Lake Stevens parents upset over late notice of teachers planning one-day strike on Friday

LAKE STEVENS, Wash. -- Parents say they support their teachers and want the state to provide more money for education, but they say a notice of a planned teacher walkout came with too little notice.

"I’d say some parents are very frustrated due to the short notice," Josh Wilson said Tuesday.

Wilson and thousands of other parents found out Monday night that classes in the Lake Stevens School District would be canceled Friday. The district's 8,000 students will not be going to school, and parents with younger kids need to make quick plans for child care.

The majority of the Lake Stevens Education Association voted Monday in favor of walking out of class on Friday.



Lake Stevens teachers join a growing list of educators in the state who have staged one-day walkouts over concerns about the Legislature's education funding.

The state Supreme Court has ordered the Legislature to fully fund education or be held in contempt of court. Teachers want Olympia to fully fund schools, shrink class sizes and pay for a cost-of-living wage increase.

Officials understand they put parents in a tough spot but hope they stick with them in this cause.

Bob Ingraham, president of the Lake Stevens Education Association, said, "We’re really doing this for children and hopefully they’ll join us in it even though it is a rather short time-frame."

To make up for lost class time, the district will add another day of school at the end of the school year. A district spokesperson says they are working with families to excuse absences if people have vacation plans.

On Wednesday, nearly 3,000 teachers in the Northshore and Lake Washington School Districts plan a one-day strike.

The upcoming one-day teacher strikes are listed below: