Parents sound off on Snoqualmie school contract
SEATTLE -- A deal is done between the Snoqualmie school district and the teacher's union and parents are giving out their opinions on the new deal and the classroom sizes at area schools.
After months of negotiating, the district and its teachers agreed on a deal Sunday afternoon. The new, three-year contract includes a raise for educators. The contract also imposes caps on classroom sizes but give the district the opportunity to go beyond those caps.
If a teacher has a class that exceeds the limit that teacher receives more pay. Parents we spoke with are happy that their child's education will not be disrupted by a teacher strike.
However, parents we spoke with wished class sizes were smaller and worry about the cap on class size.
Cindy Struelens said class sizes are very important to her. “Because the teachers get overwhelmed if they’re big and they can’t pay attention to the class," Struelens said. "Your education isn’t going to be great if you have an over-stuffed class. “
Other parents agree. Bill Swan said, "If it gets too big how is the teacher then able to keep control of things and get across the curriculum that they need to.”
It could take several days before the district is able to shrink some classrooms in size. The new contract was ratified by almost 60% of the union Sunday night. Now, the Snoqualmie School District has to find room in the budget for these new raises over the next three years.