By Eric M. Johnson

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Seattle teachers and support staff marched in picket lines on Wednesday during what was supposed to be the first day of school, waging their first such strike in three decades after contract talks between the district and union failed.

The 5,000-member Seattle Education Association had voted unanimously on Sept. 3 to strike on the first day of school for some 53,000 students in almost 100 public schools if an agreement could not be reached for a tentative contract, said union spokesman Rich Wood.

The two sides remained at loggerheads over several key issues after extended talks collapsed late Tuesday, including teacher pay increases, teacher evaluations and the length of the school day. Picketing would continue on Thursday, Wood said.

"Our message is that we are ready to go back into the classroom as soon as we can get a fair agreement," striking chemistry teacher Mark Landreville said at Roosevelt High School.

The strike comes after Washington's top court ruled last week that state charter schools are illegal and, in a separate ruling last month, fined the state $100,000 per day for failing to put forward a plan to fully fund education.

Teachers in the southeastern city of Pasco voted Monday night to continue a strike there and to defy a judge's order to go back to work, Wood said.

Seattle Public Schools offered a proposed contract that included $62 million in wage increases, staff increases for special education and 30 minutes of additional instructional time after two years, said district spokeswoman Stacy Howard. This is still far short of the $172 million in increases sought by the union, she said.

As of Wednesday, Howard said the union was demanding pay increases of 15.3 percent over two years plus state-paid cost-of-living increases, while the district sought increases of 14 percent over three years, plus those price allowances.

It also agreed over the weekend to a union proposal that assures 30 minutes of recess, Howard and Wood said.

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But the union said the district was insisting on extending the school day by 30 minutes without paying teachers and staff for their time, and that teachers have seen about six years without a cost-of-living pay increase, even as Seattle has seen skyrocketing rents, Wood said.

The city said it was holding all-day camps at several community centers to help parents with child care.





(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Bill Trott)