Gone to the Capitol. Will report back when finished.
Update: finished. Several Thurston County teachers and I spoke with Karen Fraser, Sam Hunt, and Brendan Williams about some upcoming legislative business, including HB 1484, which would allow school districts to conduct county-wide levies to supplement teacher salaries.
The putative advantages are several. First, small districts would be able to piggyback on larger districts' levies, defraying the cost of the election. Second, since the supplemental levy would require a simple majority for passage, districts wouldn't be shackled by forty percent of the electorate. (Elma, anyone?) Second, districts would have the right to veto the concept; in a county with fewer than seven districts, the decision would have to be unanimous. Seven to fifteen districts, 75% would have to come on board. (A majority would have to sign on in county with more than fifteen districts.)
The Olympian notes that several unnamed senators express concerns about its constitutionality. (Fraser, from her questions asked to us, might be among that number.) From what I've heard, it's taken the bill's sponsors six years to iron out all the constitutional concerns, which is why the proper next step is educative.
The WEA supports the bill (hence our lobbying effort), but not without controversy, knowing that the state could do more to equalize salaries without creating a disparity between wealthy and not-so-wealthy counties.
1 comment:
As I told my congressman recently, it's about equity of salaries, not equality. The lack of a housing allowance looks like it will prevent me from continuing to teach at my school, which is sad because I love teaching where I teach and living where I live. But my wife and I want to have a child, and we can't afford a house here. The net effect of 1484 isn't going to give rich districts any advantage--it's actually going to eliminate a disadvantage. Virtually every teacher where I teach is either childless, married to someone wealthy, or has a ludicrous commute. Everyone else has moved to Puyallup, Kitsap, or out of state. 1484 will allow localities to determine if they need to give their teachers extra help to be in their area, which is, in many cases, entirely necessary.
I'm not the only one forced out of town. But hey--Redmond's loss will be Vancouver's gain.
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