Kent Teachers Strike

About 1,300 striking Kent School District teachers have put off until Monday evening their decision on whether to obey a judge’s order that they return to the classroom Tuesday.

Hundreds of teachers gathered at Green River Community College for the crucial vote.

The teachers were cheered on by their students and their families who joined in for a pep rally of sorts before the ballots were cast.

Many of those present supported the teachers' fight for lower class sizes and more time with students.

In the meantime, some 26,000 students in the state’s fourth-largest district remain out of school, forcing parents to scramble for emergency day care, upsetting plans for seniors hoping to graduate on time and causing what King County Superior Court Judge Andrea Darvas on Thursday called “irreparable damage” to students and parents.