Teacher COLA to Full-Day Kindergarten: I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE! I DRINK IT UP!
So on Wednesday the great news comes through that the House supplemental budget has a 1% COLA increase for teachers, on top of the 3.9% we get from I-732, and many districts will also receive an additional .7% catch-up to match the grandfathered districts. Oh happy day! Caloo, Calay!
But then the other shoe dropped, and I read that the additional COLA was going to happen because the roll-out of full-day Kindergarten in more districts was being postponed.
And that's not the way it should be.
I was part of the lobby team for the WEA this year. I sat with Senators and Representatives and explained to them that the COLA was important. I took a tip and didn't refer to it as the Dino cuts, because they weren't. I worked hard to sell that proposal--all of us in Olympia did--but I wasn't representing the product I thought I was.
These are the moments that make us as a Union look terrible. "Didjya hear what the God damn teachers did? They cut kindergarten for poor kids so they could get a raise! Have they no shame?!"
It looks like we're standing on the backs of the neediest kids so that we can reach up and grab more money, and that's unconscionable. After fighting hard to get full-day kindergarten going last session we put a stop to it this session for the sake of a few dollars more, and that's shameful. It looks like we put the dollars ahead of the kids in the most egregious manner imaginable, and that's embarrassing.
The thing is, this is still a mistake that can be rectified. The Senate releases their budget here in a few days, and my hope is that they'll keep the full-day K phase-in the way it is AND enhance the COLA a bit. Money's tight, sure, but it's doable, and that's what I hope our lobbyists will be suggesting.
Appearances matter. We still have time to come out of this looking good.
Check out the most recent This Week in Olympia for more information.
But then the other shoe dropped, and I read that the additional COLA was going to happen because the roll-out of full-day Kindergarten in more districts was being postponed.
And that's not the way it should be.
I was part of the lobby team for the WEA this year. I sat with Senators and Representatives and explained to them that the COLA was important. I took a tip and didn't refer to it as the Dino cuts, because they weren't. I worked hard to sell that proposal--all of us in Olympia did--but I wasn't representing the product I thought I was.
These are the moments that make us as a Union look terrible. "Didjya hear what the God damn teachers did? They cut kindergarten for poor kids so they could get a raise! Have they no shame?!"
It looks like we're standing on the backs of the neediest kids so that we can reach up and grab more money, and that's unconscionable. After fighting hard to get full-day kindergarten going last session we put a stop to it this session for the sake of a few dollars more, and that's shameful. It looks like we put the dollars ahead of the kids in the most egregious manner imaginable, and that's embarrassing.
The thing is, this is still a mistake that can be rectified. The Senate releases their budget here in a few days, and my hope is that they'll keep the full-day K phase-in the way it is AND enhance the COLA a bit. Money's tight, sure, but it's doable, and that's what I hope our lobbyists will be suggesting.
Appearances matter. We still have time to come out of this looking good.
Check out the most recent This Week in Olympia for more information.
Labels: appearances, COLA, election 2008, kindergarten, legislature
posted by Ryan at 9:52 PM
1 Comments:
how successful has full day kindergarten been in the school districts in Washington? Our district is proposing extended days and there is a lot of controversy because of it.
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