Olympia teachers rally at state Capitol as budget impasse continues

OLYMPIA -- Another big show of support for teachers took place in Olympia Tuesday.

Hundreds of educators and their supporters from the Olympia School District rallied on the steps of the state Capitol to push for more spending on schools.  Just inside, lawmakers continue to be deadlocked over a new state budget.

“The Legislature needs to act,” said Adam Brickell, president of the Olympia Education Association.

The current special legislative session ends Thursday, and Gov. Jay Inslee plans to call lawmakers back, possibly as soon as Friday, to get the job done.

This bitter budget impasse, which has lasted for months now, is largely a standoff about education funding.  Most everything else is a second-tier fight between the Democrats and the Republicans.

Teachers are pushing both sides to do more, especially since the state Supreme Court has found the whole Legislature in contempt for inadequate funding of public schools.

“We have taken this action, because we have taken every other action possible,” said Brickell.  “Fully funding schools in Washington state needs to happen now.”

While both parties agree on more spending for all-day kindergarten and reducing class size in the early years, Republicans and Democrats have very different proposals on teacher pay.

Here are the numbers:

The Democratic budget would also add another $200 million for increased health insurance benefits for teachers.

Teachers are also protesting that both parties are ignoring last fall’s voter-approved plan to reduce class sizes for all grades.