MARYSVILLE – Striking Marysville teachers Monday filed their response – more than 600 pages worth – to a parent group’s injunction that asks a judge to force them back to work.
Their action came a few hours after the Marysville School Board decided to join the parent’s in the lawsuit.
“It’s an outrage and an insult to teachers that the school board will take us to court,” said Elaine Hanson, president of the 650-member Marysville Education Association.
Lawyers for the union asked a judge to dismiss the parents’ lawsuit.
“Defendant Hanson and other members of the bargaining unit … have no legal, contractual or other duty to return to work until or unless the terms and conditions of their employment are determined through bargaining ….,” association lawyer Mitch Cogdill said.
Cogdill also said it’s unfortunate that the parents’ group – Tired Of The Strike – “have aligned their strike-breaking efforts behind the Marysville School District, whose refusal to bargain in good faith … and whose bully and thug mentality caused this strike to occur in the first instance.”
Among the legal paperwork filed by the teachers, Hanson argues that students will still get their 180 days of education even if teachers stay out on strike.
The school year could follow any of several options. Some include going to school Monday through Saturday.
The options include:
This is the 42nd day of the strike, the longest in state history, and the 31st day of classes that have been missed and need to be made up by the district’s 11,000 students.
The Marysville School Board is still listed as a defendant, along with the teachers’ union, in the lawsuit filed last week in Snohomish County Superior Court. A hearing is set for Wednesday.
“The board agrees that student achievement is being jeopardized by the continuation of this illegal teachers’ strike and therefore we will take the side of the parents in seeking an injunction from the court to get our students back in the classroom,” said Erik Olson, a school board member shortly after the court papers were filed.
Other developments:
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