District Spars With Seattle Teachers Over Longer School Day

The Seattle teachers' strike enters its fourth day Monday as teachers continue to negotiate their contract.

Seattle Public Schools issued a counter-proposal that spokeswoman Stacy Howard says would include pay for a longer school day. She did not specify how much pay.

Under this proposal, 20 minutes would be added to each school day beginning in 2017 at all grade levels.

The teachers union countered with another two-year contract that doesn’t include an extended school day. The union says teachers need more time to assess the impact of a longer day on students, staff and families.

The teachers' new proposal includes raises of 4.75 percent the first year, 5 percent the second. The district had previously offered raises of 2 percent the first year, 3.2 percent the second year, and 3.75 percent in year three.

The strike had been using snow days built into the school year, but those have been used up, according to the district. Any more strike days will come out of vacation or mean a later start to summer vacation next year.

Correction, 8:00 a.m. 9/14/2015: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story inaccurately reported the first year percentage raise included in the teachers' proposal.