🎒 Back to school? Maybe not…

Seattle Public Schools and Teachers Union at Impasse

Teachers are spending today getting their classrooms ready for the school year to start on Wednesday, which may not come to pass if Seattle Public Schools [SPS] and Seattle Education Association [SEA] cannot come to an agreement on class size, wages, and special education by EOD Tuesday. Talks broke down Saturday evening, but both sides agreed to mediation, and talks resumed Sunday evening. [Seattle Times]

• The latest from SPS and SEA: On Saturday, SPS produced a printable version of their offer to SEA. It included info about salary guarantees, special education, services, and support. SEA responded by sending a ‘marked up’ version of printable paper (giving them a 50% score). And late Sunday night, SPS Superintendent wrote a long update on his newsletter about SPS’ offer, why negotiations broke down, and highlighted his desire to end the strike, saying that the school doors will remain open as long as we can possibly do so. But if they close, that is because someone else is shutting them.’
• Raises and class size: The union wants 1% to 3% raises for certificated staff (employees with state certification like teachers and counselors) and 3% to 5% for classified staff. This would be in addition to a 2.6% cost-of-living/inflation adjustment, which is what SPS is currently offering. SPS says that currently there is a $78 million deficit. [Seattle Times]
• Special Education: Changes to the district's special education program is a big point of contention, with educators saying that the changes being made would result in less adults helping with special education programs by reducing the current number of ‘learning pathways’ from four to two.
• Fingers crossed: As a former teacher and the child and sibling of public school workers, I know what it looks like when a public school teacher spends hours planning on weekends and going all out for the kids in their class. And as a parent, I do hope school starts. There’s no contingency plan for parents if it doesn’t. So let’s hope this can get done right and soon! In the meantime, I’ll be negotiating screen time with an 8-year-old while trying to write this newsletter. And I’m one of the lucky ones!

📮 Mail-in voting saga continues: Last week, WA State Attorney General Nick Brown praised a federal judge who issued a temporary injunction blocking the new U.S. Postal Service rules on mail-in voting. Brown called the USPS action a "constitutional overreach" and said his office would keep working with other states to fight the Trump administration's efforts to change mail-in voting rules. [KUOW]

🧑‍🧑‍🧒 WA state saves family program, but reduces budget: Washington State officials have decided not to cut the Parent to Parent program, which helped families of children with autism and other developmental disabilities navigate resources and find community by pairing newer parents with more experienced ones. Instead of being cut entirely, it will see a reduction of 10% of its budget. [Washington State Standard]

🚌 Transit changes and cars in Pike Place: Fall is almost here, and there are service changes to several transit agencies. Seattle Transit Blog has a breakdown, which includes updates on bus service with the Federal Way Link. It also appears that Pike Place Market will decrease its pedestrian-only approach and instead be open to traffic this winter.