Video: Angry Parents File Suit Against School District

In a lawsuit filed Monday in Snohomish County Superior Court, the parents seek a declaratory judgment that the strike is illegal and an injunction that would force the teachers to return to work.

"I hope this would spur them to settle their differences," said Brian Phillips, the Everett attorney who filed the complaint on behalf of the group, called "Tired of the Strike."

Thanks for taking our KIRO 7 Eyewitness News survey! Do You Think Striking Teachers Should Be Forced Back To Work? Do You Think Striking Marysville Teachers Should Be Forced Back To Work Via Court Order? Yes No Not Sure

A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15, he said.

"Taking teachers to court doesn't settle the strike," Elaine Hanson, president of the Marysville Education Association, responded. "The strike will be settled when the Marysville School Board brings an acceptable contract proposal to the bargaining table."

Marysville teachers met with school district representatives Monday in the latest series of talks, but no resolution was reached, said district spokeswoman Judy Parker.

Teachers in the Marysville School District about 30 miles north of Seattle had been on strike for 35 days as of Monday, just two days shy of the record 37-day walkout Fife teachers held in 1995. Recent contract talks have shown few good signs.

On Friday, the district announced that classes for students in kindergarten through grade 12 would be canceled until at least Oct. 11.

The union says teachers are refusing to compromise on three issues: They don't want to switch from a local to a state salary schedule; they don't want additional workdays without pay; and they want locally funded pay and benefit improvements.

District officials say the union has also refused to back down from an 11 percent pay increase and health benefits that would cost $14 million.