Welcome to Outlook

Welcome to the Washington Education Association's Legislative Outlook, a regular update on what's happening in Olympia. The paper version of Outlook is mailed to every WEA building representative in the state. (If you are a rep, please post Outlook on your WEA bulletin board.) You can subscribe to the e-mail version of Outlook by sending an e-mail to Lyris. Include the words "subscribe weaoutlook" in the body of the message. A printable version of Outlook is available online (Adobe PDF file). Questions? Contact Rich Wood in the WEA Communications Department.

House budget expected next week; contact your legislators

The state House of Representatives is expected to release its version of the state budget the week of April 4. WEA members are urging their representatives to:

• fund educators' health care insurance at a rate that keeps up with the actual cost.
• make up the salary educators lost because of the two-year suspension of I-732.
• fully fund pension costs and support the pension
improvements proposed by the Select Committee on
Pension Policy.

WEA members can send messages to their legislators on compensation issues by visiting the WEA Legislative Action
Center or calling the Legislative Hotline at 800-562-6000.

Budgets propose funding I-728

Both the Senate and Gov. Chris Gregoire propose funding voter-approved Initiative 728, which provides money for smaller class sizes, professional development and extended learning programs for students. They would fund the initiative by increasing the tax on cigarettes and reinstating part of the recently overturned estate tax. The Legislature suspended I-728 in 2003. The latest statistics from the National Education Association show that Washington's public schools have the nation's fifth-worst student-to-teacher ratios.

HB 1484 faces crucial deadline on Monday, April 4

House Bill 1484, a WEA priority, passed the House and is now in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. It has not been scheduled for a vote. To remain alive, it must pass by 5 p.m.
Monday, April 4.

Sponsored by Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, House Bill 1484 would authorize countywide school levies that could be used to fund regional COLA supplements for school employees.
It passed the House 50-46 with bipartisan support.

The high cost of housing in many parts of the state makes it extremely difficult for educators to live in the school districts where they teach. Because of high housing costs, some school districts are experiencing dramatic teacher turnover, which affects student learning.

If approved by voters in a particular county, the new funding would be distributed on an equal per-employee basis to all school districts in that county. HB 1484 is a form of local control, allowing local voters to invest in their schools.

Since the Senate budget did not adequately address educator compensation, WEA members believe it is imperative that the bill pass out of Ways and Means and go to the entire Senate for a vote. To send an e-mail to your state Senator about HB 1484, visit the WEA Legislative Action Center.

National Board teachers riled by proposed pay cut

The Senate budget cuts the annual $3,500 stipend for
teachers with National Board certification and replaces it with a one-time bonus.

Dozens of Board-certified WEA members have fired off e-mails opposing the proposed pay cut. They said eliminating the annual stipend would discourage other teachers from earning their

National Board certification. Nearly 600 Washington teachers

Amy Verner, Northshore EA

have earned the prestigious National Board certification.

"This process has had a huge impact on my professional practices and thus my students' achievement," said Amy Verner, a Northshore Education Association member who is Board certified. "The National Board Certification process caused me to be even more data-driven and helped me teach myself to use data to help change my classroom instruction."

Notable quotes

"… when (lobbyist) spending by all business-related groups is added together, it totals $1.45 million, or just more than half of all lobbyist expenditures." -- The Olympian, 3/6/05

"The state teachers union, however, said the budget doesn't go far enough. Under the Senate plan, many school employees would pay more for their health coverage. And they would not get back the cost-of-living increases the state suspended for two years during the recession." -- The Spokesman-Review, 3/29/05

Senate budget funds I-732

The state budget proposal passed by the Senate this week fails to adequately address compensation for teachers and school support professionals.

Dave Scott, WEA vice president

"Our state must invest in quality public schools, including well-qualified, experienced teachers and support professionals," said Dave Scott, WEA vice president.

While the Senate budget follows Gov. Chris Gregoire's lead and funds voter-mandated cost-of-living adjustments
(COLAs) for educators, it funds educator health benefits at a lower level than the governor proposed. Both budgets fail to fund health benefits at a level that keeps up with increased costs.

The Senate budget also fails to make up the salary educators lost due to the two-year suspension of Initiative 732, and it essentially eliminates pension gainsharing without improving retirement benefits for educators.

Unlike Gregoire's budget, the Senate budget proposal cuts the pay of the nearly 600 teachers who have prestigious National Board certification. Both budgets fund Initiative 728, which provides funding for smaller class sizes, professional development and extended learning programs for students.

The budgets proposed by Gregoire and the Senate both restore the COLA mandated by I-732, which is scheduled to be a modest 1.2 percent for the next school year. In contrast, it would take an additional 3.6 percent increase to make up what most educators lost when the Legislature suspended I-732 in 2003. A typical fifth-year teacher stands to lose an estimated $86,000 over the course of her career and retirement unless the lost salary is made up.

Pension improvements a key part of WEA's No. 1 priority

WEA members' No. 1 priority is compensation, which includes salary, health insurance and retirement benefits.

On pensions, WEA is urging the Legislature and Gov. Chris Gregoire to pass a package of improvements recommended by the legislative Select Committee on Pension Policy. It's not the best plan, but it's the only viable pension proposal WEA can support this session. Gregoire and the Senate, however, have proposed eliminating gainsharing without any improvement in pension benefits. (Gainsharing is the practice of sharing extra profit with employees when state pension investments exceed 10 percent return four years in a row.)

They also proposed postponing state payments into the employee retirement system, which would pass the cost to future taxpayers and make future pension improvements more difficult.

The plan WEA supports also would eliminate gainsharing, but the savings would help fund pension improvements.

Budgets fall short on higher
education compensation

WEA-HE (Higher Education) members report that the state budget plan passed by the Senate fails to adequately fund compensation for two-year college faculty members.

The Senate budget proposes $4.5 million for part-time faculty equity at community and technical colleges. The
WEA-HE proposes $20 million, which would raise part-time salaries from 57percent to 65 percent of the average full-time salary.

The Senate budget also proposes $4.5 million for faculty increments at community and technical colleges, only part of the estimated $7.2 million necessary to fully fund earned
increments.

Neither budget included any funding for recruiting and retaining faculty or for reducing the reliance on part-time faculty, despite the fact that community/technical college faculty salaries decreased relative to inflation in fiscal year 2004. Also, only 56 percent of student instruction is provided by full-time faculty, who bear a disproportionate burden of administering academic programs, meeting student needs and providing governance.

Please contact Rich Wood if you have questions or comments about the content in Legislative Outlook.

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