SEATTLE – Seattle Public Schools teachers continue to hold out in union contract negotiations, stretching an ongoing teachers strike into a third day and leaving parents in limbo.

Thousands of Seattle teachers headed to the picket lines instead of the classroom Wednesday in hopes of forcing district officials to cave to the Seattle Education Association’s financial demands. The teachers strike, the first in 30 years, means 53,000 public school students are missing valuable instruction while their peers in other, non-government schools plow ahead.

“As of Wednesday, the Seattle Education Association was asking for a 5 percent raise this school year and 5.5 percent next year,” The Seattle Times reports. “In addition, teachers would receive 4.8 percent over two years from the state, a cost-of-living adjustment that’s applied only to the state’s contribution to teacher pay, which in Seattle is about 75 percent of the total.

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“The district’s latest offer would raise teacher salaries by 2 percent this year, 3.2 percent next year and 4 percent in 2017-18. The state-approved cost-of-living adjustment would be in addition to that.”

In big numbers, the district’s proposal would cost taxpayers an additional $29.4 million over two years, while the union’s proposal would add $61 million to the budget over the same time frame.

Teachers ceased protests Friday in honor of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and both sides are currently meeting with mediators, though there’s seemingly no timeline for resolving the dispute.

“No new negotiations are scheduled, but that could change, or not, at any time,” SEA spokesman Rich Wood told the Associated Press today. “There have been no new proposals since Tuesday, the day before the strike.”

With 97 of the city’s public schools shut down, officials are scrambling to accommodate parents left in a lurch because of the strike.

“This week, we have reached capacity at several centers and recognize the demand is likely to grow should the strike continue,” Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said Friday, vowing to expand drop-in services for up to 3,000 students at the city’s community centers next week.

“Thousands of families are seeking options for their school-age kids,” he said. “We’ve brought on additional staff and AmeriCorps volunteers to ease the burden for parents who need to go back to work.”

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Meanwhile, teachers like Franklin High School science teacher Olga Addae allege they’re “doing this for the students and for a better school system,” according to the AP.

Teacher salaries in the district range from roughly $44,000 to $86,000 for experienced educators, district officials said.

But teachers contend they can barely afford to live in Seattle because high paying tech jobs have driven up the cost of living. The median home rental in Seattle was $2,354 a month in July, while the national average is $1,376, according to Zillow real estate figures cited by the news service.

The teachers strike is illegal in Washington State, but district officials said they will not take legal action to force educators back to work, King 5 reports.

“The Seattle Public Schools board of directors voted Tuesday evening 5- to 1 (with 1 abstention) to authorize Superintendent Larry Nyland to take legal action to stop a strike. They said their first priority is still to reach an agreement at the bargaining table, but this authorization would allow the superintendent to ask a judge for an injunction if necessary. The district said Wednesday there is currently no plan to take this legal action,” KIRO 7 reports.

And as public school teachers refused to return to the classroom this week, Seattle-area charter school supporters held a rally Thursday at Summit Sierra charter school to voice their concerns with a state Supreme Court ruling last week that rendered Washington’s voter-approved charter school law unconstitutional, the Times reports.

The charter school proponents, who also rallied in Tacoma and Walla Walla this week, are urging Gov. Jay Inslee to call a special session of the legislature to fix the court ruling.

The irony of ruling – outlawing one of the few available education options in Seattle at the moment – wasn’t lost on many folks who commented online.

“Unfortunately, the (Washington Education Association/ Seattle Education Association) donated money to the state Supreme Court justices and then sued to block charter schools,” HFNY posted to the Times. “Of course, the state Supreme Court decided in favor of the WEA/ SEA because they are bought and paid for!”

“Families and children are a captive market unless they can afford private schools (and still pay taxes to the teachers union),” HFNY wrote.

Chimprage concurred with HFNY.

“When you belong to the union that is the biggest contributor to the party that controls the city council, the county council, the state house, and the governor’s office, you can pretty much demand what ever the hell you want,” Chimprage wrote.

It’s an “infinite feedback loop of political corruption. We, the ones who pay the taxes that support this system, have no real voice,” Chimprage added. “We are the ones getting ripped off.”