Published Wednesday, September 9, 2026 in The Everett Herald
Everett Public Schools OKs 2-Year Contract With Teacher's Union
By Will Geschke
Everett Public Schools approved a two-year collective bargaining agreement on Tuesday with the Everett Education Association, the union representing over 1,300 teachers across the district.
The contract, which the union had ratified on Aug. 26, guarantees teachers will receive salary increases of at least 3% for both the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years. Raises in the 2027-28 school year would match the rate of inflation if it grows over the 3% mark.
The district and the union met 12 times between April and August before coming to a tentative agreement on Aug. 26, according to a school board memo, about a week before school was set to begin. Part of the negotiations included finalizing a calendar for the coming school years. Until that was complete, parents and students didn’t know the exact dates when some vacations and other school events like parent-teacher conferences would take place.
Jared Kink, the president of the Everett Education Association, said in an interview Tuesday that coming to an agreement on the contract about a week before school starts is not unusual, he said. It'’'s a difficult process that takes time — on the final day of talks, the union and the district came to an agreement at around 2 a.m., according to the tentative agreement.
"I think that shows the dedication of both sides, is that we’ll work to the end, every minute we can, because both sides want to make sure that we have kids in classrooms on the first day of school," Kink said. "It’s a long road, and we’d love to have things out earlier, we’d love to have a calendar out in June, but these things are really complex."
The union ratified the contract with about 95% of its members’ approval, Kink said.
In a statement, district superintendent Ian Saltzman wrote that he appreciated the collaboration with the Everett Education Association during the negotiation process.
"Our conversations were productive with a shared commitment to supporting our students," Saltzman wrote in an Aug. 26 email. "We are excited to move forward together and look forward to a great opening day to the 2026-27 school year with our incredible educators."
The 2026-27 school calendar is available online: tinyurl.com/2kd92ahj.
https://www.heraldnet.com/2026/09/09/everett-public-schools-oks-2-year-contract-with-teachers-union