TACOMA, Wash. — Students in Washington state’s third-largest school district are taking a fourth straight day off Friday as opposing sides in a teachers strike meet with a judge, after the instructors defied his order to return to the classroom. SOTA High School students Jacob Glickman, 17, Rachael Martin, 17, of and Nick Vargish, 17, on car from left, cheer on the striking teachers gathered to picket in front of Tacoma school district building, in Tacoma, Wash. on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011. The contract issues being debated in Tacoma are echoed across the nation as school districts grapple with federally mandated school reform. (AP Photo/The News Tribune, Janet Jensen) The Tacoma School District teachers walked out Tuesday over issues including pay, class size and how job transfers are handled. A state judge issued an order Wednesday that they go back to class, but the teachers refused. On Thursday, about 93 percent of the nearly 1,600 teachers gathered at the Tacoma Dome arena and voted overwhelmingly to keep picketing.”

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