BRUSH PRAIRIE — Corey McEnry didn’t tell his students to show up, but he was happy to see them at the picket line Friday morning in front of Hockinson School District offices.
“You’re not getting extra credit for being here,” the Hockinson High School music teacher said after about 10 of his students performed the school’s fight song a few times while student cheerleaders hyped up the crowd.
Friday was day three on the picket line for teachers in Hockinson, and more than 80 of them started their day in front of the district offices.
“We know you’ve been marching for miles every day,” McEnry, a member of the district’s bargaining team, said. “We’re going to have a staff full of plantar fasciitis.”
“A strong staff,” one of the red-clad teachers in the crowd yelled back. They were joined by students and community members, as well as plenty of drivers honking in support as they passed by.
“Your support energizes us,” McEnry told the crowd, who stopped picketing to watch the students perform.
Hockinson’s teachers are one of six unions on strike this week in Clark County while they negotiate new contracts. Teachers remain at odds over salary agreements, as districts around Washington negotiate how to spend the additional money they’re slated to receive after two years of McCleary legislation. The Legislature allocated $7.3 billion over four years toward basic education during the 2017 session, then put another $1 billion toward teacher salaries this year.
In Hockinson, the district is no longer announcing publicly what has been offered. The latest public offer from the district, which came on Aug. 20, would bring the teachers’ salary range up to $46,552 to $87,845 with an average base salary of $69,129, and an average salary of $74,463, including base and TRI pay, or time, responsibility and incentive pay, days of pay for professional development. That’s an 8 percent increase from the previous year, according to information from the district.
The two sides were scheduled to return to the bargaining table Friday morning. McEnry told the crowd if they didn’t reach an agreement Friday, they are scheduled to meet again Sunday.
“This is our one chance to stand up for what we deserve, what was sent down from the state,” he said. “We’re going to go get it.”
Joining the teachers were multiple members of the Hockinson Educational Support Professionals, including Susan Lemos, president of the union. The classified staff union is also negotiating a new salary schedule this summer, Lemos said, adding that their next session is Sept. 11.
“The teachers are supporting us 100 percent, and we wanted to get out and show our support for them.”
That’s why Angela Maria Weinmuller, a parent in the district, came out to the picket line Friday morning. She has two kids in high school, one in middle school and two more who have graduated from the district. Weinmuller got teary-eyed talking about the dispute, saying that Hockinson is a close-knit community.
“It really is a family divide,” she said. “This isn’t about the money. It can’t be about the money. It has to be about the people.”
Weinmuller said Hockinson teachers have inspired and motivated her kids, and brought joy to their lives. She said she has a daughter singing opera, a son studying to be a civil engineer and a daughter in middle school who wants to be a doctor.
“That didn’t come from me,” she said. “That came from (the teachers). It came from them fostering a world where anything is possible.”
While Weinmuller was out to support the teachers, she also spoke positively about Superintendent Sandra Yager.
“She’s a tough woman, but a woman with a heart,” Weinmuller said. “She cares about these teachers.”
Whether or not someone has a child in a district where teachers are on strike, Weinmuller said, it’s important to support the teachers.
“It should be personal to every person on earth,” she said. “These teachers are the ones educating everyone who is going to be running the world someday.”
Read more strike coverage at www.columbian.com/news/schools.
