MARYSVILLE — Pressure is building in the Marysville teachers’ strike.
Teachers from across the state held a noisy rally in downtown Everett on Monday after the Marysville Education Association filed more than 600 pages of legal briefs outlining why they should not be forced to return to work. They also suggested several different schedules that would allow a longer strike, yet still get students back in class to meet the state’s required 180 days of instruction.
Without a quick settlement, school could start as soon as Oct. 29, and end July 30 — or start Jan. 9, 2004, run six days a week and end Aug. 13, 2004, according to the teachers’ scenario.
For its part, the Marysville School District asked to join a lawsuit from parents hoping to force teachers back to work — but for now the district is still a defendant in the same case, which heads to court Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Gov. Gary Locke appointed a two-man team to work on a resolution after three days of negotiations failed to end the longest teachers’ strike in state history and finally get Marysville’s 11,000 public school children back in classes.
"There are no winners in this war," said Anita Rutherford, whose 10-year-old twins will be fifth-graders at Marshall Elementary School. "And the saddest part of it all is that all the children will remain scarred for years to come regardless of the outcome."
Marysville’s 650 teachers have not returned for the 2003-2004 school year after voting to strike over the compensation package in the district’s proposed three-year contract. Both sides agree they still are far apart.
Board members said they need to invest more money in improving student achievement. Teachers argue that the most important factor in a student’s education is quality teachers, and there is money in the district’s $81 million budget for raises.
No new negotiations had been set as of Monday night. The district’s official word is that school is canceled through Wednesday.
The teachers’ decision to strike also marks the high point in tensions between teachers, Superintendent Linda Whitehead and the five-member school board. Three school board members who have supported Whitehead are up for re-election Nov. 4.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Linda Krese on Wednesday will have to pore over several pounds of legal paperwork to consider an injunction compelling teachers back to work. If the injunction is granted, any striking teacher who refuses to return to work could be fined $250 a day. Krese also would decide when to start school.
A parents’ group, called Tired of the Strike, filed for the injunction Oct. 6. They listed the district and the teachers’ union as defendants, along with school board president Helen Mount and MEA president Elaine Hanson.
On Monday, the district filed court papers asking to join the parents’ group in seeking the injunction. Krese will decide whether to allow it.
"I’m trusting that the teachers will listen to the courts," Whitehead said.
Mount and fellow board members Mark Johnson, Cary Peterson and Erik Olson joined Whitehead in announcing their decision to join the lawsuit against the teachers. Board member Ron Young, a nurse practitioner, was absent. He is doing volunteer social work in Haiti for two weeks.
"It’s frustrating that the children of the Marysville School District are not in class," Mount said. "It’s frustrating that we are all looking at the same fact pattern and coming up with different conclusions."
Olson added that "student achievement is being jeopardized by the continuation of this illegal teachers’ strike."
It’s not clear when the board’s decision was made, because the board has not had a public meeting since the strike began Sept. 2. Emergency rules the district adopted do not spell out whether meetings can be held without public notice. A notice has been sent out for an executive session set for 2 p.m. today to discuss litigation matters at the district’s Seattle law firm, Perkins Coie LLP.
The parents’ group was happy the district wants to join in the injunction.
"I’m glad to see that the district has recognized that the strike is illegal," said Brian Phillips, an attorney representing the parents. "It’s now the turn of the teachers to realize that they are committing an illegal act."
Teachers fired back, plopping a hefty, defensive chunk of paperwork off at the courthouse, asking the judge to dismiss the lawsuit. They argue that there is still plenty of time for students to get their 180 days of classroom instruction before the state’s Aug. 31, 2004 deadline.
The paperwork includes declarations from 16 parents and 29 teachers, saying the strike is not causing children to suffer. Most of the parents’ declarations appear to be generated from the same boilerplate.
Three out of five points in each declaration are identical, saying, in part, "the interruption in school … has not resulted in irreparable or substantial harm to myself, my child, or my family … the strike has had a positive impact on my family’s perception of the teachers because it shows that they are willing to stand up for their beliefs …
"I would far prefer that the teachers return to work when they are satisfied that the compensation issues have been appropriately addressed by the district."
If an injunction is granted, the teachers’ union will determine whether to report to school or defy the order.
Hanson, the MEA president, said, "It’s an outrage and an insult to teachers that the school board will take us to court."
The teachers’ lawyers said forcing a return to work is against state law.
"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 in court papers.
Cogdill also fired directly at the parents’ group, saying they "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."
Elizabeth Henry, one of the parents to file the suit, said that is not the case.
"We have had no contact with the district related to this lawsuit in any way," she said, noting that the district and teachers’ union both were named as defendants.
Gov. Locke, who’s always made public education a cornerstone of his time in office, called from Beijing where he is on a Chinese trade mission to announce his idea for breaking through the impasse.
A special two-member panel is being appointed to examine the issues and claims made by both sides, he said. He chose former legislator Dennis Heck and retired state Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Utter.
"I think this is going to be very, very helpful," Locke said. "Before anyone can compromise, they have to agree on the facts."
Utter and Heck will give an independent look at the issues and will examine the merits of each so the public can see how the strike can be settled, Locke said.
The panel also will review financial records and other data so the costs of each side’s proposal can be presented to the public.
"We need to let the chips fall where they may," Locke said. "We simply must do everything we can to get the Marysville children back to school."
The panel’s report will be made public, but no deadline has been set.
The governor’s decision came after a fruitless weekend of talks between the two sides. But with them still far apart, Locke said he was forced to act so a compromise could be reached.
Marysville teachers and their supporters gathered at Everett Civic Auditorium for a pro-teacher pep rally Monday night. More than 750 people jammed into the building, with more arriving as speeches began.
Inside, some raised money for the striking teachers. The building echoed with whistles and cheers, and the center of the auditorium was a sea of red-shirted teachers from Marysville, many bearing the slogan "I’d rather be teaching."
Teachers came from across the state and beyond, from Port Angeles to Issaquah; Puyallup to British Columbia.
"I think these guys are making a hell of a stand," said Robert Bloomhuff, a ninth-grade social studies teacher at Evergreen Junior High in the Lake Washington School District. "No one’s trying to get rich here. They’re just trying to make a living."
"They deserve what they have, and they shouldn’t have to take a step back," added Joe Kaech, a sixth-grade teacher from central Kitsap who has been through three strikes.
Only a few parents were there to protest against the strike.
Marc Savoie sat on the front steps of the auditorium, surrounded by teachers cheering each group of new supporters as they arrived. His son, Daniel, is a senior at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
"It’s time to get them back in the classroom," Savoie said. "We’re way past the point of rah rah for the teachers or rah rah for the school district."
Reporters Cathy Logg and Jim Haley contributed to this report.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
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