News

SEBB FAQ

For our members' benefit, AFT Washington is hosting this FAQ from the Washington State Health Care Authority regarding SEBB's updates this year. Open enrollment is limited, so be sure you're ready when the time comes.

FAQ

Q. Will I continue to receive benefits next school year?

A. It depends. Several factors go into eligibility. In general, if you were enrolled in SEBB benefits in August of the previous school year, you will receive uninterrupted coverage from one school year to the next as long as you are returning to the same SEBB organization and are still anticipated to be eligible

August 31, 2018

Washington News Service | Eric Tegethoff, Producer

Tacoma, WA - A low-paid group of educators known as paraeducators (or "paras") say it's time they received livable wages. Paras assist teachers in the classroom, often working with students with disabilities and in the special education department. Comments from Barbara Randall-Saleh ("suh-LEE"), president, Tacoma Federation of Paraeducators. [more]

March 14, 2018 | Washington News Service | Eric Tegethoff, Producer

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Community and technical college faculty scored a big win during this year's legislative session. Lawmakers passed Engrossed House Bill 1237 to allow faculty at these colleges to negotiate local wage increases through collective bargaining.

They were the only public-education employees prohibited from bargaining locally before this bill. [Read full story and hear audio version here.]

BELLEVUE, Wash. – Protestors plan to greet Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in Bellevue today, where she is scheduled to speak at an annual fundraiser for the Washington Policy Center, a free-market think tank. 

The center says it invited DeVos to speak because she's one of the nation's top policy leaders and because of her support for charter schools and the so-called "school choice" movement. 

But Carl Livingston, a political science professor at Seattle Central College who will be speaking to protestors, says that policy tips the scales toward the country's wealthiest families. [read/hear full story]

September 6, 2017 | Washington News Service | Eric Tegethoff, Producer

SEATTLE - The college year has started again, and for many students that means anxiety over debt is here again, too.

According to the Institute for College Access and Success, the class of 2015 in Washington state graduated with an average debt of $24,600. The College for All Act now in Congress aims to change that, making tuition for a four-year college free for students whose parents make less than $125,000 a year, and free for anyone attending a two-year community college.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., sponsor of the bill, said it is a practical and affordable plan. [read more]

Indigenous Oaxacan farm workers win themselves a union in the Pacific Northwest.

by David Bacon
June 26, 2017

Bob's Burgers and Brew, a hamburger joint at the Cook Road freeway exit on Interstate 5, about two hours north of Seattle, doesn’t look like a place where Pacific Northwest farm workers can change their lives, much less make some history. But on June 16, a half-dozen men in work clothes pulled tables together in Bob's outdoor seating area. Danny Weeden, general manager of Sakuma Brothers Farms, then joined them.

After exchanging polite greetings, Weeden opened four folders and handed around copies of a labor contract that had taken 16 sessions of negotiations to hammer out. As the signature pages were passed down the tables, each person signed. Weeden collected his copy and drove off; the workers remained long enough to cheer and take pictures with their fists in the air. Then they too left. [read full article]

April 26, 2017  | Public News Service | Eric Tegethoff, Producer

SEATTLE - Teachers and education staff are watching closely this week to see what happens with the Trump administration's proposed cuts to Education Department programs, as Congress works on a budget for next year.

The proposal slashes more than 13 percent, or $9 billion, off the agency's budget. While this might change during negotiations, Karen Strickland, president of the American Federation of Teachers of Washington, said she sees a theme that is emerging from the proposal. [full story]