From
Charles ...
Summer is no
time to rest
 "The
early summer days … are the happiest and fairest days of the year,"
wrote E.B. White in his 1952 classic Charlotte's Web. "Lilacs
bloom and make the air sweet, and then fade. Apple blossoms come with
the lilacs, and the bees visit around among the apple trees. The days
grow warm and soft. School ends, and children have time to play ..."
But for
educators in 2006, the end of the school year must mark the start of
the political campaign season. Given what's at stake in the November
elections, there's little time for the carefree enjoyment of the soft
early days of summer.
When a
newly elected Legislature convenes in January, it will act on a monumental
set of funding, compensation and program recommendations for early learning,
K-12 and higher education from Gov. Gregoire's Washington Learns initiative.
Due out in mid-November, the Washington Learns report will include the
first comprehensive look at school funding in our state in three decades.
Summertime organizing of WEA members is essential to elect lawmakers
ready to act on the recommendations and address the funding crisis in
Washington schools.
Legislative
progress next winter on commonsense WASL reform, retirement plan improvements
and indoor environmental quality regulations for schools and campuses
also depend on political planning this summer.
And now
is the time to tend to initiative and referendum campaigns. At the top
of the list is opposition to Initiative 920, a measure to repeal Washington's
estate tax which is dedicated to the education legacy trust fund, and
which provides some $200 million a biennium for class-size reduction
and college enrollment slots. Our early efforts in June may succeed
in discouraging potential donors from paying for signature gatherers,
potentially precluding a costly fall campaign.
Nowadays,
state Supreme Court races also demand early attention. Following the
successful campaign of Jim Johnson in 2004 for the state Supreme Court,
new trends have been set. Johnson raised $540,000, compared to his opponent's
$155,000, and more than $220,000 of Johnson’s contributions came
from the Building Industry Association of Washington, an organization
generally opposed to key aspects of WEA's legislative agenda.
Following
their success, the BIAW and its allies established the first political
action committee in the state to elect state judges, targeting two Supreme
Court races this fall. "Washington voters may have seen the end
of an era of mostly obscure, non-ideological election campaigns for
the state's top judicial offices," reported the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
on April 29, 2006.
WEA's
Supreme Court candidate interviews and recommendations will be completed
by June 22.
Given
the range and significance of education issues the state courts
regularly
decide, we have a responsibility to enter this new era of judicial campaigns
in order to protect a fair and independent judiciary and counter the
court-packing efforts of BIAW.
Towards
the end of Charlotte's Web, E.B. White laments that "Summertime
cannot last forever. Even on the most beautiful days in the whole year
-- the days when summer is changing into fall -- the crickets spread
the rumor of sadness and change … They sang the song of summer's
ending, a sad, monotonous song. 'Summer is over and gone,' they sang.
'Over and gone, over and gone.' "
Sadness
over the passage of time is a natural and common emotional response
that even young readers identify with. The emotion can, however, be
assuaged. WEA members are less likely to regret the coming of autumn
if we make good use of the time we have this summer for political action.
Please call your local or UniServ Council office to find out how you
can participate. Or contact me by phone at 800-622-3393, Ext. 7031,
or e-mail.
Share
your thoughts & ideas!
Reach
WEA Editor Linda Woo at lwoo@WashingtonEA.org,
via postal mail at WEA, PO Box 9100, Federal Way, WA 98063-9100; phone
253-765-7027 (or toll-free outside Seattle-Tacoma: 800-622-3393 ext.
7027); or fax 253-946-7612. We welcome story ideas, letters to the
editor and suggestions for improving WE-Washington Education, or WEA
Online.
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