Seattle Teachers Union Bristles at New Coalition’s Effort to Muscle In on Contract Negotiations

Nina Shapiro:

Contract negotiations began this week between Seattle Public Schools and the teachers union, and the atmosphere is already getting testy–but not between the parties you might expect. Seattle Education Association president Olga Addae is peeved over a new coalition led by the non-profit Alliance for Education that is trying to muscle in on the talks.
Although technically no one else is allowed at the bargaining table besides the union and the district, the “Our Schools Coalition” last week launched a campaign to influence the process by unveiling a list of nine proposed changes it would like to see in the new contract–all of which are aimed at supporting good teachers and weeding out the bad.
While the group’s ideas are not necessarily new, its effort to influence the negotiations is. And the coalition may have the political clout to do just that.