Teacher pay: McCleary ‘fix’ was a hoax

Instead of school district leaders and school staff working closely together to provide the best possible service to students who will soon return to class, most South Sound area districts are locked in divisive gridlock over funding.

This all could have been avoided. Rather than quickly drawing up ridiculous cost-of-living regionalization lines so they could leave Olympia and get back to campaigning, legislators could have drawn lines that make sense.

South Kitsap gets millions more for teacher salaries than Peninsula. Why? Because it is closer to Seattle, not because cost of living is higher.

South Kitsap gets more per teacher. Why? Because without consulting educators, legislators decided it would be good to get rid of the funding that equalized for experience. They threw in a 3.1 percent cap, which was vague and has created confusion and animosity.

So while many Seattle-area districts are celebrating their life-changing and well-deserved raises, most Pierce County districts are locked in stalemates as they try in vain to match their better-funded neighbors to the north.

When your incumbent legislators brag that they “fixed” McCleary, please don’t fall for it. And please ask them to really fix it this winter.