Seattle's Child

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School is now officially back in session for students and teachers

Now that the teacher strike is over and teachers' new contracts have been signed, teachers (and parents) all can breathe a deep sigh of relief.

According to King 5, 3,000 out of the 5,000 teachers in King County voted to accept a new 3-year contract on Sunday. Mother Jones reports that the new contract will provide teachers with a 9.5 percent raise over the span of three years, 30 minutes of guaranteed recess for elementary students, more teacher input on standardized tests and less testing overall, equity teams in 30 schools and the end of an evaluation system that judges teachers on students' standardized test scores.

Teachers were also granted an additional 20 minutes of lecture time, which goes into effect the third contract year. An article by The Seattle P-I says that students in other states, who have longer school days, reported “significant gain” in the core classes: math, language arts and science. 

Kudos to the teachers for sticking up for what they believe in. Despite the stress the strikes caused parents, we must remember what the fight was really about: our children's education. 


Ev Petgrave enjoys making her four-year-old girl take embarrassing photos, and when she’s not doing that, she’s writing, doing techy stuff, or traveling the world. 

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Ev Petgrave