Tag Archives: education

Back to school: Seattle has tentative agreement to start bringing kids back to classrooms

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There is a tentative agreement and a timeline for kids in Seattle Public Schools to get back in the classroom.

Leaders of the Seattle Education Association union have reached an agreement with the district on a plan for restarting in-person education for the city’s thousands of public school students that will give families the option of putting kids back in the classroom starting March 29th. The union’s members must still approve any deal.

Under the agreement, the district’s pre-kindergarten and elementary special education students will have the option to return to the classroom March 29th. Other elementary students and older special education students would have the option to return to the classroom on April 5th. The district and union still need to agree on a plan for return for  middle and high school students. Continue reading →

Seattle U likely heading to court after refusing to bargain with faculty union

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Students and faculty rallied on campus in support of a union in 2015. (Image: CHS)

Students and faculty rallied on campus in support of a union in 2015. (Image: CHS)

Seattle University may be heading to court after administrators formally refused to enter contract negotiations with a labor union newly representing adjunct faculty at the Capitol Hill college.

After organizing for nearly three years, SU’s non-tenured faculty voted in September to join Service Employees International Union 925. The university administration has opposed the union from the start, saying federally regulated contract bargaining would violate the college’s First Amendment protections of religious freedom. Administrators are specifically concerned about being required to hire faculty members that do not subscribe to its Jesuit style of teaching. Continue reading →

Seattle University administration tells faculty not to unionize

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A Seattle University official has notified faculty that the school’s administration opposes ongoing efforts to unionize non-tenured instructors and encouraged faculty to oppose joining a union. UPDATE: We have additional information from an instructor working to form “a union to work with the administration to retain excellent part-time and full-time non-tenure track instructors.” You’ll find the update below.

In a letter obtained by CHS, Provost Isiaah Crawford recently told SU faculty at the 12th Ave campus that bringing in a union to represent contingent full-time and part-time faculty would negatively impact the university culture by “disrupting the direct relationship between the university and its faculty and the faculty’s governing body.”

Continue reading →

Seattle Central sees drop in enrollment as international, technology learning opportunities grow

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In the Seattle Community College District enrollment is dropping across the system’s three campuses, a trend hitting closest to home at Capitol Hill’s Seattle Central Community College where Monday the 2013 spring quarter begins.

From 2010-2011 to the 2011-2012 years Seattle Central and its Seattle Vocational Institute component in the Central District combined have seen a drop in enrollment of more than 1,200 students. The 6% dip to 18,800 total students between the two institutions comes amid an improving economy and an ongoing population increase in the city.

Seattle Central specifically as of fall 2011 had about 9,600 students enrolled. The district has been watching these numbers carefully and say it has a “10-point plan” to address the dropping numbers. Continue reading →