EVERETT — Mukilteo School District teachers seeking a pay raise held a rally Tuesday in front of the Pilchuck UniServ Council office in Everett.
More than 100 teachers and supporters, many in red shirts, held “Fair Contract Now!” signs and chanted during the sidewalk demonstration. The rally preceded a scheduled three-hour bargaining session with district officials.
The Mukilteo Education Association, which represents the teachers, is at odds with the Mukilteo School Board and district administration on how to distribute an infusion of state dollars. That was a result of the landmark school funding lawsuit known as McCleary.
Union members have authorized their bargaining team to call a strike if there is no tentative agreement to consider by Aug. 15. The union wants to reopen the three-year contract that runs through August 2019 to negotiate salary increases.
Teachers in the Edmonds School District, and roughly 20 other districts, have negotiated sizable increases, some in the double-digit percentages.
