Seattle schools avoid strike, but face ongoing budget issues
Seattle Public Schools avoids strike after approving late-minute contract
Contract negotiations with Seattle teachers came down to the fire Tuesday night, with Seattle Public Schools agreeing to salary increases among other concessions to the teachers union. But big questions regarding the district's budget linger.
SEATTLE, WA - Seattle Public Schools opened its doors Wednesday in time for the start of classes after the district and its educators reached a last-minute tentative agreement.
Teachers had previously approved a vote to go on strike if no agreement was reached in time for the start of classes.
The agreement came down to the wire following weeks of uncertainty for tens of thousands of families. Despite classes starting on time, some parents told FOX 13 Seattle they had already scheduled childcare for Wednesday.
Seattle Public Schools' John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence. (FOX 13 Seattle)
What we know:
One of the areas of dispute during the contract negotiations was salary.
Superintendent Ben Shuldiner confirmed that the tentative agreement ended up costing the district more than originally planned.
The union initially sought up to a 12% pay increase for members, while the district’s prior proposal offered an 8.8% total pay increase distributed over three years.
To reach a deal, the district agreed to increase its offer. However, due to the agreement being tentative, Shuldiner did not say what the final increase equaled.
He did tell FOX 13 Seattle that the district needs to start finding areas to cut from its budget.
"We are broke. We are structurally insolvent," Shuldiner said. "We have formulas that fund us that give us less money than the formulas that we have that spend our money."
Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Ben Shuldiner
Looking Ahead:
By the end of the fiscal year, the district expects to have less than $30 million in the bank, which equals about 2% of its total operating budget ($1.35 billion), Shuldiner said.
To address the shortfall, Shuldiner noted that the district will have to make spending cuts.
"We’ve already cut $10 million from central office. Well, maybe there is some positions that we had that we thought we needed that we don’t," he said.
Other cuts could include leaving vacant staff positions unfilled, streamlining student transportation, and merging existing programs, Shuldiner said.
What's next:
The tentative agreement is not yet final. Both union members and the Seattle Public Schools Board must hold separate votes to formally approve the contract. No timeline has been announced for when that will happen.
FOX 13 Seattle reached out to the teachers union for their thoughts on the contract, but the union told us educators were unavailable because they were back in the classroom.
Seattle schools strike averted, tentative agreement reached
Seattle Public Schools and the teachers union reached a deal to avert a strike after bargaining all day and night.
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The Source: Information in this story came from Seattle Public Schools and original FOX 13 Seattle reporting and interviews.