SB 5242 Eliminates Due Process & SB 5856 Eliminates Existing Pension Plans

Immediate Member Action Needed! Please spread the word.

We have two very bad bills that members need to know about.

 An action alert email was sent today to all WEA members for whom we have email addresses, but we still have a thousands of members who need this information.

 Please encourage members to email and call their legislators to tell them why these bills are bad, but also remind them to pivot to school funding…Stop these bad bills and do something that really makes a difference for our kids – FUND SMALLER CLASS SIZES!

On www.ourvoicewashingtonea.org, members can read the bills and email their legislators from links on the page.

 Please find a brief synopsis of the two very bad bills below:

 SB 5242 Eliminates Due Process (This bill is very short – 2 pages – and would be great to print and circulate at any member meeting. It is certain to get folks angry.)

This bill is an end-run around due process. It would put teachers into a “displaced” pool as a result of a request for reassignment (transfer) by the teacher, the principal, or the district administration; a change in program; a change in enrollment; or the implementation of a state or federal accountability intervention model. If a principal does not pick up a teacher in the pool by May 15^th, then the teacher can be non-renewed by the Superintendent. Remaining in the pool would constitute grounds for a finding of probable cause under the law. In other words, a teacher can be terminated if a principal decides to put them in this pool without due process.

SB 5856 Eliminates Existing Pension Plans (This bill is 22 pages, not so printer friendly.)

This bill changes pensions from defined benefit plans to a defined contribution plan. Rodney Tom is the sole sponsor of this bill that eliminates existing pension plans for state and public employees, replacing them with a risky 401(k)-style savings account. All new public employees, and all current public employees under the age of 45, would be forced into the new savings account.