Seattle teachers walk out of classrooms over pay

STORY: The Seattle Teachers Association, a labor union representing more than 6,000 teachers, paraprofessionals and office workers in Washington state, on Tuesday said that 95% of its members who submitted a ballot voted to go on strike.

The work stoppage canceled the first day of school for 47,000 students in the district, the largest public school system in the state, as teachers formed picket lines at many of the system's 110 schools on Wednesday morning.

Outside of Rainier Beach High School on the city's South Side and down the street at South Shore K-8 elementary school, dozens of teachers wearing red T-shirts carried "Strike Now" signs while they chanted "Educators United Will Never Be Defeated" as motorists drove past honking their horns in support.

“It can sometimes hinge on power and control. And really the issue becomes who's going to be in control? And I think that that shouldn't affect children. And so it's unfair for adult issues like ego and power and control to negatively affect kids. And that really makes me sad and upset," said Kathy Krikorian, a speech therapist at South Shore K-8.

Seattle Public Schools in a statement said it was optimistic that the bargaining teams will "come to a positive solution" for students and staff.