Teachers in Seattle, Mercer Island, Issaquah on 1-day strike

SEATTLE (AP) — After thousands of teachers marched through downtown Seattle as part of a one-day walkout, a legislative committee heard testimony in Olympia on a bill that would punish teachers for going on strike.

Senate Bill 6116 would take away teacher pay during strike days. The bill, sponsored by a Democrat, did not receive any support from other Democratic lawmakers, who walked out of a meeting of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee before testimony began.

In a statement about the walkout, Sen. Bob Hasegawa, D-Seattle, said lawmakers should be focusing on the state budget and education spending, not this bill.

The chairman of the committee, Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, said teachers shouldn't be protesting the state budget, which gives them their first cos-of-living increase in years.

Teachers in Seattle, Mercer Island and Issaquah took a one-day strike Tuesday joining more than 50 other school districts across the state that have planned or taken similar action.