Brad Shannon:
The Politics Blog

Brad Shannon maintains this blog. He is political editor at The Olympian and can be reached at 360-753-1688 or bshannon@theolympian.com.

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Teachers union goes to airwaves on budget cuts

• Published February 18, 2009

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The Washington Education Association's leaders protested when Gov. Chris Gregoire rolled out her budget plan in December. And now the 82,000-member teachers union is running radio ads in Seattle and Spokane to warn against cutting $1 billion from education.

Facing a nearly $6 billion shortfall, Gregoire proposed a suspension of two citizen initiatives providing cost-of-living pay raises for K-12 teachers and money to lower class sizes. She also proposed a reduction in levy equalization money that usually goes to help tax-poor school districts.

Now that could get worse with Thursday’s revenue forecast. WEA began countering the cut-only mentality with its 60-second ads, which began today and cost about $90,000, according to spokesman Rich Wood.

The ads feature an Edmonds high-school math teacher, Andi Nofziger. You can hear her here.

Here's the heart of her script:

"I love my job and I work hard every day to give my students a great education. That’s why I’m so worried about all the talk that the Legislature may cut school funding by $1 billion or more. As a teacher, I know that’s the wrong answer. In these tough economic times we must protect our investment in our kids, who are our future. Times are tough now but the economy will recover and we want our students to be prepared. That means providing all of our students with a successful, well-rounded public education. An educated, skilled workforce will attract the new companies and jobs we need for tomorrow’s economy."

The ad urges calls to lawmakers to "turn this budget into a win for our students and our economy."

It doesn't recommend specific tax increases to make that happen.