By Kristin
Mr. Ungritch, my tenth grade geometry teacher, was a superstar. He gave each of us nicknames, made us do push ups for goofing off, and allowed us to throw the whole year's work out the window in exchange for whatever score we earned on one final proof, drawn out of a hat and done on the board. We loved him. He was a superstar in another way, too – he never complained about being a teacher. He didn't complain about the work load, the pay, or the parents. He once said, "Teachers actually get paid really well, if you know how to live right."
I have always remembered what a rare gift it was to have a teacher who was so content, and I've tried to follow his example. I love my job. I love my students and their parents. I feel blessed to have great benefits, time off with my daughters, and a reliable paycheck. I'm grateful to taxpayers, and I want to be worth my pay.
On the other hand, it has been a long time since voters approved a cost of living allowance, or COLA, for teachers with Initiative 732. Over 60 percent of Washington voters said "yes" to giving educators in public k-12 schools, community colleges, and technical colleges a cost of living adjustment. It was suspended in 2008 because there wasn't enough money. Teachers didn't like that, but we are nothing if not public servants, so we accepted it. We're still accepting it.
The image by my name highlights a few things that have increased in price, but we know there are many more – homeowners insurance, gas and oil to heat our homes, electricity, public utilities, and the phone bill have all flown right by my pay's ability to keep up. It's disingenuous for legislators to call this a "suspension" of a COLA when it appears what they really mean is "elimination" of a voter approved initiative.
I would support smart funding that benefited students and teachers both. I would be more than willing to forgo my COLA so that my daughters and their schoolmates had smaller class sizes. Having better-prepared students entering middle school would make my job easier. I would be willing to have smaller class sizes for high-poverty schools. I would be willing to have a stipend paid to teachers in high-poverty schools because their work is hard. I would be willing to have my pay raise attached to a longer day, so that students were more successful. By tutoring to make ends meet, my husband and I (like many teachers) already work a longer day. I would love an extra hour at my school with my students.
I would prefer anything to a legislature that continues to talk about increasing accountability and teacher quality but has done little to nothing to figure out how to fully fund education by 2018.
I don't think I'm the only teacher who is willing to look at the options for wisely distributing education funding so that students are served and teachers are valued. Inslee claims that the COLA will be revisited in 2015. The state is expected to fully fund education – as mandated by the Supreme Court in the McCleary Decision - around 2018. I'm not sure where Inslee thinks he'll get the money for either of these things unless he has the courage to raise taxes and close tax loopholes. So far, he's all talk.
Our legislators want to keep moving too little money around, but what they need to do is courageously raise revenue and then spend it in a way that supports student success.
I’ve been resting at the bottom right-hand corner of that salary scale for over a decade. It’s not a bad place to be if you’re not going anywhere, but it would sure be nice to have a COLA.
I agree that class size is important, but frankly, meaningful class size reduction is so enormously expensive that I can’t see it ever happening.
Mark, I’ve been at the top tier (year 15) for years now. I’ve tried to take on extra responsibility – demo and mentor teacher – and that helps a little bit with expenses.
I agree with you that reducing class size needs to be the priority. I currently teach an intervention class and have 15 students. 15! Because there’s no money for that, my school made it happen with other teachers being willing to have bigger classes so that my students could get more attention and individualized instruction.
A class size set to benefit students means I can answer every question, know exactly where each child’s skills are on a daily basis, can quickly (immediately) review assessments and adjust instruction, can spend time on building relationships and making each child feel valued, known, and loved. It’s what every child should get.
And hey! It’s what kids whose parents can afford to send them to private school get! What a strange coincidence! Anyone who sends their children to a private school with a sub 20-student class size should never, ever, ever, fight for anything but a student-first class size in public education. It’s about adult attention, it’s about individualized instruction, and it’s about meaningful and timely feedback.
I’m with you on the priorities: I’d rather see class sizes reduced and more investment in high-poverty schools before I get my COLA. I’m just a few years from maxing out on the state salary schedule anyway, so the COLA will be even greater when I no longer am stepping due to experience. Every year of my career, I too have done side work, right now some months that amounts to a third of my total take-home pay in order to supplement my teaching income. (True, all this is to pay back my student loans and some poor credit-based decisions from my single days, but since those public schools I attended didn’t make sure I understood interest rates even though I learned calculus… maybe I should sue?)
Smaller classes absolutely do impact my students and their learning.
BUT, paying a strong competitive wage to early service teachers so they don’t burn out and turn away so quickly would certainly impact students. Better yet, pay them more, give them smaller classes, more collaboration time, and appropriate resources for professional development and we might just have the beginning of a solution.