Over 8 days of collective bargaining discussions have failed to produce a contract agreement with teachers moving forward, so the district is looking for a mediator.

From a release issued by the school district Wednesday:

"The collective bargaining agreement between the parties expires on August 31, 2015. PSD and PAE have met for bargaining 8 days over the past two months and have made little progress on resolving issues of concern. The District looks forward to making progress towards a new agreement with the help of a state mediator."

School officials stated they have the utmost respect for the teachers and educators and are going to try to "find a way to honor and value the work of our teachers in a way that is also fiscally responsible to our taxpayers."

  The School Board stated they "wished" legislators had made greater strides in fully funding education by way of the McCleary Decision, which requires certain funding goals to be met for Washington Schools.

That statement however, flies in the face of comments made by Senator Sharon Brown and other legislators, who indicated this year's McCleary decision requirements were fully funded.  It was Initiative 1351 that was only partially funded (K through 3) because there wasn't enough money in the budget without raising billions of tax dollars.

The District's statement about being fiscally responsible towards taxpayers doesn't wash with their apparent implied desire to see I-1351 fully funded - despite the lack of money.

 

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