The Washington State Labor Council (Proposed Motto: Always bigger government, always!) is known for its inflammatory rhetoric and shaky logic, since after all, its job is to extract more money from government while always insisting that its members are not getting enough.
However, it is worth it to sometimes remind the public that the Labor Council is prone to just make things up to advance the cause of increasing public spending on its members. And in today’s issue of The Stand, its “Internet Newstand”, the folks at the Labor Council unleashed one of their favorites, about how teacher salaries have stayed flat in recent years, and thus the state should raise taxes this year to provide a state-level cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA):
“EDITOR’S NOTE — It has been six years since teachers have received a COLA, which means six years of watching the value of their compensation erode due to inflation. If we’re serious about wanting great schools, this cannot continue.”
The reality is that virtually every teacher in Washington State is earning more today than they were six years ago. The Labor Council ignores this, just as it ignores that the initiative it supported a decade ago to provide a state-level teacher COLA did not provide any money to do so, instead suggesting that this pay increase would be covered by budget “surpluses”.
But who needs to be bothered by fact, when propaganda will do.
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