While it is true that the multimillion teachers union advocates for tax increases and spending increases on education, their marketing works to conceal the other element of their agenda—swiping money intended for student services as pay raises and bonuses.
July 19 Superintendent Randy Dorn announced his lawsuit against some school districts which have been complicit, lazy or bullied into letting the union contract negotiations take money away from student needs.
Freedom Foundation has a long been a whistleblower about how union power brokers are siphoning off funds from other educational purposes. Their use of strikes, bullying or outright buying of school board seats is one of the primary reasons that increases in funding have not resulted in commensurate increases in services, materials or facilities.
Last week, Freedom Foundation was again warning the Education Funding Task Force of the need to end the union practice of grabbing resources at local bargaining tables across the state.
Click above to watch Jami’s testimony.
Citizens and school boards need to get the legislature to do the right thing—return to the ban on local negotiations regarding wages and salary and leave this part of basic education to the state. This was the solution adopted in 1981 when the legislature was correcting the underfunding of education before.
This was also the recommendation of the state’s own Basic Education Finance Task Force which has been conveniently ignored while other elements have been treated like holy writ by the Supreme Court education funding orders of McCleary.
Of course, Freedom Foundation has pointed out the problem of union siphoning funds from student services repeatedly.
This lawsuit is going to force the state and school boards to look at the aggressive approaches of union negotiators, and to put a stop to them. School employee compensation needs to be addressed in a thoughtful manner rather than by rewarding the bullying happening in some districts.
Other resources
Senate Nearly Fixes Education Funding Loophole, February 2016
Superintendent Dorn Acknowledges Union Abuse of Public Interest, November 2015
Teacher Strikes, Self-Interest and the Paramount Duty, September 2015
Teachers Union Bargaining to Steal Materials from Children, August 2015
Legislature Needs to Fix Education Funding Leak, April 2015
Levy for Pay Increases, January 2014
Must School Levies Pad Wages? May 2013
Court Strikes Down Adult-Focused Education Funding System, January 2012
Skirting the Law on Teacher Pay Raises, December 2003
Adult vs. Kids: The Surprising Consequences of Local Teachers’ Contracts, February 2003
The Freedom Foundation has even undertaken to document the hundreds of millions of dollars used for pay raises without an additional service provided to students. “Grading the Teachers Union Contracts” displays these raises and other ways compensation is enhanced in spite of a law prohibiting such salary negotiations.
From this study of union contracts in 2013-14, these are the large districts with the worst inclination to use levy funds as salary enhancement:
|
District |
Salary Enhancement |
How much it costs |
Percent of levy used |
|
Everett |
37% |
$19,097,031 |
44% |
|
Mukilteo |
36% |
$14,855,386 |
43% |
|
Snohomish |
32% |
$7,592,835 |
34% |
|
Monroe |
32% |
$5,093,682 |
31% |
|
Lake Stevens |
29% |
$5,749,485 |
37% |
|
Marysville |
29% |
$8,949,439 |
35% |
|
Arlington |
27% |
$3,771,897 |
32% |
|
Seattle |
25% |
$36,199,944 |
25% |
|
Tacoma |
21% |
$17,067,500 |
19% |
|
Bellingham |
21% |
$6,212,762 |
23% |
|
Bellevue |
20% |
$9,834,120 |
22% |
|
Auburn |
19% |
$7,973,338 |
23% |
|
Northshore |
19% |
$10,512,789 |
23% |
|
Kent |
18% |
$12,712,353 |
20% |
|
Shoreline |
17% |
$4,033,584 |
18% |
|
Edmonds |
17% |
$9,225,576 |
20% |
|
Evergreen (Clark) |
15% |
$11,289,197 |
20% |
|
Highline |
15% |
$7,326,318 |
17% |
|
Issaquah |
14% |
$6,465,772 |
18% |
|
Sumner |
14% |
$3,130,247 |
16% |
|
Bethel |
14% |
$6,440,488 |
17% |
|
Lake Washington |
14% |
$9,337,333 |
18% |
|
Renton |
13% |
$5,047,009 |
15% |
|
Federal Way |
12% |
$7,545,440 |
15% |
|
Clover Park |
12% |
$4,221,810 |
16% |
|
Franklin Pierce |
12% |
$2,359,055 |
13% |
|
North Thurston |
11% |
$4,491,862 |
14% |
|
Tahoma |
11% |
$2,137,016 |
12% |
|
Peninsula |
11% |
$2,545,553 |
12% |
|
Puyallup |
10% |
$5,604,694 |
11% |
|
Moses Lake |
9% |
$1,913,203 |
11% |
|
Longview |
9% |
$1,646,706 |
10% |
|
South Kitsap |
9% |
$2,180,446 |
10% |
|
Yakima |
9% |
$3,724,339 |
14% |
|
Central Kitsap |
8% |
$2,640,379 |
10% |
|
Pasco |
8% |
$3,294,823 |
10% |
|
Vancouver |
7% |
$4,501,018 |
9% |
|
Mead |
7% |
$1,873,348 |
8% |
|
Richland |
7% |
$2,038,045 |
9% |
|
Kennewick |
7% |
$3,068,530 |
10% |
|
Battle Ground |
7% |
$2,450,688 |
9% |
|
Spokane |
6% |
$5,709,332 |
8% |
|
Tumwater |
6% |
$1,111,561 |
8% |
|
Central Valley |
6% |
$2,316,845 |
8% |
|
Wenatchee |
6% |
$1,284,381 |
9% |
