Originally published Friday, August 22, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Editorial
Don't strike, teachers
Washington law prohibits teacher strikes to protect the critical function of education. This point bears repeating as nearly a dozen school...
Washington law prohibits teacher strikes to protect the critical function of education. This point bears repeating as nearly a dozen school districts with expiring teacher contracts face down the threat of a strike.
In the Bellevue School District, teachers voted to strike on Sept. 2 — the first day of school — if a tentative contract is not agreed to by then. Similar rumblings emanate from the Snoqualmie and Northshore school districts.
A judge should stand ready to enforce the law. The Legislature should consider strengthening the law with penalties. Teacher strikes are a terrible tactic. While adults argue about money, academics lag, parents scramble for child care and students, who rely on schools for everything from an education to a hot meal, suffer.
Look to the Issaquah and Marysville school districts for examples. Unpleasant memories of labor strikes in those districts linger years later.
Prohibiting strikes doesn't harm the spirit of union negotiations. There is room for reasonable disagreement about salaries and other workplace issues. There is even agreement on many of these issues. Despite education's prominence in the state constitution, it is an underfunded mandate. A state task force has been charged with creating a budget that fully funds education. Voter-approved levies, once envisioned to pay for extras, now make up a fourth of school budgets.
Teachers and other school employees received an 8.1 percent pay raise over the current biennium. Last year they received a 3.7 percent increase, this year it is 4.4 percent.
Facing a nearly $3 billion deficit, the Legislature isn't likely to be more generous. In other industries, pay raises have been replaced by layoffs, weakening any sympathy teachers might otherwise engender.
Much of the tensions in the current round of contract negotiations center on local budgets, rather than state coffers. This is because school employees hired with local levy funds didn't receive the pay raises approved by lawmakers. Those employees and their unions are pressuring local budgets already constrained by rising costs, from fuel to health care.
Bellevue is a prime example. It admirably spends the large amount of levy dollars it takes in to hire extra staff to lower class sizes and enhance learning programs. But when the state hands out raises, districts such as Bellevue receive a hefty bill.
A short-term solution to this problem remains elusive. Longer range, the Legislature should consider incorporating voter-approved benefits — such as Initiative 728, the class-size-reduction levy — into the general budget. It wouldn't instantly harmonize relations between school districts and their employees, but it might soften the tones during contract negotiations.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
Charles Krauthammer / Syndicated columnist: New York trial a propaganda coup for terrrorists

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
8 Drawer Dresser with Attached Mirror - $200
8 seat pecon formal dining table and china hutch - $1500
A American Table, Chairs and Bench - $275
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
Give yourself a treat and visit Watson Kennedy's Holiday Open Houses
More minding the store
events for Monday, Nov. 23
More shopping eventseditors' picks
- Spas & beauty salons
- Maternity shopping
- West Seattle shopping
- Vintage, consignment and used clothing
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
363 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
207 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
170 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
148 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
94 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
93 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
82 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
78 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
73 - UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
66
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit




