A Call to Action

Delegates at the 2011 Representative Assembly voiced their opinions loud and clear when they passed New Business Item 12.  The final language as amended for NBI 12 is “That WEA organize a statewide day of action that involves regional and local events during the 2011-2012 school year if the State of Washington makes either across–the-board pay cuts to educators or regressive changes to any education employee’s salary schedule in the current legislative session.”

Since the legislature did indeed vote to cut the amount each district receives for staff salary, each and every local in this state will be asked to plan a day of action.  The action you design and implement should let our elected officials and community members know the deep consequences of the legislature’s choice to once again shirk their responsibility to fully fund public education.  These budget cuts hurt public school employees, hurt kids, and hurt our communities!  We can not and will not remain silent on this issue.

Our WEA President, Mary Lindquist, called us to action in her RA speech.   “We will not allow greed to succeed by slashing funding for public education.  We will not allow budgets to be balanced by crowding classrooms.  We will not allow corporate tax breaks to widen the opportunity gap.  Tonight, the bullying ends.  The blame and shame game is over.  It is time for focused, organized action.  It is time for us to speak up in every community.  It is time for us to take this fight to the streets of our hometowns, to the parents of the children with whom we work.  Not once, not twice, but again and again until those parents, those friends within our communities rise and join us.”