This is exactly the case in my district in King County (I'm a sub also). I think(if I understand correctly) that McCleary now limits the amount of money that can be used from levy funds for salaries (understandable as the whole crux of McCleary was whether or not the state was fully funding basic education).Thus abandoning tri pay. At any rate, our district's initial offer was 3.1%. That didn't go over well. I have received an email from our EA that says that a tentative agreement has been reached. The vote is Monday (school is set to begin on Wednesday) the 2 neighboring districts jyst ratified at 14.5 & 14.9%, so hopefully we'll be in the ballpark. I'm hoping for a raise here too! Being a sub, this doesn't affect me, but I do have 10th and 12th grade kids expecting to start Wednesday. |
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Jili
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Post by Jili on Aug 25, 2018 0:52:47 GMT
One of the other issues lots of the public don't understand is that when they say there is a 10% raise given to the staff that's not the whole picture. When the administration say that it means that the whole staff, the whole teaching staff has a pot of money that is a 10% increase. That pot of 10% money is divided amongst each and every staff member. When it is divided....some staff get 2%, some get 1/2% (yes, not a typo), some get more. NOT every staff member gets a 10% raise. The amount given to each member has to do with their longevity in the district. Now, that DOES NOT mean that the most experienced staff get the largest percentage. Most times the most experienced staff get the smaller percentage. If I remember correctly, we’re in the same area. This is exactly how it works here. |
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Post by 950nancy on Aug 25, 2018 2:58:27 GMT
I was a teacher for 28 years and we never went on strike or even talked about striking. I guess it surprises me when others go on strike. Colorado is one of the lowest funded states also.
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