Down to the wire: Teachers, parents talk

One night before the Tacoma teachers’ contract expires, the union representing them brought its budget analyst to a union-hosted public forum Tuesday to say the school district should save less and spend more.

Washington Education Association analyst Andrea Hardy said that although Tacoma Public Schools is good at estimating revenues, it overestimates what it plans to spend each year.

And, she said, the district puts too large a percentage of its budget into reserves each year, compared to other big school districts in the state.

“It’s troubling,” Hardy said. “We are not advocating that they spend down to nothing, but 14.7 percent is substantial. It’s more than any other districts have.”

The three-year contract between an estimated 2,100 Tacoma teachers and the school district expires today. If there’s no agreement, teachers will have to decide what to do next.

Options could include a strike.

Tacoma Education Association President Andy Coons has said that TEA bylaws require that a strike be approved by 80 percent of union members.

Teachers could also decide to start school on time Thursday and allow bargaining to continue.

Teachers plan to meet at 4:30 p.m. today at Mount Tahoma High School.

The Tacoma School Board also plans to meet today at 5 p.m. to discuss labor negotiations.

The district sent email and phone messages to Tacoma parents Tuesday night, saying it would notify them if the teachers’ decision today affects the start of school, scheduled for Thursday.

Among the issues still separating the union and the district: proposed teacher pay cuts, class-size increases and suggested changes in the criteria used to staff schools and transfer teachers between schools.

Tuesday night’s TEA forum drew about 50 people, many of them teachers, but some parents and local elected officials attended as well. Several Tacoma elementary schools also held back-to-school open houses Tuesday night.

Jennifer Boutell, a mom of two school-age children who blogs and tweets on children’s issues as Tacoma Mama, attended the forum to ask questions. Outside the meeting, she said that she wants school to start on time.

“I’m sort of disappointed at how personal it’s gotten,” she said. “I feel like that’s a distraction. It makes me sad because it feels like they are wasting time, when we have so little time left.”

Inside the meeting, parent Carol Wolfe wanted to know whether other districts that have promised to cushion teachers from a 1.9-percent cut in state salary funding have endured teacher layoffs, cut bus routes or taken other cost-saving measures.

“For me as a parent of two, it seems hard to punish the school district for being conservative in a recession,” she said.

Michael Doss, a parent of two children in Tacoma schools, told teachers: “You want more money, but you don’t do anything for kids.”

Doss, who is black, criticized teachers for not doing enough to close the achievement gap for minority students.

Teacher Marti Hilyard replied that closing the gap will require smaller class sizes. She said teachers need “space to accommodate every student, no matter what their needs are.”

Hardy said the district has asked teachers to absorb an estimated $3.1 million in pay cuts, including the state cuts. She said teachers are equally concerned about a district plan to save about $1.3 million by boosting caps on class size by one or two students.

The district estimates it would cost more – about $5.8 million – to avoid teacher pay cuts and keep classroom populations at current levels.

District spokesman Dan Voelpel said Tuesday night that the district hadn’t seen the WEA budget numbers and couldn’t respond immediately.

“It’s also indisputable that the state Legislature eliminated the funding to keep class sizes low,” he said. “And it’s indisputable that the state Legislature earmarked a cut in compensation for all school employees, including teachers.”

Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635
debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com