EVERETT — About 1,000 teachers, parents and students showed up to a meeting with state legislators Tuesday evening in the Cascade High School gym to express concerns about crowded classrooms, school budget cuts and what many see as disrespect for their work.
Eight lawmakers from Snohomish County districts showed up for what felt at times like a pep rally. The event was organized by the teachers unions. Rep. Mike Hope of Lake Stevens was the lone Republican on hand.
Maggie Richards, of Everett, a special education English teacher at Lake Stevens High School, was at the meeting to make a statement.
“I don’t want those in Olympia to have their hands around my job and change what I do when they haven’t set foot in a classroom for ages,” Richards said. “For me, it’s not about money. They need to let us do our jobs and leave how educators are hired and fired in the hands of the local school boards. Isn’t that a Republican thing, local control?”
Rep. Luis Moscoso, D-Mountlake Terrace, said he came to hear the crowd’s frustrations with this year’s legislative session.
“It’s not necessarily a matter of preaching to the choir,” Moscoso said. “I am on the side of teachers, but the sheet music has been changed, and I want to see what we can do about it.”
Teachers and parents from Arlington, Edmonds, Granite Falls, Lake Stevens, Marysville, Monroe, Mukilteo, Northshore, Snohomish, Sultan and Skykomish school districts lined up at two microphones on the gym floor to take turns telling the legislators about their hopes and fears for next and subsequent school years.
“Washington state is not broke,” said Lynnwood parent Julie Mains, whose husband is a teacher in Mukilteo. “If we tax the wealthy and the corporations, we would have plenty of money to fund education. Beating down teachers is totally immoral.”
Rep. Mary Helen Roberts, D-Lynnwood, chastised any teachers in the crowd who voted against a state income tax and for the repeal of state taxes.
Rep. Hope, a police officer who is married to a Monroe teacher, said he would rather spend more money for the high school in Monroe than the prison in Monroe.
“I realize that spending money to provide our children a first-class education should eventually help us see lower crime rates,” Hope said. “And I don’t want to spend money for a teacher assessment program. We need to direct that money into the classroom.”
Some teachers called a proposed 3 percent salary cut a special tax on teachers, others complained that they are already having trouble paying off their student loans.
“Take a good look at the faces in this crowd. We didn’t go into education to get rich,” said Cascade High civics teacher Melissa Webster. “But if you take away too much, I am going to have to leave education.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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