This week in the war on workers: Seattle teachers striking for fair pay and racial justice

Seattle teachers continue to strike over issues ranging from pay to staffing levels to racial justice, and they're drawing significant public support. The Guardian reports that:

“The fact that 30 minutes of guaranteed recess for elementary school was a ‘sticking point’ before the strike ... it’s shameful that the district was pushing back on that,” [parent David] Seawell said.

Many parents are expressing similar concerns with the district’s emphasis on over-testing and under-playing. While there have been the odd yells of “You’re paid too much already!” from a handful of passing motorists, the feedback from the community has been overwhelmingly supportive – both on and offline. [...]

Organizing through social media, including the citywide Facebook page Soup for Teachers, parents brought food from carrots to donuts, and encouragement to teachers picketing in front of their neighborhood schools.

In Jacobin, Darrin Hoop goes into detail on some of the sticking points remaining in negotiations between the Seattle Education Association and the Seattle Public Schools. As one teacher explained:

I’ve spent my entire 14 years in Seattle working in southeast schools. When I look at the discipline numbers — the number of kids suspended and expelled — it’s almost all African-American young men. Then you look at the rates up north, and if there are some, it’s the few kids of color up there. It’s so egregious and so obvious.

We’ve asked for an equity team in every school. They told us it was a great idea, but they only want to do it in 6 schools out of 97 schools in the district. We absolutely said no. There are equity problems in every single school.

Additionally, the district is calling for a longer school day—meaning more work for teachers—while offering just an 8.3 percent raise over three years, after teachers living with a pay freeze for the past six years.

Continue reading below the fold for more of the week's labor and education news.