Pasco teacher contracts expire in a week. State mediator brought in

A state mediator started working in Pasco on Friday to help school district and teachers union leaders settle on a new contract.

The officials met all day and planned to keep negotiating into the weekend if they weren’t able to reach an agreement.

Fall classes still will start Tuesday, even if a deal isn’t finalized by then.

Scott Wilson, president of the Pasco Association of Educators, said he thinks an agreement “is within reach.”

Shane Edinger, school district spokesman, said the two groups have been having “very productive discussions and we’re optimistic that we’ll reach a resolution.”

He added, “We’re ready for school to start on (Tuesday).”

Teachers’ existing one-year contract doesn’t expire until Aug. 31, so there’s a little breathing room.

Once a tentative deal is reached, the union’s members will gather to vote on whether to accept it.

If a stalemate persists and the two groups can’t agree, teachers also will gather — to decide on next steps, which could include staying in the classroom as negotiations continue, or deciding to strike.

In 2015, a teachers strike in Pasco delayed school by nine days. In that case, lack of curriculum and materials was a top issue.

Like numerous other teachers unions across the state, the Pasco union — which has about 1,200 members — is negotiating over salaries, following a $2 billion infusion statewide for educator pay spurred by an overhaul of the state education funding system.

The Washington Education Association has urged local unions to push for double-digit raises.

Several in the Tri-Cities achieved that, from 12.5 percent over two years in Columbia-Burbank to 22 percent over three years in Richland.

Wilson said his group wants to ensure that all the money coming into the district for teacher pay is used for that purpose.

The union also separately has concerns about some contract language, he said. “Having teachers be able to work within a contract that’s clear and doesn’t have language in it that might be used in a confusing way is really important,” Wilson said.

The union is in a “full open bargain” this year, meaning the whole contract is up for negotiation.

Some districts, like Kennewick, were in the midst of existing contract terms and only bargained this summer over pay.

The Pasco district and union reached a tentative agreement earlier this summer, but it wasn’t ratified by the union.

This story was originally published August 24, 2018 at 12:04 PM.