Teachers are planning strikes in east Snohomish County on Friday.
About 400 red-clad Monroe teachers and another 100 Sultan educators are following colleagues in other districts who already have held walkouts. They want the Legislature to pay for smaller class sizes at all grade levels and give teachers raises and better benefits.
“We just feel like it’s time for us to stand up for our students,” Monroe Education Association President Shaerie Bruton said. “We’re worried about the future of public education.”
The Monroe teachers plan to hold a rally at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the Galaxy Theater. They’ll be there at 7 a.m. to collect donations for the Sky Valley and Maltby food banks.
The teachers also plan to spend the morning marching and waving signs along U.S. 2. School has been canceled, but most after-school activities will go on as planned.
Sultan School District teachers plan to start waving signs and collecting food at 8 a.m. They’ll gather at the Red Apple market in Sultan and at the Gold Bar Family Grocer.
Some educators will walk six miles from Gold Bar to Sultan to symbolize the six years they’ve gone with out cost-of-living pay raises. A rally is scheduled for 11 a.m. at River Park pavilion in Sultan.
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