In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that Washington State was not meeting its constitutional mandate to fund its public education system. This was McCleary vs. Washington. As a result, the state legislature allocated $7.3 billion to schools over a four year period and this year, an additional $1 billion SPECIFICALLY for teacher’s salaries.
Evergreen School District has refused to work with the teachers union to negotiate new salaries based on the increased funds specified for this purpose. After several failed Union/District meetings, with the district offering nothing and public outcry, the district offered a 7.7% increase in wage. However this offer was tied to increased work days and teachers taking on additional class periods. After calculating the additional workload, along with an already contracted increase and cost of living increase, Evergreen Districts offer turned out to be a measly 0.8%.
Evergreen Schools educators voted to strike on 8/23, with a staggering 96% in favor of. No teacher wants to be on strike. They want to be in the classrooms, teaching our children. But they need support to do so. Educators have long faced stagnant wages with ever increasing educational requirements. They are not asking for a raise, but simply to be paid at market value. There is an growing educator shortage. We don’t want to lose our great teachers because they cant afford to work in our state! The quality of our children’s education will see the effect if this happens. Better pay for teachers = More qualified teachers = Better education for our children. It’s that simple.
Evergreen School District has approx. 26,000 students and is the 5th largest district in the state.
Evergreen School District has failed to offer competitive pay to educators despite the large increase to the budget. I have three children in the district, and as parents, we want to keep qualified, supportive, and educated teachers in our children’s classrooms. My children’s teachers are an invaluable part of their lives. How can we expect educators to support our children when they are not being supported themselves? As parents, we should be demanding teachers be supported financially, mentally, and emotionally. They hold our children’s future in their hands.
Contact the Evergreen Public Schools Board of Directors to voice your outrage at their inaction; Julie Bocanegra (360-910-5175), Victoria Bradford (360-896-1327), Rob Perkins (360-450-3937), Todd Yuzuriha (360-524-2224), and Ginny Gronwoldt (971-998-7473). You can also reach them by email at board.directors@evergreenps.org. John Steach, Evergreen Superintendent, can be emailed at john.steach@evergreenps.org. Another option to let our support of our teachers known is to submit letters to the editor of the Columbian. You can do so on their website at http://columbian.com/lettertotheeditor/ , email your letters to letters@columbian.com , fax to 360-735-4598, or mail your letters to Letters from Readers, The Columbian P.O. Box 180 Vancouver, WA 98666.
Please sign this petition to show Evergreen School District that as parents and community members, WE STAND WITH OUR EDUCATORS! We demand that they be fairly compensated. For them. For our children. For our future. These are our tax dollars. Let’s make them work for our children and for the educators working with them…not the bureaucrats.