Eatonville Education Association, which represents more than 100 educators, wants our students to have smaller classes, increased supports for staff, and compensation that keeps up with inflation and neighboring districts. We want our school district to attract the best and brightest school staff and support the educators who have dedicated their careers and lives to Eatonville families.

Our bargaining priorities are reasonable and affordable. See more here.

98% of Eatonville teachers voted to go on strike if a settlement is not reached by the first day of school. Why?
Sadly, the district and their outside attorney have chosen to stonewall these negotiations rather than seeking to reach a fair deal. We reached out to the district in March to begin negotiations hoping to get a deal done well before the last minute but did not receive a response from them until June. By the time we finally sat down in July, we were met with rejection of our offers and proposals that would erode fair compensation. For the last month and a half, the district has failed to engage with our proposals.

Eatonville School District is nearly last in its staff-to-student ratios in like-sized districts across Washington. This means we have more students per teacher, which translates to less support for students. We need our district administrators to do better.

What can we do to support?
As members of the community, we know the school district should and can do more to ensure our students have the best education available to them. Superintendent Gary Neal needs to hear that you want a fair deal that supports our community, students and staff. Please ask your friends and neighbors to sign. Post and share to social media.

Does the district have money?
Yes. Rather than using its strong surplus budget to support students and staff, the district has chosen to spend it on high-priced attorneys. The district has a surplus of 18% — more than $5.3 million dollars that it should be going toward students’ and staff needs. Instead, our bargaining team has heard a broken record of “we respectfully decline” and “we can’t afford it" when given reasonable proposals. Our district’s fund balance is above the state and regional averages, and the superintendent should use those extra funds to support our community’s students and staff. Instead, they sit on the funds and spend them on attorney fees. See a budget analysis here.

What does our community deserve?
Students are the heart of our community and they’re why we chose to go into teaching. Without sufficient resources, time and staffing we can’t do our best do for our students. We need enough nurses to cover all our schools, counselors need enough time to meet with students one on one, and special-education staff need to provide hands-on support for our special needs students. Our union’s proposals would provide Eatonville educators the support they need to help our students thrive.

What about compensation?
The initial proposal from Eatonville district administration was 2.8%, which is below the state-funded cost-of-living increases. The district has finally agreed to pass through the state-funded COLA, after six bargaining sessions. While the district administration and their outside attorney wasted time this summer, the cost of groceries and other basics continue to hit our community hard. We are looking for fair compensation that ensures people still want to commit themselves to working in our great community.