On Wednesday, during the teachers in-service, Stanwood-Camano, Mt. Vernon, and Arlington will all be performing a walkout to protest the lack of appropriate funding from the state legislature. Bellingham, Ferndale, Sedro-Woolley, and Lakewood will hold theirs on Thursday, and Oak Harbor on Friday. The new legislature includes changes in compensation, K-12 health insurance, student test scores and evaluation, class size and caseload, and finally, a new salary reform. Teachers encourage students to participate in the parade.  All information is according to the Arlington Education Association Talking Points.

The Walk-Out will raise awareness of the following:

Compensation: The House and Senate budget provides a percent COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) which is an adjustment made to social security and supplemental security income in order to adjust to benefits to counteract the effects of inflation. The House is suggesting a 4.8% COLA, while the Senate is suggesting a 3% COLA. This leads to the concern of a compromise that could be even lower. Causing the losses to the cost of living experienced by teachers, specialists and school employees.

State Takeover of K-12: New Senate budget will reduce healthcare choices, reduce benefits and increase costs to employees. The Senate is not increasing funding for health care but it will cost employees more to pay for the insurance, which increases erode pay. Erode pay means that whatever Senate funding does not pay for, the rest will be taken out of employee paychecks to pay for the rest.

Student Test Scores Tied to Evaluation: Eric Grant said that “the state Senate has voted to tie state test scores to teacher evaluations, even though Congress is on the verge of rewriting the underlying federal law (ESEA). This bill could be a factor in the last minute deal-making that occurs to reach a final state budget.”

Class Size and Caseload Funding per McCleary and Initiative 1351: Legislative is trying to rewrite I-1351 to find K-3 class size reduction only. This would increase sized in 4-12 in high poverty schools. Current law requires the state to reduce class sizes in all grade levels, not just some.

Salary Reform: Eric Grant said “The state Senate has voted to tie state test scores to teacher evaluations, even though Congress is on the verge of rewriting the underlying federal law (ESEA). This bill could be a factor in the last minute deal-making that occurs to reach a final state budget.”

The new legislative proposal does not address teacher’s adequate compensation or medical benefits. It also does not address the class size initiative passed by voters of Washington (I-1351). If this new proposal is accepted, it will demand more time from the teachers to collect and input data, which leaves them less time to teach the kids. Overall, this new proposal is taking away from our academic system and everyone should come to the parade to support our amazing teachers.