Seattle Teachers’ Strike Results in Victory for Students

The Washington Post reported that a Seattle teachers union was able to score many wins after they went on strike for a week in September. Besides cost-of-living-raises, they were also able to gain wins for students, improving the school system.

Wins for Seattle’s 100 public schools include:

• All elementary school students now have a guaranteed daily recess for 30 minutes.
• Committees will be created in 30 schools to review at equity issues
• Seattle School Board voted for a one-year ban on out-of-school suspensions of elementary students who commit specific nonviolent offenses
• End to the use of student standardized test scores for evaluation
• Teachers will have a say on deciding the amount of standardized testing
• Special education teachers will have fewer students to work with at a time