Shawnee Mission students walk out of class, a strike in solidarity with teachers
Hundreds of Shawnee Mission high school students walked out of class on Friday to stand in solidarity with teachers and protest the school board’s vote on Thursday to impose a unilateral contract.
Students at Shawnee Mission East High School walked on to the football field around 11 a.m., carrying signs and chanting. Some blasted the school board or chanted to fire Superintendent Mike Fulton. A smaller protest also took place at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School.
The students said they were supporting their teachers, many of whom have been instructing more classes per day than teachers in other Johnson County districts. The teachers union and school district failed to reach a contract agreement despite negotiating since last spring, so on Thursday, the school board imposed a three-year unilateral contract.
“The work of Shawnee Mission teachers is deeply valued by the Board of Education and administration,” Superintendent Mike Fulton said in a statement. “We are doing our best to move quickly to address issues of workload and class size in ways that honor these dedicated professionals, while keeping the district on a solid fiscal path.”
The decision has been met with teachers’ disappointment, frustration and disbelief. Linda Sieck, president of the National Education Association-Shawnee Mission, said the district was “silencing teachers’ voices.”
The union had fought for a shorter term contract so that teachers can renegotiate in the future and fight to reduce class sizes. Now teachers can either accept the three-year contract, remain under last year’s contract or resign.
State legislators, union members and parents have taken to social media to show support for the Shawnee Mission teachers.
