Union says letter is ultimatum; schools chief says she's been misinterpreted

In a move that shocked the Seattle teachers union, the Seattle School District has prepared a letter the union says tells teachers they won't have a job in September unless they agree to work one day fewer in the upcoming school year.

The district disputes that interpretation, saying the letter simply informs teachers that they'll have one fewer paid training day because state legislators cut the funding for it.

"It is something we had to do," said Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson. "If the funding's not there, then you can't pay somebody for it."

To the union, though, the letter amounts to a pink slip for all 3,300 teachers and other certificated employees, such as librarians and counselors.

"The disrespect is just unbelievable," said Seattle Education Association President Olga Addae said.

Union leaders also say the letter is illegal because the law requires districts to negotiate with unions, not individual teachers, over changes in the number of work days.

Union officials say district administrators handed them the letter Friday, and told them it had been put into the mail.

"We would not have sent out a press release if we had not been told," said Addae said.

Goodloe-Johnson said the letter wasn't sent Friday, but will be sent, because the district must inform teachers of the change.

The letter the district gave union leaders says the district must cut one day of work from teachers' contracts for the 2009-10 school year, from 182 days to 181. It says the district must do so because state legislators cut the funding for one teacher-training day from the state budget.

"The purpose of this letter," it states, "is to advise you of my determination, as Superintendent of the Seattle School District that... there is probable cause to nonrenew your contract and ... to offer you an employment contract for the 2009-10 school year for 181 days ... with a resulting reduction of your compensation."

The letter says teachers have the right to appeal.

Rich Wood, a spokesman for the Washington Education Association, said he does not know of another district in the state that has sent a similar letter.

Some districts are notifying some of their teachers that they'll be laid off because of state budget cuts, but nothing like this.

"It really is bizarre," Wood said. "It's bad-faith bargaining. They're attempting to negotiate directly with employees rather than through the collective bargaining process as required by law."

Goodloe-Johnson says the district disagrees with that.

"We have a difference of opinion," she said.

Steve Sundquist, Seattle School Board vice president, said he knew the district planned to communicate directly with its teachers about the teacher-training day, but he hadn't seen the letter — and didn't think the union was correct that the letter essentially fired all teachers.

Union leaders say the district should have handled the matter at the bargaining table. The current contract is set to expire at the end of August, and negotiations for the new contract have just begun.

Goodloe-Johnson, who previously worked as superintendent in Charleston, S.C., is in her second year as Seattle superintendent.

When she first arrived, confidence in the city's schools was low. Hopes were high that, as an experienced educator with a take-charge manner, she could set the district right again.

And while her no-nonsense style has impressed some, others say she's blunt to a fault.

Given that Goodloe-Johnson came here from a right-to-work state, she may be used to giving orders that teachers follow, Addae said. But "that is not what Seattle is, and she needs to hear that loud and clear."

The union plans to file an unfair-labor practice complaint against the district and inform teachers of their legal rights. Union leaders also are talking with lawyers about what else they can do.

Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359