Jay Inslee is, once again, demonstrating his unwillingness to govern by pushing partisan attacks. In a recent email to supporters, Inslee stated the following:
“While the House is on board with supporting Washington teachers, Republicans in the Senate refuse to have our educators’ backs. They’re putting protecting corporate tax loopholes above supporting our educators and students.”
Considering all the circumstances surrounding the state of education in our state, our green governor’s assertions are the height of hypocrisy. As Shift reported, Inslee has failed to step up to support the voters’ will by advocating for keeping public charter schools alive in our state. That’s probably because he never does anything to upset his biggest financial supporter, the Washington Education Association (WEA).
Inslee and his fellow Democrats are pushing tax increases that would raise about $101 million in the next fiscal year. Of course, their latest tax hike push comes just a few months after state lawmakers approved cost-of-living raises for school workers in the last budget. Unfortunately, those raises where not enough to satisfy the WEA—as the multiple teacher strikes at the beginning of the school year proved. So, Inslee is really just doing what he does best… doing everything he can to make the WEA happy—hence the push for tax increases.
Because Republicans would rather fund education first rather than immediately demanding more from taxpayers, Inslee attacks them. And, in doing so, he proves that he is not a leader, just a hyper-partisan politician.
