“One, two, three, four — Budget’s what we voted for,” rang out from the sea of red shirts Monday afternoon before Jennifer Babcock took the stage.
“I am a single mom with two bachelor’s degrees, a masters degree and part of my doctorate done, but I live paycheck to paycheck,” Babcock told the crowd of more than 200 teachers, students, legislators, city officials and community members at the Federal Way Education Association rally at Town Square Park. “In what other profession does that happen?”
The community met at Celebration Park before marching with picket signs down South 320th Street to congregate at the rally.
A special education teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School for more than 20 years, Babcock shared her struggles and triumphs of her own child who has severe autism.
“I know what it’s like to not be able to even run to the store for a gallon of milk because my son is in a rage and is trying to beat his head on the floor,” she said. “In my classroom, I work to teach them that there are other ways to communicate. That they have choices.”
But Babcock, like many passionate teachers, asked why they are made to feel guilty for asking for a living wage.
“I know new teachers, young teachers, that live with their parents because they cannot afford rent for an apartment,” she said. “They defer their student loans because they can’t afford to pay them. We work at least 40 hours a week. We deserve to be able to pay our living expenses.”
Babcock told Olympia, the Washington State Legislature, to “stop thinking that teachers will stay because they love what they do, stop thinking you don’t have to pay us for it.”
The after-school march and rally was to send a message to the government.
“We are frustrated with continuous underfunding in our schools,” said Federal Way Education Association President Jason Brown in a news release. “We’re doing this to raise awareness about our Washington Legislature’s inaction in meeting their paramount duty to properly fund basic education.”
Brown told the crowd that the Washington State Supreme Court McCleary decision “wasn’t a suggestion, you’re [sic] breaking the law. It’s time for you to do your job.”
Their top issues include the Legislature’s failure to fund the Class Size Initiative, which was voted into law last fall; their lack of cost of living raise for the last six years; rising health care costs and an overabundance of standardized testing.
Incoming Superintendent Tammy Campbell said this rally is important because the state needs to pay attention.
“We need to fully fund education,” she said. “… It’s one of the most important professions.”
Star Lake Elementary fifth grader Collin Blair said he was at the event because “teachers want smaller class sizes and the Legislature to fund public schools.”
“My class is 28, the largest class in our school,” he said, adding that his favorite school subject is science and he wants to be a scientist when he grows up.
Collin’s mother, Cherie Blair, is a fifth grade teacher at Star Lake and was also there with fellow first grade teacher Lisa Mata.
Mata’s two children Gabby and Cameron came to support their mother.
Gabby agreed teachers should be paid more money, noting she wants to be a teacher and teach Kindergarten, first or second grade when she is an adult.
Washington is ranked the 42nd state in the nation for teacher’s compensation, Brown said.
“They’re absolutely right,” said 30th Legislative District Sen. Mark Miloscia, R-Federal Way. “It’s been 25 years of slowly not investing in education.”
Miloscia said the Legislature went from allocating 42 percent of the budget toward education to 47 percent with a goal of 50 percent by the next budget cycle.
“We are 80 percent caught up,” he said. “… but we need to make sure we don’t fall back into old patterns.”
Once an emergency substitute teacher, Miloscia said it was good to see people engaged in the electoral process at a community event such as the rally.
The Legislature is expected to adopt the 2015-2017 biennial budget by their July deadline.
Photos by Carrie Rodriguez, the Mirror
