WEA slogan: If at first you don’t succeed, keep hurting kids

The Washington Education Association (WEA)— showing just how much it cares about students in the classroom—has threatened to resume illegal teachers’ strikes during the next school year if lawmakers do not approve a budget that meets their demands. That means higher teacher pay hikes and full funding of Initiative 1351, the so-called smaller class size initiative that is really a means to swell the WEA’s ranks. KPLU,

“At the union’s representative assembly in late April, delegates adopted a motion directing WEA staff to begin preparing for ‘possible widespread strikes’ during the 2015-16 school year by helping local union chapters organize their members and develop communications plans.

“In spring, one-day strikes rolled through more than 60 school districts statewide. Woods said expect more of the same if the budget is lacking.

“‘In the fall,’ Wood said, ‘it will be up to educators themselves at the local level to decide what action, if any, they want to take in response to the state budget.’”

The local teachers’ union in Tacoma is already planning a strike for the fall, deciding not to participate in the one-day walkouts in order to take “more substantive action” in the fall.

The WEA’s threats are more than a little ridiculous. The recent illegal teachers’ strikes did not work. The state House Democrats released a revised spending plan earlier this week that does not move to meet any of the WEA’s demands—and their liberal plan actually cuts new spending for K-12 employee health benefits (though Democrats may be backtracking on that in the face of union pressure). Yet, despite failure, the WEA wants to proceed with the same unsuccessful course of action all at the expense of kids.