UPDATE ON THE KENT TEACHER STRIKE

When we moved up here to Washington two years ago, we really lucked into a super great neighborhood, super great school district, and a super great school with a amazing Principal and teachers.

Last year at Mimi's gymnastic school, I met another mom by the name of Jo. Jo's daughter was in Mimi's gymnastic class and her niece Olivia was in Mimi's class at school. Go figure. Like I always say, small town and I love it. Jo and her sister Julia are from the Bay Area in California. Last year Jo said that when she and her husband moved up here from California some time back, they purchased a home in the Samamish school district. That's the Bill Gates country for those of you who don't know. Then when the kids started to come along, their house was too small and so they had to sell their home and they purchased another house in our town. Jo says that when she moved, she had checked around thoroughly since she is an elementary school teacher herself and like most of us, she and her husband wanted the best for their kids. She told me that our school district is the next best to the Samamish school district and then she talked her sister into moving up here.

Many people are fighting to get their kids into our school. Now with the strike going on, it is my humble opinion that since the Samamish district have people living there that make quite a bit of money. So it is natural that they want good schools and take good care of their teachers and based on what I was told by Jo, our district is the same way. However we don't have as much money as the Bill Gates and we work really hard to give our children the best education as possible. In our community soooooo many parents are involved with their children's education including many of the grandparents. Mimi's grandma and grandpa I am sure would help out too if they could, however they are not in the best of health right now.

Also in our town, I know of a couple of families where the dad works in the day and the mom works at night so that at least one parent is home with the kids when they are not in school.

In the Kent district, I have heard from only one parent and that is my friend Daphne (Sara's mom). She says that at Sara's school they have a very hard time getting the parents involved in the kids education. Also it has been said that some schools in the Kent District are very good schools and some are not.

As of now Sara has already missed one whole week of school. So has Mimi's other friends Alex and Chris. The teachers are on strike because they want more pay, smaller class sizes ( the ratio at Mimi's school is about 20-22 to 1), less staff meetings and more respect. They want the same treatment that the teachers in our district and the Samamish district receive. I say who can blame them? All of the teachers I know work so darn hard for their living.

This story has been a HUGE part of the King 5 news. As of now the judge has ordered all of the teachers to go back to work. My friend/neighbor Jason, who is a teacher in the Kent district says that negotiations will still take place this Labor Day weekend and if there is still no solution they (teachers) will not go back to work. Poor kids.