Teachers’ pay dismal | Island Forum

High school math teacher urges state representatives to fully fund education.

For the last eight years, I have had the wonderful opportunity to teach high school math on Mercer Island, a community that truly appreciates the value of education and fully supports our District. In addition to being a teacher and resident of the Island, I am a Republican and a retired Marine colonel.

As we approach May and Teacher Appreciation Week, the Legislature is considering two separate budgets to fund education, but both fall well below the demands of the McCleary decision and the recently passed initiative to cap class sizes. In this, the so-called McCleary session, the legislature falls far short on educator pay, even while the Supreme Court says there is nothing more basic than pay.

Educators have not had a COLA (cost of living allowance) in six years. Legislators will receive 11.2 percent pay raise this year, but not teachers. The best proposal out of Olympia, from the House, provides a 4.8 percent COLA, and the Senate only 3 percent.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Further, the Senate budget doesn’t improve health care allocations, in spite of double digit increases in health care costs. The net effect is that many educators will see no change in their take-home pay, or in some cases will see it go down.

COLA is not a pay raise, but is meant to prevent us from falling further behind. The six years without a COLA has resulted in a loss of 13 percent in purchasing power. And teachers in our state are dead last in the West Coast for pay.

So, while we educators love and greatly appreciate the lunches, notes, and flowers typically given during Teacher Appreciation Week, this year we ask that you send your notes to Senator Litzow, and Representatives Senn and Clibborn.

Let them know how much you appreciate your Mercer Island educators: the bus driver who greets your kid with a smile every day, the playground aide who keeps your child safe, and the teacher who guides your student’s learning every day.

We deserve better, our community deserves better and our state deserves better. We need your voices to require our Legislature to do better. Tell our representatives to show their teacher appreciation by fulfilling their constitutional duty and amply funding education.

To meet all the needs of our state, Washington needs new revenue sources to ensure all families have access to the education, social and health services they need.

 

Mark Shafer teaches math at Mercer Island High School.