Seattle families with roughly 50,000 students enrolled will learn by midnight Tuesday, Sept. 1, whether school opens on time or teachers walk a picket line.

The Seattle Education Association (SEA) said in a statement Tuesday that its bargaining team worked past 1 a.m. and saw what it described as promising progress toward a new contract with Seattle Public Schools (SPS).

Negotiators returned to the table Tuesday morning with a state mediator present, according to KUOW.

SEA spokesperson Julie Popper told the station teachers will know whether they are headed to classrooms or picket lines by midnight.

The tone marks a sharp turn. As we reported Aug. 31, talks had broken down over the weekend after the district left the bargaining table Saturday night, Aug. 29.

SEA Vice President and Lead Bargainer Davina Diaz said the union was "disappointed and angry" that the district left the table, writing in an Aug. 30 community update that "SPS walked away from the bargaining table" while the union wanted to bargain around the clock.

Superintendent Ben Shuldiner, in his first year leading the district, called in the state Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) that Saturday night.

A mediator arrived Sunday morning, Aug. 30, and has been facilitating talks since.

No deal had been reached as of 1 a.m. Tuesday, KOMO News reported.

The SEA's statement did not specify which issues saw movement overnight. The deadline to avoid a strike remains 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. If no agreement is reached, classes will not start on time Wednesday, Sept. 2.

The SEA, which represents about 6,000 teachers, paraeducators, counselors and support staff, called a member rally for 5 p.m. Tuesday at the John Stanford Center, SPS district headquarters. Shuldiner had also scheduled a 3 p.m. media briefing at the same location, according to the district's website.

What's still on the table

The two sides remain apart on pay and special education staffing.

SPS has offered an 8.8% salary increase over three years.

The SEA is seeking the state cost-of-living adjustment plus an additional 6% over three years, with targeted raises for paraprofessionals and office staff, according to Capitol Hill Seattle News.

Special education remains the hardest issue. The district's proposal, now in its fourth version, would reduce special education pathways from four to two.

SPS says the plan would improve staff-to-student ratios for nearly 70% of the district's more than 7,000 students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and add 70 paraprofessional and 20 certificated positions, the Seattle Times reported.

The union counters that the plan would result in a net loss of 100 instructional-assistant positions and move more than 200 teachers and paraprofessionals from their current roles.

Alex Kramer, an instructional assistant at Salmon Bay K-8 in Ballard, described the stakes in an Aug. 30 interview with the Seattle Times: "My job is to go into classrooms and help individual students through a moment where they are dysregulated … If I'm there, I can help the student."

A group of SPS teachers and instructional assistants launched spsforkids.org over the Aug. 29–30 weekend, calling on the district to withdraw the special education redesign from contract talks entirely.

What happens if there's no deal

Seattle teachers last struck in 2022, delaying the start of school by about five days.

Shuldiner has described the district as "broke" and warned it faces insolvency by the 2028–29 school year without systemic changes.

If a strike begins Wednesday, SPS has said it will provide meals for students. Boys & Girls Clubs of King County will offer full-day programming at a discounted rate for currently enrolled families, according to KIRO 7.

No school-level breakdown of how a strike or the special education proposal would affect individual buildings has been released.

Families at Title I schools such as Rainier Beach High School, Cleveland High School STEM and Aki Kurose Middle School, where special education staffing gaps tend to be most acute, have the most at stake in the redesign dispute but the least public data to evaluate it.

Seattle schools week ahead

• Tuesday, Sept. 1, 3 p.m. — SPS media briefing at the John Stanford Center. Shuldiner is expected to update the public on bargaining status.
• Tuesday, Sept. 1, 5 p.m. — SEA member rally at the John Stanford Center.
• Tuesday, Sept. 1, 11:59 p.m. — Strike deadline. If no tentative agreement is reached, a strike begins Wednesday morning.
• Wednesday, Sept. 2 — First day of school for SPS students, if a deal is reached.