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Strikes possible in three school districts

08:57 PM PDT on Tuesday, August 19, 2008

By DEBORAH FELDMAN / KING 5 News

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BOTHELL, Wash. – Teachers in three different Puget Sound area school districts may be going on strike if they can't reach deals on new contracts with their districts.

"Yes I'm very worried. My daughter is waiting for school to start as soon as she can," said Katie Doan . Her daughter Marchella is supposed to start kindergarten in two weeks in the Northshore School District.

Soon-to-be high school seniors are also worried.

"That could be a little bad. I guess if we started late, I'm not sure if that would mess with our graduation time or anything," said Kayla Schick.

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Northshore teachers say the issue is over class size, curriculum and compensation. Teachers and the district wrapped up a second day of negotiation Tuesday, but with no breakthroughs.

"We would love to see this resolved, but they are very unhappy with the fact that the district has really put no new money out on the table," said union president Tim Brittell.

District officials are more optimistic.

"We've been making a lot of really positive progress. Every day, progress is made and we're just going to keep at it until we get a settlement and we think that is completely achievable," said Northshore spokesperson Susan Stoltzfus.

The teachers could vote to authorize a strike next week.

Snoqualmie Valley and Bellevue are in a similar situation. The only difference is that in Bellevue, teachers have already voted to go on strike if they don't reach a tentative agreement by the end of the summer.

The sticking points are the same.

"We are quite far apart on some main issues, mostly compensation and issues around the curriculum," said Michele Miller, Bellevue Education Association.

Bellevue district officials say they are optimistic a deal can be reached.

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