WA union official: Tentative agreement reached aimed at ending nation’s only teacher strike

WA official: Only US teacher strike nears end

KENT, Wash. — Contract negotiators reached a tentative agreement Sunday night aimed at ending a teacher strike in Washington, the only such walkout in the nation, a union official said.

The accord came around 7 p.m. Sunday during weekend talks between the Kent School District and union negotiators, union spokesman Dale Folkerts said.

“Our bargaining team has been working day and night trying to get a compromise agreement,” Folkerts told The Associated Press.

Officials say the district — the fourth-largest in Washington — witnessed the only school strike in the country last week.

More than 26,000 students have been out of their classrooms in 40 schools for the past two weeks as teachers held out for smaller class sizes.

Folkerts refused to disclose any elements of the contract, saying details would be released only after the district’s 1,800 teachers were informed.

Tentative approval followed a judge’s warning after the district went to court over the issue. The judge said that each teacher will have to pay $200 per day in fines if they are not back in school by Monday.

Folkerts said the elementary through high school instructors will vote on the tentative contract Monday morning at Kentlake High School. If approved, classes will resume on Tuesday, he said.

The agreement drew cheers from dozens of teachers who rallied in downtown Kent as Kent Education Association President Lisa Brackin Johnson formally announced the accord.

The strike was not centered on wage and contract issues like most labor disputes. Kent teachers were instead fighting for smaller class sizes, arguing that the district should spend some of the $21 million it has in reserve to alleviate overcrowding.

The district maintained that it needs to hold on to the reserve funds during such poor economic times and that classes are not as crowded as teachers claim. Some teachers have complained that they don’t have enough desks for students, with more than 30 students in some elementary and middle school classes.