Statement on Governor Inslee’s State of the State Address
By AFT Washington President Karen Strickland
We are pleased to hear today in his State of the State Address that one of Governor Inslee’s top priorities this session is to educate every child, from early learning to higher education, and that he is backing his priority by advocating for $200 million in school funding this session.
Maria Haynes, a paraEducator with Tacoma Public Schools, talks about the importance of having positive, caring adults in a child's life to help them succeed.
Pierce College adjunct instructor Michael Boggess believes that equitable faculty hiring and working conditions are important to having a world-class community college system.
AFT Seattle faculty member Tracy Lai talks about how community colleges are considering taking the word "community" out of their names and how that symbolizes an important change in mission and purpose of the community college system.
NEWS RELEASE | July 16, 2013
“Unrealistic, Unsustainable, and Unfair”
AFT Washington Statement on Senate Budget Proposal
The budget proposal the Senate released on Wednesday is unrealistic, unsustainable, and unfair. It’s a mishmash of bad compromises driven by internal political strife in the Senate that will hurt education and vital public services and will damage our state’s economic recovery.
Governor Jay Inslee has proclaimed March 11-15 as Classified School Employee Week. You can download the proclamation as a pdf here.
10/25/12 - The American Federation of Teachers in Washington State (AFT Washington) today has filed a complaint against the Stand for Children Washington’s Political Action Committee (PAC) with the state Public Disclosure Commission. The PAC improperly used AFT Washington’s logo as an endorsement on their candidate mailing for Sylvester Cann who is running for the House of Representatives in the 46th district.
May 16, 2012
Chris Thomas, Producer
RENTON, Wash. - Getting unemployment benefits can be a challenge, particularly for those in temporary jobs. This weekend, part-time college instructors are getting a short course in how and when to file for unemployment. [click here to read full story or hear audio]
August 15, 2011 | Washington News Service
TACOMA, Wash. - As many schools ponder cutting another ten percent from their budgets in the coming months at the governor's request, the Tacoma School District's decision not to cut some employees' hours is a stark contrast. Those employees are paraeducators, who work one-on-one with students with severe physical or learning disabilities. Already some of the lowest-paid workers at schools, their hours were going to be trimmed by 30 minutes a day. [more]