WEA news release

[Juanita Doyon <Jedoyon@AOL.COM>]

WEA OUTLOOK NEWS RELEASE

02/20/02                Contact: Rich Wood, 253-765-7042
WEA CALLS FOR WASL SUSPENSION IF EDUCATION BUDGET IS CUT

At a news conference Thursday, Washington Education Association
President
Charles Hasse will call for a temporary suspension of the high-stakes
Washington
Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) if the 2002 Legislature cuts
funding for
K-12 public schools.

Facing a $1.6 billion budget shortfall, lawmakers are considering
cutting nearly
$300 million from the K-12 budget, including Learning Improvement Days,
the
Better Schools Fund and teacher health benefits. Gov. Gary Locke has
suggested
cutting teacher pay by eliminating the annual cost-of-living salary
adjustments
approved by a 63 percent statewide vote.

Those cuts would exacerbate the current shortage of qualified educators
and make
it harder to compete with the private sector and schools in other
states. To
meet higher academic standards, Washington's public schools must attract
and
keep high-quality teachers and education support professionals.

"It is unrealistic to expect continued academic progress and unfair to
test
students for high standards without providing the resources they and
their
teachers need to succeed," says Hasse, a fourth-grade teacher.

Who:        WEA President Charles Hasse
What:    School funding news conference
Where:      Third-floor reception room, Legislative (Capitol) Building,
Olympia
When:       11:15 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 21


The Washington Education Association represents 74,000 K-12 and higher
education
employees and is the state's largest professional organization for
educators.

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