Imagine a school district willing to negotiate. It would go something like this:

Day One. Union: Teachers would like an 11 percent pay increase over three years. District: We feel that is too much. Let’s take a look.

Day Two. District: Here are the figures. We really don’t have the money, but we do have some. Can you lower your offer? Union: Yes. We’ll get back to you.

Day Three. Union: What about 6.5 percent increase over the next three years? District: We’ll take a look.

Day Four. District: These are tough times. 6.5 percent is reasonable, but how we spread it out is tough. What would you say to 1.5 percent this year, 2 percent in the second year, and 3 percent in the third year? At that time we could see if the state is going to kick in and we could make adjustments. It isn’t much, but it will help with the rising cost of insurance. All this offer would cost the district this year would be $400,000. We think we could swing it! Union: Agreed. These are tough times so this seems fair to us.

Day Five. School starts!

This is usually how negotiations go. But not in Marysville. In Marysville, the school board began negotiations by asking the teachers to take a pay cut and add extra work days for no pay. Then the district pointed the finger and blamed the strike on the teachers. Gov. Gary Locke’s team of investigators discovered there was some money to give. Even so, the district refused to negotiate a fair contract. Instead, the money that could have gone to teachers went for security guards, lawyers and multiple mailings. The cost for refusing to negotiate: $400,000.

Snohomish