Credit Gov. Chris Gregoire for knocking heads, forcing striking teachers and school district administrators to come to her office in Olympia after teachers called off negotiations.
The governor’s power play worked. The governor was able to work with teams of school district administrators and union representatives and in a matter of just a few hours emerged with a compromise contract that Gregoire said could serve as a model for school districts across the state. Teachers ratified the contract with a vote the following day.
Teachers refused to report to their classrooms on Sept. 13, saying they would not work without a contract. The three issues in dispute were teacher pay, class size and district policies governing teacher transfers and reassignments.
For two sides, both of whom claimed to have the best interests of kids at heart, you would never know it by the prolonged strike.
On Sept. 14, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff did his best to force an agreement. He ordered teachers back to classes.
How did the teachers respond to the court order? They took another strike vote and in defiance of Judge Chushcoff’s order, stayed on the picket line.
The strike in Tacoma, the first since a 29-day walkout in 1978, was illegal. We base that view on an opinion issued by the attorney general in 2006 when asked whether public employees have a right to strike in Washington. The attorney general said that “state and local public employees, including teachers, have no legally protected right to strike.” The AG opinion said it was within the purview of judges to issue sanctions to prevent or end “unlawful strikes.”
According to published reports, since 1976 no less than 19 different judges in this state have ruled that teacher strikes are illegal.
Judge Chushcoff shook things up a second time when he suggested he might impose fines against the striking teachers for defying his back-to-work order. The judge also suggested the Tacoma School District could start hiring replacement teachers.
Not even the threat of sanctions or loss of jobs convinced the teachers to go back to class. Negotiators continued their behind-closed-doors efforts to reach a compromise.
That’s when the governor intervened and used the power of her office to force an agreement.
Caught in the middle of the prolonged mess, of course, were 28,000 students and their parents. Family lives were turned upside down. Working parents had to find people to care for their children, and low-income parents who rely on the schools to feed their children a healthy breakfast and lunch were caught in a bind.
What lesson do the 28,000 students carry away from this inability of warring adults to forge a compromise?
In our opinion, teachers set a horrible example for their students when they defied Judge Chushcoff’s court order to go back to work. The Tacoma teachers thumbed their nose at the court and the rule of law in this state and nation.
How can they possibly enforce classroom discipline standards and expect students to follow school rules when teachers, themselves, have said through their votes and actions that it is OK to disobey the law and defy a court order if you happen to disagree?
Tacoma teachers, who should be role model for their impressionable young students, have abused that bond of trust and respect.
