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| We've been working for three weeks now. It was great to go back to class and get school started. I love my kids and they make me happy to go to work every day. We made some gains. However, there are still some high schoolers who have to sit on the floor because they don't have a seat in their over crowded class and plenty of kindergarteners who are in a classroom of 30. We're still lowest in the Puget Sound pay scale despite a 3% raise. Happy to be working. Thankful for the work our bargaining team got done despite the district bargainers swearing at them and the mediators so loudly that it resonated through the hotel walls. Excited about the Kent Parent Coalition who now has organization and a voice to advocate for their kids against a district who is making money off of them. Inspired by the attention of the NAACP who realizes that it's their kids who are suffering the most and knows that teachers are doing as much as possible to close the achievement gap on their own time without reasonable supplies and teacher/student ratio. A battle won, but the war will continue.
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| Had a very lovely evening at my stake out. Within ten minutes we got peeked at from the Vargas' front door and then they closed it, so they knew we were there. The police were there twice. The first one said he didn't care if we were on private property or not (we weren't) and wished us good luck. We met some neighbors. The first couple said we had lost their support. Something tells me we never had it and they had never sent their kids to public schools. The next couple drove by and said we were harassing the Vargases and I told them, sweetly of course, the cops didn't see it that way. Next a neighbor drove up on his Harley and then asked us roughly what we were doing in his neighborhood. I smiled and waved and said we were teachers making our presence known to our superintendent. Then he relaxed and said to keep up the fight and he supported us. The other cop came by and was very bored with us. He did the perfunctory "don't go on his property and don't make a lot of noise" and then rolled on to something more interesting. My good friend, Amy, called pizza for us and some other teachers brought popcorn, cookies, and cocoa. Overall, it was a great night.
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| We were out again today for a rally in front of the administration building, this time with plenty of parents and kids. The teamsters and local businesses drove by honking their support. The homemade signs of kids were inspiring as they demanded smaller class sizes and more time with their teachers. My ears are still ringing from all the horns!
Wednesday, community parents had their own rally ( http://www.youtube.com/v/hJj1NvG5eUo&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=p layer_embedded&fs=1 ). They marched up to the administration building doors with a list of signatures of families who are not happy with the way the school district is refusing to bargain. They were met by locked doors. This was the same day that Superintendent Vargas started injunction proceedings against teachers.
Yesterday, Thursday, we were served with a court order to go back to school by next Tuesday and start school on Wednesday. The community also received letters yesterday from the Kent School District stating that it was their intention to file an injunction against teachers all along. Feelings were mixed as we met for a general Kent Education Association membership meeting. We met at Green River Community College because the district refused to give KEA a meeting place. We were infuriated at how our community had been mistreated. We were shocked at how quickly KSD was willing to throw down the farce of negotiating and look to criminalize their employees. But we were also resolute with many of us showing up in orange to signify our willingness to continue to strike in defiance of the court order. However, our perseverence shown out as we voted to wait until Monday night to decide our next course of action, giving the district 4 more days to negotiate in good faith. We are waiting and praying for this situation to come to a quick and fair resolution.
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| Today, instead of responding to the last Kent Education Association proposal, Superintendent Vargas filed an injunction. That is a request for a superior court judge to order us to work. Many districts haven't even gone back to school yet. Likely outcome of the filing? The judge rightfully sends Kent School District back to the bargaining table. (Last session involved at least one member of the school district bargaining team yelling loud enough to be heard through the closed doors and across the hallway.) After we crashed the district's secret press party, and the lawyer tried to keep us out by extending his arms to physically block teachers from the room, I told our KEA president that Eric and I have already decided that we look incredible in orange.
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