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QUICK FACTS July 28, 2003 WEA trying to deny raises to 20,000 teachers The Washington Education Association is threatening to sue the state legislature to block salary increases for beginning teachers. Ironically, if the WEA sues, those teachers will have to pay for the union's lawsuit to block their own raises. The union is mad because the raise provided in the new state budget is targeted to beginning teachers -- those in their first seven years of teaching who generally earn less than $40,000 a year. The provision does not allow the union to bargain with those dollars. Why would WEA officials want to do that when low beginning teacher salaries have been their clarion call for years? Why is the union now trying to block the raise? Provoking questions. We were curious to know how many teachers will be affected by this tug-o-war. The answer: nearly 20,000 -- 32 percent of the teachers in our state. Contact: Marsha Richards | Communications Director | 360.956.3482
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1 Part Honesty; 2 Parts Arrogance At a March 23, 2005, House Appropriations hearing on a bill to gut the voter-approved I-601 spending limit, Rep. Jim McIntire (D) asked a supporter of I-601’s two-third supermajority requirement for the legislature to raise taxes the following question: "Can you name a time when we [legislators] have actually not just set it [supermajority requirement] aside by majority vote? I mean, this is in many respects a procedural motion that has no bearing. It’s a statutory constraint that cannot constrain any legislature that chooses as a majority to set it aside . . . have we ever used a supermajority [to raise taxes]?" - Rep. Jim McIntire (D - 46) Despite the arrogance of some state officials, Washington's constitution is clear: "All political power is inherent in the people..." |
