Seattle students start school Thursday as weeklong strike is suspended pending union vote

Margaret Gingrich, a second-grade teacher at Montlake Elementary school, carries a picket sign as she and other members of the Seattle Education Association, the union that represents striking teachers from the Seattle School District, file into a meeting hall, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015, in Seattle to discuss a tentative contract agreement that was reached with the district Tuesday morning, the fifth day of the strike. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) (The Associated Press)

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Members of the Seattle Education Association, the union that represents striking teachers from the Seattle School District, sign in to receive voting cards, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015, as they arrive at a meeting hall in Seattle to discuss a tentative contract agreement that was reached with the district Tuesday morning, the fifth day of the strike. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) (The Associated Press)

Union members embrace after Seattle Education Association leaders voted to suspend a strike Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015, and bring a new contract for Seattle Public Schools educators to a vote on Sunday. The vote to suspend the strike was held at the Aerospace Machinists Union hall in Seattle. (Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com via AP) (The Associated Press)

Thousands of students in Seattle are starting school Thursday after a tentative agreement reached by striking teachers and the district put a walkout on hold.

The strike that began Sept. 9 delayed the school year for 53,000 Seattle students,

Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Larry Nyland thanked families for their "patience and perseverance."

The teachers union and school district reached a deal giving teachers a 9.5 percent pay raise over three years, guaranteed 30-minute recesses for elementary students, a longer school day and more teacher input over standardized tests.

Teachers complained that the city's technology industry had priced them out of living in the city where they teach.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/seattle-students-start-school-thursday-as-weeklong-strike-is-suspended-pending-union-vote