Several downtown Renton intersections were dotted with teachers in red shirts Thursday afternoon, all chanting and waving signs for support from passing vehicles. Joined by Renton School District Board members and administrators, the teachers voiced their frustrations in a one-day, after school protest and rally.
One protester, teacher Kerri Dowd, called the list of frustrations a “hot mess” of problems teachers want solved by the state legislature. Everything was on the table including fully funding education according to the McCleary decision, cost of living raises, health care funding, an end to Common Core testing and smaller class sizes.
“If you asked every person here, everyone would have a slightly different story to tell, but it comes back to we’re here for the kids,” Dowd said. “And we want to do the best job we can for America’s future and the legislature is not supporting us by fully funding education. They’re not supporting us by tying teacher evaluations to test scores, even when some of us don’t teach the subjects that are being tested.”
David Schott, a music teacher in the district, felt compelled to protest because of the McCleary decision, the 2012 state supreme court ruling that found the legislature was not meeting its constitutional obligation to fully fund education. Schott is upset that the money allocated for education has been spent on everything else and that education gets pitted against other state needs.
“That seems like how I feel and how many other teachers feel that we’re last, when the McCleary decision means we’re first,” he said.
Still others were out to get attention for the passage of I-1351, the class size reduction measure.
“We’re out here today because the voters of the state of Washington did a very nice job of passing funding for smaller class sizes and the legislature decided to use those funds elsewhere,” said Nathan Maddox, a Hazen High School math teacher.
The teachers were joined by Renton administrators and school board members, who also waved signs and protested alongside teachers.
“As a school board member, we spend our fair share of time in Olympia meeting with legislators and hosting them, making sure they understand what the district’s all about,” said Lynn Desmarais. “We’re all on the same page on this issue.”
After the sign-waving campaign, the protesters moved to the Renton Piazza for a rally. In the audience were teachers, parents, students and community members. They heard speeches from many there, including Washington Education Association President Stephen Miller, Acting Renton Superintendent Sheryl Moore, School Board President Pam Teal and Renton Education Association President Cami Kiel, among others.
“REA members are tired,” said Kiel. “Teachers across the state are tired. We are tired of being 47th in the nation in class size. We are tired of being 42nd in the nation in per pupil spending. We haven’t had a COLA from the state in 6 years.”
“We have had no increase in health care funding in 5 years,” she said, listing off complaints.
Supporters took to the microphone one by one airing their frustrations. Even Hazen student Paul Charbonneau had something to say in support of the teachers: “How can the Renton School District be ahead of the curve, when our funding sets us up to be behind it.”
The rally ended with protestors and those gathered in the Piazza singing a song.
