Seattle teachers' strike cancels Monday classes

KING 5-TV, Seattle

Show Caption Hide Caption Seattle teachers' strike hits 2nd week, classes canceled Seattle Public Schools canceled classes for a fourth day as a strike by teachers enters its second week.

SEATTLE —The Seattle teachers' strike is continuing into a second week after school officials said Sunday that they've reached no agreement with the teachers union. Classes are cancelled for Monday.

Over the weekend the district added money to a proposal to add 20 minutes to the school day.

"The district presented an offer to pay teachers for additional instructional minutes," district spokeswoman Stacy Howard said at a Sunday press briefing. "This means that we've built in compensation for the added student instructional minutes that we are building into the teacher day. No time will be added to the teacher work day."

"Please keep in mind, the additional student instructional time is to address the fact that Seattle elementary students are among the lowest statewide for the instructional day at six hours and 10 minutes, compared to the state average of 6.5," said Howard. "This also addresses state mandate."

Howard also said the school calendar is starting to be impacted.

"The three snow days that we typically build into the calendar have already been exhausted," she said. "We will now have to look at whether we need to shorten our holiday breaks or add additional days to the end of the school year."

Graduation dates may also be changed, Howard said.

Howard said when school starts, all kindergartners will start on the first day, not a delayed start as originally planned.

Washington state's largest school district and the teachers union remain at an impasse over pay raises, teacher evaluations and other issues.

The educators, who have not received a cost-of-living pay raise in six years, have joined other workers pushing for higher wages that compete with the city's growing, highly paid tech workers.

The city of Seattle already announced plans to provide all-day care for up to 3,000 students beginning Monday. More than 20 local community centers will open with full supervision.