POLICY HIGHLIGHTER

Volume 14, Number 16-2
July 14, 2004

Marysville Teacher Strike - Lessons Learned, Part II
Attorney General’s poor advice prolongs strike
(Part two of a five part series)

Judges have ruled teacher strikes illegal on 28 different occasions, as a previous Evergreen Freedom Foundation Policy Highlighter (Volume 14, Number 16) explains. Attorney General Christine Gregoire even campaigned on the issue in 1996, telling the Washington Education Association (WEA) that public school employees were prohibited by law from striking and saying, if called upon, she would defend the law.

AG lacks knowledge of court decisions and common law
Unfortunately, when put to the test, Gregoire’s office did not defend the law. Recent teacher strikes were prolonged, in part, due to the lack of clarity from her office. During the strike in Issaquah in 2002, Assistant AG David Stolier ignored previous court decisions and stated that “there’s no statute and little legal precedent banning teachers from striking.”

Addressing last year’s strike in Marysville, Stolier said: “There’s no express statutory permission or prohibition for teachers to strike. . . . That’s why there’s controversy and why people get confused over it.”

Had Mr. Stolier simply acknowledged that common law in our state has for years considered teacher strikes illegal and that no court has ever ruled otherwise, the Marysville strike would likely have ended sooner. He could have referenced 28 separate cases.

Ironically, Mr. Stolier did not have a list of past court decisions. EFF had to provide it for him. This is disturbing in light of Mr. Stolier’s role as the AG’s spokesman on strike issues.

AG’s office doesn’t understand constitutional duty
In replies to citizens requesting action from the AG’s office, Mr. Stolier said the AG’s powers were limited to those prescribed by law. Yet he ignored Article IX, Section 1 of our state constitution, which clearly states: “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.”

A teacher strike clearly violates this section of the state constitution, which the AG is sworn to uphold.

Further, Article 3, Section 22 gives the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) responsibility for overseeing “all matters pertaining to public schools.” This would seem to include the matter of shutting down the schools in a strike. The Attorney General is the legal advisor for OSPI.

Conclusion
Our children’s constitutional right to educational opportunities is hollow if they cannot attend school because teachers are engaged in an illegal strike. Such strikes will continue to occur until the AG’s office accepts its responsibility to enforce the law, or until legislators enact punitive measures against illegal strikes.

Prepared by: Evergreen Freedom Foundation | 360-956-3482

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org