Teachers remain unified in seeking better pay as negotiations continue under the cloud of a possible strike. MARK KLAAS, Auburn Reporter

Teachers remain unified in seeking better pay as negotiations continue under the cloud of a possible strike. MARK KLAAS, Auburn Reporter

No progress reported in teachers’ fight for better salaries

Paraeducators to rally Wednesday

Teachers and the Kent School District are no closer to resolving a dispute over salaries.

Christie Padilla, president of the Kent Education Association, said Tuesday that no progress has been made in negotiations between the teachers union and school district officials. The talks have necessitated mediation.

Which is worrisome for teachers who are hoping to open their classrooms to students on Aug. 30.

Kent teachers voted Aug. 14 to authorize a strike if the KEA’s bargaining team and school district cannot come to a tentative agreement on a new teacher salary schedule by Aug. 29, the day before school is set to start.

More than 700 of the KEA’s 1,500 members who attended the Aug. 14 meeting, with 97.2 percent voting in favor of a motion to authorize the KEA bargaining team to strike if an agreement is not reached before the first day of school.

“KEA intends to bargain every single day that the district will agree to meet with us,” Padilla said. “We absolutely do not want to strike. We need to keep the best teachers in the district because that’s what’s best for kids. Competitive salaries is one way to ensure we keep the best teachers.”

Kent teachers want better pay, more than an allowable 3.1 percent cost-of-living bump, but the district hasn’t offered more, union leaders said.

The school district is just one of many statewide districts renegotiating teacher salaries after the recent McCleary Supreme Court ruling guaranteed about $1 billion toward teacher wages. KEA members say that money is intended for teacher salaries, not bail out the district’s financial plight. The Kent School District ended the 2016-17 school year with a $5.6 million deficit.

The Kent Association of Paraeducators is holding a rally Wednesday outside the Kent School District Office, 12033 SE 256th St.

The rally runs 6 to 7 p.m., prior to the Kent School District board meeting.

Members and supporters are urged to wear red and participate as the union seeks better pay for paras. Members and supporters are asked to meet at the Valley View Christian Church parking lot, 25605 124th Ave. SE, Kent, for sign pickup.


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website http://kowloonland.com.hk/?big=submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in News

Courtesy Photo, King County
Son accused of fatally shooting mother’s boyfriend in Kent back in jail

Dondre Butler has 3 violations in 13 months of electronic home detention after charged with murder in 2022

t
Kent Police targeted street patrols result in arrest of two felons

One driver spotted in a vehicle with no plates; another driver reportedly in a stolen vehicle

t
Kent cold case murder suspect back in state after governor’s warrant | Update

Kenneth Kundert fought extradition from Arkansas after August arrest in 1980 killing of Dorothy Silzel

t
City of Kent eyes November opening for Reith Road roundabouts

Two more roundabouts will bring total in city to six; three more in future plans

t
Kent-based Puget Sound Fire honors this year’s 20 retirees

17 firefighters and 3 staff members retire; firefighters served between 24 and 35 years

t
Pedestrian dies in Kent after being struck by a vehicle | Update

Des Moines man, 61, identified; reportedly tried crossing highway late at night but wasn’t in a crosswalk

t
‘Drivers going too fast’ led to 45-vehicle collision in Kent on I-5

State Patrol says drivers need to ‘slow down;’ nobody seriously injured in Sunday afternoon incident

T
Sound Transit to feature glass art in Kent at Star Lake Station

Part of agency’s light rail art program at two stations in Kent and one in Federal Way

Emergency vehicles respond Oct. 21 to the State Route 18 crash in Maple Valley that killed a Kent baby. COURTESY PHOTO, Puget Sound Fire
Federal Way man faces vehicular homicide charge in death of Kent baby

19-year-old also charged with vehicular assault for injuring boy’s mother in SR 18 crash

t
Kent mother arrested after reportedly driving drunk with baby in vehicle

22-month-old baby uninjured after witnesses report woman asleep at the wheel and blocking traffic

Puget Sound Fire, King County Medic One, and Washington State Patrol on location of the accident. Photo from Puget Sound Fire X account
Baby dies in crash on SR 18

Incident occurred at about 2:58 p.m. Oct. 21.

t
Kent Police Blotter: Oct. 7-22

Incidents include robberies, dog attack, shots fired