The McCleary Bill has allotted millions of dollars to be directed towards assisting teachers to get pay raises this year and local school districts are in the midst of negotiating just how much.
The funding was designed in response to the McCleary Decision in which the state was ordered to fully fund K-12 public schools as it was found the state consistently failed to fulfill its constitutional obligation to student educations.
Over 200 schools in the state of Washington are on the verge of striking and each day the picket line nears as the common ground between teachers and districts widens. Local schools are doing all they can to avoid a strike and most districts have had teachers suggest they won't go that far as of yet.
The state looked at each school and allocated a specific amount to help increase the average teacher yearly salary to around $65,000. The only problem has been the state laid out little to no regulations or even advice on how teachers and their school district administrators can reach agreeable terms.
For the past several weeks and even months Raymond, South Bend and Willapa Valley have been placed in a peculiar spot where district administrators have had to sit down and try and hash out a new pay scale with the teachers.
Willapa Valley has been the headline lately with talks of teachers extremely unhappy with what is being described at Valley as the district has, "consistently spent less on salaries than they were given by the state" according to an email regarding the issue from Elizabeth Collins from the Washington Education Association.
Willapa Valley Superintendent Nancy Morris expressed that the district had presented the teachers with a new offer that was expected to be voted on Friday, August 24. However, due to the tense situation, it was learned from Willapa Valley Teacher Ann Taylor that the teachers in fact had decided to not vote and simply return to work this week and negotiate at a later date when tensions are calmer.
Morris and many teachers and staff from other districts have expressed that the state has placed districts and staff in uncomfortable territory and its taking away from the best interest of students and with the start of school looming close by tension has become overwhelming for some. Morris is even preparing to bring in a negotiator to help with ongoing talks in hopes of removing the district from the front line may help both sides come to terms.
The major concern for teachers is how low some districts are attempting to negotiate as the lower the wage is the more the district is able to pocket for a rainy day. Another worry expressed by Taylor is now senior teachers may be seen as too expensive when they look for new work.
"Before a district could look at our experience and make a decision," Taylor said. "But, now they will in some ways be looking at how much we will cost also and that isn't what's best for students or education in general."