Tumwater teachers take contract message to the streets

Frustrated at the pace of negotiations with the Tumwater School District, members of the Tumwater Education Association took their message to the streets twice last week.

Their most recent informational picket was in front of school district headquarters before Thursday night’s Tumwater School Board meeting. About 75 teachers and supporters attended the sign-waving event, according to union president Tim Voie.

“I feel like we’re getting support,” he said. “We have a lot of people who go by and honk and wave and give us thumbs up. I would like to think the community is supporting teachers because we’re trying to do what’s best for students.”

The district’s nearly 400 teachers have been working under an expired contract since the beginning of the school year. Bargaining teams met Thursday and are scheduled to meet twice next week, Voie said.

He said there are two major sticking points: supplemental compensation for the district’s teachers, and planning time for elementary teachers.

“Quality lessons for our students don’t just fall from the heavens,” Voie said. “They’re the result of diligence, creativity and thoughtful planning, and that takes time.”

In addition, Tumwater’s teachers make “anywhere from $3,500 to $6,500” less than teachers in nearby districts, he said. Out of 28 districts of similar size throughout the state, Tumwater ranks the lowest in compensation, Voie said.

Although teachers’ salaries are based on a state schedule, districts can negotiate supplemental compensation.

According to the district, during the 2014-15 school year, Tumwater teachers earned more supplemental pay than the four smaller school districts in Thurston County, and less than the county’s largest school systems: the Olympia School District, which has about 9,800 students, and the nearly 14,700-student North Thurston Public Schools in Lacey.

The Tumwater School District has about 6,275 students.

Because of the informational pickets and publicity on the contract negotiations, the district posted question and answers about the major issues on its web page. It states that North Thurston has larger class sizes, bigger schools, and a larger tax base, and receives more state and federal funding because of higher poverty rates.

District spokeswoman Kim Howard said the district is “looking forward to coming to a fair and fiscally responsible conclusion.”

“We continue to work the process, and we do believe that the process will yield a result,” she said.

Meanwhile, Voie said the union is committed to fighting to retain and attract teachers for Tumwater’s schools.

“OSPI (the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) reports that there’s going to be a shortage of up to 10,000 teachers in the next three to four years, so it’s really important for us to keep the teachers we have and offer a good compensation package to recruit the best and brightest,” he said.

Tumwater School Board president Jay Wood said he’s optimistic that a contract settlement is near. He said the negotiations have been productive.

“We aren’t having meetings and doing the Donald Trump thing: screaming and hollering at each other,” he said. “We’ve got a good climate going.”

The district is also negotiating a new contract with the 54-member Tumwater Office Professionals Association, which represents building secretaries, office assistants and administration assistants, Howard said.

This story was originally published March 11, 2016 at 5:32 PM with the headline "Tumwater teachers take contract message to the streets."