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Editorial: Teachers could lose much with walkout

Fri., May 15, 2015

Spokane area teachers have begun voting on whether to walk out May 27. If they must, may we suggest May 23, 24 or 25. None of those are school days, so parents will not be disrupted. The upcoming weekend is available, too.

Rolling walkouts by teachers are occurring across Washington to protest the lack of action by the Legislature on education funding. Lawmakers are in special session because House and Senate members cannot agree on a budget.

Lawmakers must increase basic education funding, and both budgets do that. If the amount is not sufficient – and it will take at least until 2018 to reach full funding – the state Supreme Court, which has already found the Legislature in contempt, could start imposing penalties.

We understand the teachers’ frustration. The state has punted on fully funding basic education for decades. But the Legislature could be on the verge of an important breakthrough. Impulsive acts like a walkout will shift public attention and pressure away from lawmakers over to teachers unnecessarily disrupting the lives of parents.

It’s nice to imagine parents so civically engaged and well-informed that they would instantly understand why their children have no school on a Wednesday. But that’s not the world we live in.

Many parents do not understand the intricacies of how their schools are funded and how their teachers are paid. But working parents, especially single parents, are intimately aware of the hassle and expense of finding child care on short notice.

A union representative in the Tacoma area said parents should “contact the Legislature to say how frustrated they are that their schedules were changed just to get their (the legislature’s) attention.”

Time for a reality check.

If working parents have to burn personal days or vacation time so teachers can avoid weekend protests, they won’t be phoning their elected representatives. They’ll be cursing teachers.

Spokane Public Schools board member Sue Chapin has it right: “We disagree that a walkout will send the message they want to send.”

Last month, thousands of teachers rallied in Olympia without forcing parents to scramble for child care. They can do that again. An argument that a day added at the end of the school year is equivalent to a day lost midweek in mid-May is unconvincing. How much teaching occurs on the last day or two of school, and how many students are already on vacation?

A recent straw poll of Central Valley teachers showed they opposed a walkout but were in favor of making some kind of statement about education funding. That’s reasonable.

The Supreme Court isn’t likely to let the Legislature off the hook. Teachers have generally solid support. Events may not be moving as quickly as they want, but if teachers are politically savvy, they’ll find a way to wage this battle without making new enemies.