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GUEST: Jonathan Knapp, president of the 5,500-member Seattle Education Association, the union representing Seattle teachers, paraprofessionals, office professionals and substitutes.

For the first time in 30 years, Seattle teachers have gone on strike. The Seattle Education Association (SEA) said contract talks with the school district over the Labor Day weekend went awry and teachers walked off the job on the first day of school.

The SEA represents more than 5,000 teachers. The strike has led to more than 50,000 students staying home from school.

At the heart of the conflict are pay raises, teacher evaluations, and the length of the school day. But controversy over the city’s charter school system are also tangentially part of the problem.

The last time Seattle teachers struck in 1985, they were off the job for 25 days. That strike was only resolved with the Washington state governor personally intervened.