‘That money is ours — we’re not asking ... we’re telling you,’ staff tells school district

The board meeting at Sumner School District was standing room only Wednesday as teachers, bus drivers and food service employees rallied to advocate for increased wages.

Dressed in red Sumner Education Association “SEA is Red for Ed” T-shirts, a handful of staff members spoke during public comments, asking the school board to put extra funds given by the state Legislature where they said they’re supposed to go — staff salary increases.

“That money is ours — we’re not asking for it, we’re telling you,” Bonney Lake High School teacher Michael Howard said. Howard has worked for the district since 2004. “This feels like a very ugly family fight. I don’t like it, but I’ll fight it.”

Across Pierce County, teachers and staff members are picketing and protesting a 3.1-percent salary increase they say isn’t enough when other educators in Washington that have settled contracts with districts are receiving raises ranging from 12 to 21 percent.

Districts officials say they support their teachers but there is only so much money to go around.

“The District remains optimistic and committed to working with the association through the bargaining process to reach a mutual agreement that offers our teachers a fair, equitable and regionally-competitive contract,” Sumner School District spokeswoman Elle Warmuth said.

Where is the funding coming from and where is it going?

In 2012, a Supreme Court order known as the McCleary decision declared that the state of Washington wasn’t doing enough to fund basic education.

In the years following, the state has funneled billions in additional funding to school districts statewide, leading to increases in school district budgets.

While districts’ state funding is increasing, local funding is decreasing. In an effort to avoid over reliance on local levy revenue, the state limited local levies to $1.50 per $1,000 in assessed property value or $2,500 per student, whichever is lower.

Pierce County school districts like Sumner, Puyallup, Bethel and Tacoma are feeling the weight of the loss in local funding.

In Sumner, that means that while the district is estimated to receive about $20 million more from the state than last year because of the McCleary decision, a $5 million loss in local levy funding means a net increase of $15 million.

“The district will spend this money on staff salaries, instructional materials and supplies, operating costs, contracted services, travel and equipment,” Warmuth said. “The specific amount in each budgeted category is subject to revisions pending the outcome of bargaining.”

Warmuth added that the district can’t speak on negotiated percentages during active bargaining. The district’s projected general fund budget for the 2018-19 school year is $138 million.

Another impact of the state funding is the regionalization factor, which represents variations in cost of living per district. Districts with higher regionalization factors receive higher funding from the state, said Puyallup School District chief financial officer Corine Pennington.

“If you’re a double-digit regionalization school district, you’re much more likely to afford a double-digit salary increase,” she said.

Regionalization factors range from 0 percent to 24 percent, with Sumner at 12 percent and Puyallup at 6 percent. That means that that cost to hire teachers is more in Sumner than it is in Puyallup, so Sumner receives more funding.

Beginning in the 2018-19 school year, districts also have new requirements related to teacher pay. Teachers used to be paid based on years of experience but now are paid based on a statewide average. That means in some districts the state average is higher than what the district was currently paying, creating a flux in salary increases and an uproar over bargaining.

“There are 295 school districts and 261 of them are small, less than 5,000 students,” Pennington said. “There’s really only 34 school districts that are medium or large … in populated areas. Those statewide averages are shrunk down because of that.”

In Sumner, base salaries for full-time teachers start at no less than $46,516. Teachers with five years of experience have a base salary of $50,216. Salaries cannot exceed $102,715 unless under supplemental contract for additional time and responsibilities.

“We absolutely support our teachers,” Warmuth said. “They’re integral to our mission and they have helped us in our success... We support them. We value them.”

With school districts in Pierce County experiencing population growth, the increased funding also must go toward new teacher and staff salaries, Bethel Chief Financial Officer Bang Parkinson said. Bethel is adding 48.4 full time certified positions.

A united front

At Wednesday’s rally in Sumner, about a hundred staff members marched outside the Sumner School District administration with signs, some of them stating “Fair Contract Now” and “Great Kids Deserve Quality $taff.” They were led by SEA president Gabrielle Wright and bus driver union representative Jim Pyette.

“We are here today to remind our district that we deserve fair compensation,” Wright said at the rally. “We are here today because we believe that we deserve this compensation, this money, that is coming from the McCleary decision to fund and pay education support staff across the board.”

Unions are holding firm that the court-ordered money should go to them, claiming a 3.1-percent increase won’t even keep up with inflation.

“Our focus is competitive salaries with everyone around us,” Bethel Education Association spokesman Bryan Grassi said. “We are working with the (Bethel School) district, and hopefully we come up with fair, competitive salaries to keep and retain all types of staff for the benefits for our students.”

On Monday, the Puyallup Education Association held a rally outside the Puyallup School District Administration building. In her 11 years with the Puyallup School District, Puyallup Education Association vice president Claire Ellis said she hasn’t seen an opportunity like this come their way.

“This is the first time we’ve had a chance for a potential increase because of the McCleary decision,” she said.

The Sumner School District and SEA bargained for a new contract on Monday (Aug. 13), but have not come to an agreement. They’ve been in negotiations since March. Bus drivers and food service staff have been without a contract for a year.

Both the teachers union and bus driver and food service employees unions in the Sumner School District voted to authorize a strike vote, but are staying positive both parties will come to an agreement before school starts in early September.

“We are confident that the leadership of the Sumner School District is going to honor the intent of the McCleary funds to support fair compensation for their fantastic educators,” Wright said.

This story was originally published August 20, 2018 at 9:26 AM.