Tykes to get new trikes, thanks to governor giving away raise

The children in Jennifer Gonzalez’s preschool class at Windsor Elementary next fall probably won’t care, but they will owe their new tricycles in large part to a citizens commission that recently gave elected state officials a raise, a governor who didn’t feel right about taking it and a Legislature deadlocked over the budget.

At a news conference this week, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said he was donating to charity the $5,000 bump in his salary that the state Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials recently gave him.

He then took a shot at legislators, who are getting an 11 percent raise – about $4,700 over the next two years from the commission – yet seem all but sure to need a second special session to reach a deal on the state budget and education spending. The percentage increase legislators are getting is much higher than the amount proposed for teachers and state workers, he noted. Since there was no legal way to refuse the raise, Inslee said he and his wife were donating his 4 percent raise to schools around the state.

“We all know teachers spend a lot of their own money to make sure their students have what they need,” he said.

They went to donorschoose.org, a website that lists requests for small donations for school projects, and picked out three. The first was Gonzalez’s request for a pair of tricycles, and helmets, at the Cheney District school in Geiger Heights. The Inslees also chose to give goggles and aprons to a middle school science class in Wapato, take-apart human body models to an elementary school class in Tacoma, and will look for other projects around the state.

Trikes for preschoolers might sound like a bit of a luxury or conjure up visions of pedaled mayhem at recess, but Gonzalez said the three-wheelers have a bigger purpose. She has what’s known as a “blended” program, in which some students have been diagnosed with developmental delays – some physical, some emotional.

“When I started teaching, I sort of took it for granted that all the kids know how to ride a trike,” she said. Not so. Some needed to develop the muscles required for the repetitive movements or work on balancing skills. Some had the physical abilities, but lacked social skills like waiting to take turns and making a request.

The class currently shares one tricycle with the school’s motor therapist. But Gonzalez thought it would help to add a couple more, so earlier this spring she went on the website and filled out the form to post the request for $653 for two specialized trikes and two helmets. Five donors had chipped in some of the money, but there was still a portion – she didn’t know how much – outstanding. Donorschoose.org has a time limit on requests, and this was the final week before it was going to say “time’s up” and remove her request.

The Inslees’ donation put her over the top, she said, although she didn’t know about it until a reporter called to ask about the trikes. She was busy with her preschoolers, so she found out from the voice mail.