The approximately 50,000 students who were affected by the cancellation of classes due to a teacher strike are going to have their first day of school Wednesday, a week later than scheduled. Teachers in Seattle voted Tuesday night to end their strike.

The new school year was suppose to begin last week. Instead, teachers voted unanimously to go out on strike while their contract negotiations continued. Picket lines formed across the city. Coincidentally, the strike landed at the same time a new report was released by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). That report shows an unprecedented decline in reading and math scores

Students struggled to keep up with online learning during the pandemic. Teachers unions insisted that schools remain closed during the pandemic, though there was never any proof that children spread the coronavirus. Even with extra safety measures in place, social distancing, and frequent hand washing, teachers refused to return to the classroom in many cities across the country. Their students suffer the consequences of that now.

On Monday district officials said that a tentative agreement had been reached with union leadership on a contract for teachers. On Tuesday night, teachers voted to end their strike. Washington state’s largest school district will be back to school on Wednesday.

“This was an incredible effort by both teams and we put the needs of our students first,” Superintendent Brent Jones said Tuesday in a video message to families.

The district didn’t release the details of the tentative agreement.

The teacher union say the agreement starts a conversation.

Union officials on Tuesday said they had “won a great tentative agreement and started an important conversation with our community about supporting our students.” Members will vote to approve the agreement this week, according to the union.

As I wrote last week, other teacher unions around the country are striking as contract negotiations continue.

As schools across the country this year face labor shortages, a few other unions at universities and school districts across the country have initiated strikes.

Faculty members at Eastern Michigan University on Sunday ended a strike that began Sept. 7 after the professors’ union reached a labor agreement with the administration. The local teachers union in Columbus, Ohio, last month went on a three-day strike before reaching a deal for a contract with the district there.

The school board released a statement with few details.

In a news release, the Seattle Education Association said the tentative agreement would ensure that special education staffing ratios are maintained and improved.

The details of the agreement won’t be publicly available until union members and the school board approve the deal, the release said.

“We’re excited to get back into our classrooms and buildings, knowing that our action means we’ll have more of what our students and educators need to succeed,” union president Jennifer Matter said in the release.

In a message to parents, Seattle Public Schools officials said students will have to make up the five days of school they missed due to the strike. The schedule for those makeup days has yet to be undecided.

The students are a week behind schedule and will have to make up the days they missed because of the teacher strike, something that was out of their control. Add that to the two years they lost while teachers’ unions demanded that schools remain closed.