Bellevue teachers strike is wrong

Striking teachers in the Bellevue School District are being misled by their union.

The Bellevue Education Association has become good at feigning victimhood on behalf of its members. But here's the reality: the district's offer of an 8.1 percent pay raise over three years and an additional $1 million in health-care benefits — allowing a third of the teachers to pay nothing and others to pay between $6 and $62 a month — shines amid recessionary gloom.

Yet, the Bellevue Education Association demands 14.1 percent raises. The district must say no. Its other choice is to cut deeply into programs that make this 16,000-student district one of the top in the nation.

A standardized curriculum is another weak foundation upon which the union rests its illegal strike. On this subject, labor leaders have exaggerated greatly for political effect. Bellevue's Web-based curriculum offers a reliable standard for what students are being taught, and when. The curriculum doesn't turn teachers into robots. It is very clear about what kids need to learn. Teachers can set instructional methods by which students will meet the standards.

Union cries that the curriculum imposes a one-size-fits-all standard are wrong. Parents ought to know when their children are going to learn fractions. This provides a counterbalance to education reform's emphasis on assessment. Classroom dynamics are constantly changing. Some students come to class half-asleep, others alert and ready to learn. Bellevue has said time and again that teachers can adapt the curriculum to fit individual needs.

Teachers are taking standardized curriculum as a personal affront when it is not. Districts have always been empowered to set curriculum.

Bellevue has spent the past five years creating the curriculum with a $2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — an organization known for vetting academic initiatives. Meanwhile, the district continues to be recognized nationally for its quality schools and its emphasis on getting all students into high-level classes.

Here is a critical point the teachers union appears to want to ignore: Bellevue's common curriculum is an evolving effort, far from completion. It was expected that best practices and teaching strategies from teachers would build upon the work already started. The curriculum would change as students change, creating a living rather than static effort. Teachers should know this.

That, plus more training — in how to use the curriculum and adapting it for different students — is the key to moving teachers from detractors to supporters.