By Richard Reuther

I must first make the observation that in two editions of the Dec. 6 Enterprise, you ran the same article in different locations with different headlines. In the Lynnwood/ Mountlake Terrace edition, on page 15, you headlined an article “Jan. 14 may be ‘no school day.’ ” The Shoreline edition ran the identical story on page one under the banner “Teachers want day off to rally Olympia.” The location and headline made a great deal of difference as to the impact on the reader, and neither truly reflects what the events of Jan. 14 will hopefully be.

A more accurate headline would have been “WEA asks all concerned parents and citizens of Washington state to travel to Olympia on Jan. 14 to demonstrate their continued support of quality education.” I know, it’s too long. But that is what is happening.

The Jan. 14 rally in Olympia is not “a day off” for teachers. It is not an example of teachers just of thinking themselves. It is not an effort to force the Legislature to pay for salary increases at a time when the economy in general is in decline.

The stated goals for this “Day of Action” are: 1) to protect the funds approved by 70 percent of the voters of the state under I-728 and I-732, and 2) to establish a long-term, stable funding system for the state’s schools. It should be re-emphasized that the state constitution declares that education is the “paramount” duty of the state. My dictionary defines paramount as “of chief concern or importance; foremost.”

Why do we need to keep I-728 and I-732 in place? I-728 has provided funds for class-size reduction. At the elementary level, the most critical years in the development of reading and math skills, the difference between a class of 28 and one of 24 or 22 is huge. If I-728 money disappears, class size will go up and student acheivement will go down. We would be guaranteeing our failure to meet the standards under the federal “No Child Left Behind” legislation.

Initiative 732 was designed to attract and keep qualified teachers. I wouldn’t be in the classroom without I-732. My first love has always been teaching, but at a starting pay of $22,000-$25,000 I couldn’t justify leaving my previous job, which paid $45,000 a year, a 50percent pay cut. With recent pay increases and the COLAs required under I-732, I made the mid-life career change. I took only a 33percent pay cut and now make $30,000. I will never see that salary of $45,000 because it takes 15 years for a teacher to reach the top of the pay scale; I have 10 years before retirement. I have young collegues who look at their monthly checks and literally cry. Several of the best young teachers in our building are considering leaving the profession or moving to eastern Washington, where their salary will go further.

Ask any expert. The reliance on property, sales and B&O taxes serves neither those who pay them (citizens and business), nor those who use them (schoolchildren, drivers on our highways, or those who require other services from the state). And yet another commission has completed an examination of the state’s tax structure and again found it unfair to the poor and prone to disaster in slow economic times. And once again, well before the 5 o’clock news, the same old naysayers trot out the scare-the-people-and-legislators-with-the-no-income-tax threat.

A remedy will never be produced as long as people hold onto yesterday’s false assumptions.

The teachers of this state want the best education for your children. Our plan is to show the legislators that the people want the best education for their children. We urge every stakeholder, be they parent, grandparent, non-parent, businessperson, newspaper editor, or teacher, to show up in Olympia on Jan. 14. We must impress upon the Legislature that we understand education to be the paramount duty of the state and that our children deserve nothing less than the best and that we will settle for nothing less for them.

We are chartering buses to go to Olympia; $5 gets you on. If you can’t go personally, call your legislator on the 14th, e-mail or write a letter that will arrive on the Day of Action. If you ever had any doubts about the power of the people to influence government, this is the train to get on!

Richard Reuther is an Edmonds School District teacher and Shoreline resident.