Seattle students head to class as district and teachers union reach agreement

Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association reached a tentative contract agreement late Tuesday clearing the way for classes to begin on schedule Wednesday morning.

The deal averts a strike across the district which serves some 50,000 students and employs 6,000 union-represented educators and staff. Students in grades 1 through 12 return to classrooms on September 2, followed by preschool and kindergarten students on September 8. The contract remains subject to ratification votes by both the union membership and the Seattle School Board.

Specifics of the tentative deal including final salary schedules were not disclosed in the joint announcement but the union said the sides reached “agreements” on all 52 issues raised in the negotiations.

The tentative agreement reportedly is centered on the district’s officer of an 8.8% baseline salary increase over three years, broken down into annual bumps of 2.6%, 3.6%, and 2.6%. This raise passes through projected state-funded cost-of-living adjustments with no furlough days, alongside standard annual experience step increases averaging roughly 4% for eligible staff.

CHS reported here on what was at stake as the district’s contract package would pass through projected state-funded cost-of-living adjustments with no local increase. The Seattle Education Association was proposing the same state inflation adjustment plus an additional 6.0% wage increase over three years, alongside targeted bumps for paraprofessionals and office staff.

Additional provisions including new psychologists, assigning a full-time social worker or counselor to schools with more than 350 students, and restructuring special education models to keep students in neighborhood schools with increased behavioral support were also on the table.

The district proposal also featured SPS-funded health accounts, reduced monthly staff meetings, and an additional paid training day for more than 1,500 paraprofessionals and office staff.

The negotiations follow the union’s previous three-year collective bargaining agreement reached in September 2022. That deal provided a 7% raise in year one, 4% in year two, and 3% in year three, alongside cost-of-living adjustments tied to the state Implicit Price Deflator. That established a 14% baseline wage increase over the life of the contract.

The median and average salary for Seattle Public Schools teachers sits at approximately $117,000 per year.

Seattle’s public school district is facing ongoing challenges amid falling enrollment. Enrollment is hovering around 49,000 students, representing a drop of roughly 4,500 to 5,000 students from its pre-pandemic peak of 53,627 in 2019–2020. Elementary buildings are currently operating at an average of roughly 65% capacity, well below the district’s 85% target. The primary driver of the long-term decline is smaller incoming classes.

The district’s plan to shutter under-enrolled elementary schools including Stevens Elementary on Capitol Hill was met with strong public backlash in 2024 but the economic factors driving the push have not improved.

The district is facing ongoing structural budget deficits, operating with an annual general fund budget of roughly $1.35 billion while managing annual shortfalls in the $90 million to $130 million range. The state allocates school funding primarily on a per-pupil model. With its enrollment dropping, SPS loses tens of millions annually in state basic education funding. Meanwhile, federal pandemic relief funds have fully expired.

Superintendent Ben Shuldiner praised the bargaining teams and SEA leadership for reaching an agreement that keeps classrooms safe and supportive while allowing schools to open on time.

“Educators are fierce advocates for our students and SEA members made this agreement possible through strength and unity,” SEA vice president and lead bargainer Davina Diaz said.