strikes and lawsuits and swine flu...

...add your own "Oh my."

The school year commences in Washington state with a strike in the Kent district...

More than 1,000 striking teachers packed the picket line outside Kent School District headquarters Friday to let everyone know about their unhappiness with contract talks.

With only two days left to work out an agreement before school is supposed to start, striking teachers from every school in the Kent district showed up for the rally.

"We feel very put against the wall, painted into a corner - very disrespected that the district wasn't willing to bargain," says teacher Pat Deming.

Meanwhile, the Teamsters did a drive-by of support for the teachers' demands from the district as some teachers shouted, "Class size! Class size! Class size!"

(And read Ryan's take for some criticism of a critic; Lake Stevens is striking, too; at least Shoreline seems to have avoided the worst.)

...and a court date for the NEWS lawsuit...

Right in the middle of a recession that has created the worst atmosphere for school budgeting in decades, a coalition of Washington school districts, parents, teachers and community groups is going to court Monday to demand that the state start paying the full cost of education.

Attorneys for both sides say the economy will have little or no influence on the outcome of the non-jury trail, scheduled to begin on the first day of the school year for many district and to continue for six weeks of testimony in King County Superior Court before Judge John Erlick.

School districts have been struggling economically for decades, so while the recession makes things worse it doesn't make them different, said Mike Blair, chair of the group calling itself Network for Excellence in Washington Schools.

...and, of course, a potentially deadly flu strain.

Yay?

Bethel strike over?

It could be history a mere six days after beginning, KOMO reports:

Striking teachers and the Bethel School District reached a tentative contract agreement Monday that could end a short strike. Union officials say teachers could be in their classrooms as soon as Wednesday.

Bethel Education Association President Tom Cruver did not release any details of the settlement, which came after 25 hours of weekend negotiations, but he called it fair.

"It would be fair to say that both sides worked to find a middle ground," he said.

Teachers will vote Tuesday evening. If they ratify the contract, school will resume on Wednesday, Cruver said.

Based on Cruver's words, I'd wager with about 90% confidence that the teachers will ratify the contract.

Across Puget Sound, the Shoreline EA, meanwhile, moves closer to picketing.

Bethel on strike; school delayed indefinitely

This is a shout-out to the striking teachers in Bethel, who will hit the pavement to picket tomorrow after yesterday's bargaining breakdown.

Classes had been set to resume Thursday, but schools will remain closed at least through the end of the week, according to the notice. About 1,050 teachers and 18,000 students are affected.

In a notice posted on the school district's Web site, School Superintendent Tom Siegel said the Bethel Education Association gave strike notice last night.

"The Bethel Education Association informed the district late Tuesday Aug. 28 that their members were on strike," the posting said.

"We are hopeful that negotiations will continue over the weekend with the goal of opening school as soon as possible," Siegel wrote, adding that the school district had presented the last offer and was waiting for a response.

Both sides are at odds over compensation, workload and health care benefits. The district said their latest offer increased total compensation [by] 6.5 [and] 6.9 percent under terms of a two-year contract.

Here's hoping for a swift and reasonable resolution. No one likes a strike--teachers least of all.

Update 9/1: After a hard day's negotiation, still no resolution.

Tuesday is the earliest classes could begin, but that now looks unlikely.

Cruver says even if a proposed deal was reached soon, some vacationing teachers would not be able to see it until their return home on Monday.

"We have a 24-hour time for people to look at those contracts," Cruver said. "You know how thick they are and how much there is, so we are hopeful things can start as soon as possible as soon as we reach a tentative agreement, if that is even possible at this point."

The district says it will notify parents by phone Sunday evening at the latest.

That's Bethel EA president Tom Cruver. From his speech to the union, given this past May:

We care about these issues because they are our issues. Your yes vote today tells the district that you support our bargaining team. We want the district to quit stalling and we want a fair and equitable contract before school begins next fall. Our numbers empower our bargaining team to obtain a breakthrough contract.

They voted yes. Just how close they are to the breakthrough remains to be seen.

a date with the bargaining team

Yesterday afternoon the Olympia EA hosted an informal gabfest over drinks and hors d'oeuvres at Mercato, to hear about pressing issues, but also to give members at least some sense of the complexities and compromises inherent in negotiation.

Before opening up a forum, the bargaining team shared strategy and its operating maxims. Though I won't list them here, I will say that, surprisingly, given some of the discussion, all of the maxims are framed negatively--"Don't do this," "Don't allow that." I tend to find positive goals more encouraging and less of a defensive stance, so I'd encourage the team to think about reworking them as positive statements.

I'll add more thoughts once I've thoroughly digested everything in my notes.

Oh, and word on the street is that I blog about local union activity, as well as a range of state and national educational concerns, offering pithy commentary and sage advice to the masses. But don't tell anyone.

are you ready for the revolution? a contract database

Most of my technological revolution-blogging has concerned the increasingly mechanized classroom. But what about unions? We're not all fuddy-duddies. Some of us even blog. And now we can see the intimate details of bargaining agreements from around the country.

Welcome to the National Council on Teacher Quality's groundbreaking online research portal. You can explore the intricacies of collective bargaining agreements, board policies, and teacher handbooks from the nation's 50 largest school districts, educating 16 percent (over 8 million) of all school children, employing nearly 500,000 teachers and operating 11,000 schools. And that's just the beginning.

Districts, watch out: better ideas are out there, lurking in cyberspace, and now we have an easy way to find them.

Hat tip: the ever-useful Dr. Homeslice.