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Bargaining Begins!
This has been an energetic week for our negotiators. They spent a day and ½ training with their management counterparts and a day and ½ negotiating. Good progress was made establishing the nuts and bolts for the negotiation process. They got organized and confirmed the bargaining calendar. Most important they came to a general agreement the issues to bargain. They will meet again on July 27th . Then bargaining will begin in earnest.
NEWS lawsuit goes to trial on August 31
The education funding lawsuit brought by the Network for Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS) against the State is scheduled to go to trial on Monday, August 31, in King County Superior Court in Seattle. Judge John Erlick will preside over the trial, which is expected to last four to six weeks.
FWEA and the Federal Way School District are members of NEWS, a coalition of more than 70 community organizations, school districts, education associations, teachers and parents.
Attorneys for NEWS will argue at trial that the State is failing to live up to its constitutional mandate, which reads: "It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders..."
"The mandate is strong and it is clear. The State must put public education first, fund it amply and ensure that all students can succeed," said NEWS President Mike Blair. "For decades, State lawmakers have danced around the problem of inadequate public school funding without solving it. The time for a stable funding system is now.
"Legal action is always a last resort, but history has shown us that lawsuits are one of the only ways to move the State to resolve serious inequities in our K-12 education system," Blair said.
The lawsuit aims to turn the promise of education reform put forward in recent legislation (HB 2261) into a mandate by establishing that, in the words of the Washington State Constitution:
"Paramount" means paramount , that public education is funded first before everything else;
"Ample" means ample , more than enough and not just what is left over;
"All" means all students, not just those living in wealthy school districts; and
"Education" means the knowledge and skills kids need to succeed in today's world as established in State education standards such as the Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs)
NEWS attorneys also will prove that the State is failing to live up to this constitutional duty. Far too many students are leaving Washington schools without the knowledge and skills they need to live and work in a 21st century democratic society. NEWS will ask the court to issue an order that mandates the State to determine the actual cost of ensuring that all students meet State academic standards and to provide a stable, equitable way to pay those costs.
Following a four- to six-week trial, the court's decision is expected in several months.
For more information on NEWS, K-12 funding and daily updates during the trial, visit the NEWS Web site at www.waschoolexcellence.org. Get regular updates on news from NEWS, including daily reports during the trial, by signing up for the NEWS email list by entering your email address in the box in the lower left-hand corner of the Web site home page. Or, email news@waschoolexcellence.org for more information.
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FWEA Downloads: Click on the Powerpoint presentation(s) you wish to download and save to your computer.
WEA-PAC Powerpoint Presentation(click to download)
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