State Rep. Dick DeBoldt’s recent offer to come to Marysville, possibly with 47 other House Republicans, cross the picket lines and teach classes would only make things in our community more political, angry and painful.
There’s an old saying: If you want to get hurt, stand between a politician and a camera. No matter how good DeBoldt’s intentions may be, if he led a gaggle of politicians across the picket line there’d be even more TV cameras, anger and chaos in Marysville.
Then there’s the nasty question of how many of 700 empty classrooms could be covered by these volunteers — who decides which fourth-grade students stay home and which spend their days listening to a politician pontificate about pension policy?
Our kids don’t need more division and controversy. They need to get back in class.
Because of our strong local control of schools systems, I as a state legislator can’t solve the immediate mess. But I can, and will, work to prevent problems in the future. We all want this to end now but the process is sadly set. It must be worked out locally.
Underlining problem
is lack of state support
Low pay: If we want the best education for our kids, we need to attract the best and brightest teachers to work in our schools. Even during this recession, nationwide salaries went up an average of 3.4 percent last year and this year while teachers fell behind again. Instead of a raise, teachers also got hit with higher health care costs. A teacher in Snohomish saw his health care costs triple; now he pays $500 a month for his family’s coverage. Teachers are losing ground.
More crowded classrooms: Our community is growing. You see the new folks on the freeway. Well, the average teacher’s classroom is as crowded as that freeway now. Overcrowded classrooms make the job tougher for teachers.
Sadly, DeBoldt led the fight in the House against funding the two initiatives voters passed to give teachers fairer pay and reduce overcrowding in our schools.
Better solutions
Here are three solutions that don’t have the sex appeal of TV cameras and politicians crossing picket lines, but they’d help kids, teachers and our schools.
1) Binding arbitration. This process prevents police and firefighters from having to go on strike to get a fair deal. A state-appointed mediator talks to both sides, then negotiates a compromise, and that compromise is binding. I will be working in the next session to make this better process the law for schools.
2) Help the students hurt by this strike. We must change state law to allow for graduating seniors to be able to apply for colleges on time when extraordinary circumstances in a school district exist — not just because of a strike but a disaster like the fire that burned down Aberdeen’s high school. Twelve years of work shouldn’t suffer because of conditions beyond the student’s control.
3) Better pay and working conditions. The Legislature needs to fund the teacher-raise and class-size-reduction initiatives. I voted to fund them, my colleague Dick DeBoldt didn’t. Now perhaps he, the governor and other legislators can see the impact in our communities and reconsider those school initiatives.
What we need to do
First and foremost we need to remember during this conflict that there will be a time after this strike. We have to exist as a community after this strike ends. We have to educate our children, motivate our teachers and support our school boards when they try to pass reforms to get more education out of every tax dollar. We must work together with those we are mad at now.
Whatever your position is on the teacher strike in Marysville, we can agree on one thing: In the time after this conflict our children deserve the best possible education, and it’s up to us to come together as a community and make sure local schools give every one of our children a great education.
As you read this, the students may be on their way back to school. If so, thank goodness. But we must not forget. We must heal, come together, and take action.
When the Legislature reconvenes in January, every parent, school board member and teacher should go to Olympia to visit Rep. DeBoldt.
Rep. Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish) represents the 44th Legislative District, which includes part of the Marysville, Lake Stevens, Snohomish and Everett School districts.
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