On Wednesday, the Centralia School Board will consider the teachers’ union contract, which was drafted in the pressure cooker of children being denied the state’s paramount duty.
The draft contract is unfair. Only one interest is reflected in the document — that of the highest-paid educators (who happen to the ones in the secret negotiating sessions).
The draft contract is unfair to young teachers. Those who earn the least received increases of between $5,000 and $10,000. A starting teacher with a master’s degree gets a 12 percent raise. Highest-paid teachers received 24 percent raises and over $19,000. Some selected teachers get 32 percent raises. Under the draft, some teachers would literally be paid twice as much as other teachers for the same work expectations.
The draft contract is unfair to other critical employees. The district finds it difficult to hire bus drivers, but these and other vital classified employees will only be receiving a 5 percent raise. More is not possible if all discretionary funds are going to give average $13,000 teacher raises.
The draft contract is unfair to families. Despite having the resources this year to truly enhance the services families receive, services would actually decline with the draft proposal. Class sizes remain unchanged, the calendar of student learning is unchanged and supplemental services for students falling behind are unchanged. Teachers’ professional responsibilities decline.
The draft contract is unfair to taxpayers. The voter-approved levy funds are for a wide range of services. School levies assure things like electives, help for students falling behind, sports programs, extra staff to help monitor students, building maintenance and other services. The proposal would spend millions to add to the state-provided salary. These funds would come from our finite voter-approved levies — levies that will be reduced significantly in 2019.
The draft contract is financially irresponsible. The state provided 18 percent more for teacher salaries raising them from $55,705 to $65,216. The proposal lifts average salary to $73,902. Adding another $8,686 to the state money for wages costs $1.8 million in the first year. The district would need to spend our savings account to cover payroll when we have a multimillion dollar high school remodel with all of its uncertainty.
Finally, the draft contract is illegal. State law in RCW 28A.400.200 prohibits the use of levies for general teacher salary starting September 2019. The only allowed wage enhancements are for documented responsibilities, duties or time. In violation of the law, the proposal explicitly gives additional levy-funded pay for no documented time or tasks.
I know that educators are the most important part of getting students ready for life, and I want to demonstrate that value with salary improvements. I do not believe this contract represents the best interest of the whole community. As much as I might want to give teachers a 32 percent raise, I also want to help new teachers, give classified staff raises, expand the services to families and keep the state’s promise to taxpayers.
The school board is your voice in this process of setting priorities for the education services the district provides. Our chance to reflect community priorities will be Wednesday evening.
Let us know your thoughts on the draft contract by emailing negotiationsinfo@centralia.wednet.edu or come to speak at Wednesday’s school board meeting.
Jami Lund
Centralia School Board member
