MEAD, Wash. — Members of the Mead Education Association (MEA) authorized their bargaining team to start a strike if a tentative agreement is not approved by midnight on Sunday. This could impact more than 10,000 students and their families just days before the start of school.

According to MEA, 97.1% of MEA members have expressed their decision to initiate a strike. There have been 16 bargaining sessions thus far, but the district has yet to make a workable plan to address the changes needed for Mead students.

To be clear, the vote doesn't mean teachers are now on strike, but it puts them one step closer to that. Thursday's decision comes after more than a dozen bargaining session and with just a few days before the start of school.

The Union president says the issue is not about pay,

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