The danger of communication is the assumption that it has occurred. And apparently, some assumptions have been made in the Shoreline School District.
Teachers union officials say several lines in the 100-plus page contract are being used to change a long-standing, but not spelled out, policy that student count in same-grade level classes in the same school are made as even as possible. Instead, students are being shuffled to create one larger class where the teacher would get additional, part-time help to handle the load. Other classes at that grade level are staying below the level that triggers the contract clause — and expense — for extra help.
Displeasure is so great that union leadership announced a one-day walkout, scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 27, after The Enterprise deadline.
The district has struggled for years with the impacts of poor financial moves made while enrollment and revenue declined.
This past year, officials took the unpopular, but not unprecedented, step of closing schools. Earlier this month, a significant milestone seemed to have been passed when union contracts were approved, agreements that acknowledge the new financial realities facing their employer.
And then came the walkout announcement.
Everyone knew that consolidating school populations would create uncertainties for staffing. Indeed, the district says it planned conservatively and then hired seven teachers this month to address class size.
Union officials say that’s fine, but changing the tradition of class-size equity is a slap at education quality and any sense of partnership that might have been forged at the bargaining table.
This is more than a power play between union and employer. Low class size is important because it does impact learning. Aides and part-time teachers in the class aren’t solutions to overcrowding, they’re mitigations.
While state lawmakers should address the core question of inadequate funding for public schools, Shoreline needs help now. More money isn’t coming, but more communication should be.
District officials said they clearly explained the contract language. If that’s the case, as evidenced by the union’s willingness to walk, that message missed the mark.
The only way this district can recover is as an open and trusting partnership between administrators, teachers, parents and students. The foundation of that partnership is communication.
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