Teachers rallied in Olympia Monday to push lawmakers to fully fund public education.
Hundreds of teachers, students and parents attended the Rally for Student Civil Rights and Amply Funded Public Schools on the capitol steps Monday morning.
"The Constitution is clear: public education is our paramount duty, and all children deserve amply funded public schools, regardless of ZIP code or family background. Education is a civil right,” Washington Education Association President Kim Mead said.
In his budget, Gov. Jay Inslee proposed increasing education funding by nearly $4 billion and teachers said they want to make sure legislators follow his lead with their budget proposals.
Republican and Democrat state lawmakers began this current legislative session without a serious compromise on how to fulfill the State Supreme Court's McCleary Decision mandate.
Now, with some school districts facing serious budget shortfalls, educators say they can't wait any longer.
"We've been here before. We've seen all of this before, but yet nobody seems to listen. Our legislators don't listen," Terri Winkler of Toppenish Schools said.
At the rally, parents took the chance to not only teach their children about the significance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights work but also used the rally as an opportunity to show them that a vast rift still exists between districts who can afford more for their students, and those who can't.
Teachers want legislators to fund smaller K-12 class sizes, better salaries and benefits for educators, and additional support staff.
"I think that we're lucky that we have a school where the parents can pitch in and give more, but a lot of schools don't have that privilege. And as parents, we think it's important to be here and speak up for everybody," Jenny Brailey said.
After the rally, teams hand-delivered poster-size copies of the Student Bill of Rights to all 147 legislators.
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