Spokane Public Schools approves three-year contract with union, despite mixed feelings among teacher

[TexasTowelie]

The Spokane school board last night approved a new three-year contract that adds a 1 percent pay raise for teachers and includes language that could allow librarians who have been laid off to return to their positions in the 2020-21 school year.

"It's a very fiscally responsible way to get us on the right path to move forward next year out of this emergency," says Spokane Public Schools board member Michael Wiser.

The board passed the contract unanimously, a day after the teachers union, the Spokane Education Association, narrowly ratified the contract with only 53.5 percent of teachers and classified staff voting "yes."

Jeremy Shay, SEA president, says the vote was narrow because members are "stressed out" about how the budget cuts in schools have impacted classrooms already this year. Those concerns include larger class sizes, staff safety and the reductions in custodians. He's heard that many classrooms are getting cleaned twice a week instead of every night, leaving teachers to sometimes clean up the mess.

Read more: https://www.inlander.com/spokane/spokane-public-schools-approves-three-year-contract-with-union-despite-mixed-feelings-among-teachers/Content?oid=18425988
(Spokane Inlander)

[abqtommy]

1. I have fond memories of the time I spent in the Spokane public school system in the late

1950s and early 1960s. I hope this deal works out for the teachers.