Schools on hook for some pay raises

Associated Press

OLYMPIA — All school employees are entitled to the cost-of-living increases mandated by voters last year, but the state isn’t obligated to pay the increases for about 25,000 employees it doesn’t pay in the first place, a Thurston County judge ruled Friday.

Superior Court Judge Christine Pomeroy’s ruling could put an unexpected $100 million burden on local school districts.

"For those people who are locally funded, essentially the school district has to find a way to pay for those cost-of-living increases," said Jim Phariss, a senior assistant attorney general who defended the state against a lawsuit brought by unions representing teachers and other school employees.

For the unions, the ruling is a big disappointment, said Rick Chisa, a spokesman for the Public School Employees Association of Washington, which represents 26,000 education support employees, including bus drivers and cafeteria workers.

"If there’s no guaranteed revenue to pay for it, then we’re no better off than we were before," Chisa said.

The affected employees include workers in a variety of school jobs.

The case will likely go directly to the Washington Supreme Court.

The state provides the money to pay the vast majority of teachers and other school employees in Washington, but about 25,000 are paid from other sources, such as local tax levies or federal grants.

After Initiative 732 passed last year, lawmakers approved the additional money for state-paid employees, but balked at the extra $100 million to raise pay for the others.

The unions sued, noting that

I-732 mandated the increases for all employees. Pomeroy agreed with both sides, letting the state off the financial hook.

"I think we’re probably happier over the split than the other side," Pharris said.

Chisa said putting the burden on the districts would likely prompt local officials to fire some workers to free up money to pay the increases to others.

I-732 was approved by 63 percent of voters last fall as a way to improve compensation for Washington teachers, many of whom were being lured to other states by better pay and benefits.

The initiative says the raises shall be based on state-funded salaries, and goes on to say "each school district shall be provided a cost-of-living allocation sufficient to grant this cost-of-living increase for the salaries, including mandatory salary-related benefits, of all employees of the district."