Teachers in limbo

Teachers might be interested in a small bill that has quietly and unanimously passed the Washington Legislature. House Bill 2023 will give school districts more time to notify teachers and other certificated staff that they won’t have a job the next school year.

State law currently says that as long as legislators pass a budget by May 15, districts must send any pink-slip notices to teachers and other certificated employees by the same date. If lawmakers are still working on the budget after May 15, the notice deadline is extended to June 15.

The change eliminates May 15 as the trigger date and instead pegs it to the end of the regular session, which next year will be April 23. If legislators are still without a budget at that time, then school districts may wait until June 15 to send out notices.

The Washington Education Association supports the bill because it gives breathing room. Spokesman Rich Wood said districts can grow antsy as the mid-May deadline approaches and the state budget is up in the air. They sometimes issue layoff notices, even though real layoffs are unlikely. “So in that sense, this bill should provide more certainty, not less,” Wood said.

Teachers, then, have no reason to fear this bill. But they do have reason to feel frustrated that legislators are already anticipating overtime in 2017. Why else would they bother making this change?

The implicit message to teachers: Prepare to dangle without a contract next spring, as you have in the past.

Even in a secure job market, it’s no fun to dangle.

This story was originally published March 2, 2016 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Teachers in limbo."