Initiative 1351, the ballot measure on class sizes, will bring new profits to the powerful WEA union because all new teachers will be forced to pay about $1,000 a year in dues as a condition of employment.  Overall the measure represents a $7.4 million windfall for the union, every year.

At the same time, I-1351 would do little to improve learning for Washington’s school children. 

Here’s why:

I-1351 would not help students because teacher quality, not class size, is the most important factor in student learning.  A smaller class does not turn a bad teacher into a good one.  I-1351 pulls money away from hiring and rewarding great teachers in our local schools.

I-1351 backers are wrong when they say we rank 47th in the nation in class sizes.  They are using outdated numbers from before 2012.  They don’t count the class-size reduction money the legislature has provided in the last two sessions, and plans to again in 2015.

I-1351 includes no funding, so it is only a paper promise.  A tax increase to pay for it would devastate working families, costing as much as $1,600 per household.  One economist said the state sales tax would have to be increased from 6.5% to 8% to pay for it, increasing poverty and raising the cost of living for everyone.

I-1351 has a loophole, in Section 2, that lets administrators divert money away from smaller class sizes.  Even if the legislature comes up with funding by pulling it from social programs, it still might not be used to reduce class sizes in local schools.

I-1351 would generate windfall profits for the powerful WEA union.  State laws says every public school teacher must pay the union or be fired.  Union executives expect profits of $7.4 million a year from I-1351, on top of the $33 million they collect now.  That’s why union executives are spending $3.5 million to get I-1351 passed.

I-1351 is like so many of the failed promises of the past 40 years.  Advocates always say spending more will help kids and it never does.  Per student spending today is at record highs, over $11,300 per child, yet test scores are flat, one in four kids drops out, and the achievement gap is worse than ever.  The system’s failures fall hardest on poor and minority families who know that a good education is the path to a brighter future.

The WEA union opposes real reforms that would help students, reforms like more online courses, free after-school tutoring, more charter school options and a voice for parents in making education choices for their children. 

Parent involvement and supporting great teachers will make a quality public education available for every child, not more unfunded mandates that benefit powerful special interest groups.