From what I've seen, there are 28,000 students at home right now and either 1600 or 1900 teachers on strike, different articles give different values but 1900 seems the more common. Just using the basic math they teach, 28000/1900 is just under 14.8 and 28000/1600 is 17.5 students per teacher. I've difficulty seeing how class size could be an issue. For that matter data says Washington is ranked 12th now and was 13th before that in teacher salary and benefits rankings, and every piece of data for them I've been able to look at seems to place them at normal or better than national averages, nor is Washington and especially rich or expensive state, though it's decently above the average. I can't see an obvious cause to justify a strike, which I gather has been challenged some 19 times in that state and ruled illegal each time. They have no legal right to strike, and while its not as bad as an emergency group doing it like police, docs, or soldiers it is clearly against the law and decidedly f'd up, the kids won't suffer much IMO from missing a week or two of classes but a lot of parents rely on the schools their taxes pay for to provide daycare not just education. I don't see much to justify this strike.