If you’re the parent of a public-school student, chances are you need to make day-care arrangements for Tuesday, Jan. 14. Rather than working that day, as they were scheduled to do in most districts, teachers are planning to descend upon Olympia for an in-your-face show of opposition to cuts in education funding.
The timing of what’s being billed as a Day of Action, organized by the state teachers union, is meant to compete with the governor’s state of the state address and put education funding out front as the Legislature convenes and begins to tackle a budget hole of at least $2 billion.
In creating an event it hopes will get big TV coverage, however, the Washington Education Association risks making things worse by undermining support for its issues among citizens and by sending the destructive message that compromise isn’t an option — even in a year when a sick economy might make compromise a must for everyone.
Education funding is the Legislature’s highest priority — the state constitution makes it so. It enjoys broad support among voters, who passed initiatives last year mandating higher teacher pay and smaller class sizes — issues that will add to the budget mess because they came without funding mechanisms. Educators have little to gain by screaming and stomping their feet, and plenty to lose by alienating parents and others who already support them.
The size of the budget deficit is such that all state spending must be scrutinized. Major overhauls — and perhaps elimination — of agencies will be considered. Education deserves as much protection as possible, but as the biggest item in the budget (nearly 45 percent of the state general fund goes to K-12 public education), temporary spending reductions may be necessary. The long-term interests of education will best be served by a constructive process with lawmakers that includes teachers and administrators.
Such an effort already is underway here. A coalition of education leaders from the Edmonds, Everett, Mukilteo, Northshore and Shoreline districts met recently with area legislators to make the case for K-12 funding. That’s a constructive dialogue that should continue, here and throughout the state.
The teachers’ march in Olympia, meanwhile, will be anything but constructive. It lacks the support of three statewide education organizations — the Washington Association of School Administrators, the Washington State School Directors Association and the Association of Washington School Principals. It will inconvenience thousands of parents and students, and do so unnecessarily — the action could have been scheduled for the following Monday, when schools already are scheduled to be closed in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
This will be a difficult legislative session. Without understanding, cooperation and reasonable compromise, it could easily drag into the summer, throwing local budget planning for the next school year into chaos. After the marching is over, the WEA must refocus and continue working with the rest of the education community toward solutions for stable funding.
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