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1. Teachers' union President Mary Lindquist has written an open letter in response to the controversial email that major Democratic Party donor Nick Hanauer sent to his fellow Democratic donors (first published here on PubliCola last week) trashing the Party's position on ed reform and informing his Democratic comrades of his intention to meet with Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna.[pullquote] Speaking of the civil war brewing in the Democratic Party over education reform...[/pullquote]

Here's Lindquist's response:

Open Letter to PubliCola from Mary Lindquist, WEA President

The publicly released email from Nick Hanauer, in which he threatens to support Rob McKenna for governor, was sad to
read.

I had thought, based on his recent statements, that Hanauer – despite his significant wealth – was championing those of us who are a part of the 99% and not the 1%. He has positioned himself as a progressive with clearly defined positions on tax reform, economic equality, social justice, and the environment.

And yet, in a single email, he has managed to align himself with a politician who is antithetical to all of those progressive values. Rob McKenna opposes the right for workers to negotiate for better worker conditions. McKenna opposes doing more to ensure clean water and clean air for future generations. McKenna opposes closing tax loopholes for the very wealthy. McKenna opposes substantive tax reform which could end the state budget deficit. McKenna opposes basic civil rights with marriage equality for all Washingtonians.

However, Hanauer’s email requires a response on behalf of the tens of thousands of hard working men and women who are the backbone of our state and its economic growth and future. Let me set the record straight. The facts simply do not support Hanauer’s argument.

First, it must be clearly understood that it is the voters of Washington – not the WEA – that have rejected charter schools on three separate occasions in recent years. We agree with the voters that charter schools are not needed in our state. The voters understand that funding for charter schools comes from the same pool of funding for public education. Voters know that for charter schools to be imposed, advocates like Hanauer would need to poach funding from local neighborhood schools and districts.

Substantive research studies – including a 2009 report from Stanford University – that find nearly half of charter schools have results no different from local public schools, over a third – 37% -- show learning results significantly inferior to public schools, and that only 17% of charters provide better education opportunities for students. Hanauer may see charter schools as a panacea; we know the real work and dedication that goes into student achievement every single day.

WEA does support, however, the hundreds of innovative schools across our state encouraging every student to live up to his or her potential, to succeed in math, science, the arts, technology and many other disciplines. These public schools are leading examples of what can be done in a robust public education system.

WEA has embraced improved, robust evaluations of educators. We welcome adoption of statewide standards that are both fair and improve the quality of instruction. In the 2010 legislative session, WEA pushed the adoption of SB 6696. Now we are engaged in a collaborative process with districts across the state to pilot new evaluation systems. We see signs this system will make a real difference for students. We look forward to a fair and lasting process that improves instruction and enhances student learning.

On funding, in early January, the state Supreme Court ruled that the state legislature has failed to honor its paramount constitutional duty of “amply funding” public education, a decision. The state legislature has cut $2.5 billion over the past three years from K-12 funding. However, we continue to ask our teachers and school employees to work longer hours, for less pay and lower benefits, in the 3rd most crowded classrooms in the nation.

As a high school teacher, I know that bullying and threatening tactics have no place in our schools or in our political discourse, particularly when addressing large, complex issues. WEA looks forward to working with leaders in both political parties who want to solve problems, fund schools, and improve education for all our students. Let’s focus on what is best for all our students.

2. Speaking of ed reform, Shannon Campion, the Executive Director of Stand for Children, the group that has been on the opposite side of the teachers' union for the past several years, lobbying in Olympia for more comprehensive graduation requirements, charter schools, and stricter teacher evaluations, and charter schools (winning on two out of the three), announced this weekend that she's stepping down later this year.

And speaking of the civil war that's brewing in the Democratic Party over ed reform: Campion's announcement follows Lisa Macfarlane's announcement late last year that she's leaving her job as senior policy advisor at the League of Education Voters—a compatriot of Stand for Children—and starting  the Washington chapter of a similar education reform group, Democrats for Education Reform, which finds itself in the center of a civil war trying to nudge Democrats out of the union camp.[pullquote]"In a single email, he has managed to align himself with a politician who is antithetical to all of those progressive values."—Mary Lindquist, President of the WEA[/pullquote]

3. Sally Bagshaw aide, Holly Krejci, a longtime Georgetown neighborhood activist, is running for state Rep. Zack Hudgins' seat in the 11th District. (Hudgins is running for secretary of state.) Krejci, who hasn't reported any fundraising yet, has two opponents, James Flynn and Steven Bergquist.

It's musical chairs in the 11th, which represents South Seattle, Burien, Sea-Tac, Tukwila and the southern part of Renton. Hudgins' seatmate, Rep. Bob Hasegawa, is running for state senate and port commissioner Rob Holland is running for Hasegawa's seat—as is Stephanie Bowman. Bobby Virk is runing against Hasegawa for senate.

4.  We detailed some of the cuts proposed by the state house Republicans on Friday (cancel the Basic Health Plan, scale back Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, scale back health care coverage for undocumented children, and stop funding Puget Sound cleanup); the Tacoma News Tribune has some more stark details:

The GOP also wants to kill off 51 different programs – including the Basic Health Plan, a low-income property tax deferral program, a state drug task force, homeless assistance, an IT Academy, the Readiness to Learn program, a State Food Assistance Program, growth management administration and many others.

In another major policy shift, the House Republicans propose to cut welfare subsidies – reducing lifetime benefits from 60 months to 48 months, and reducing benefit amounts.

They also want state employees to take 24 furlough days in the next fiscal year – on top of 3 percent reductions in pay and hours already required by past budgets for the July 2011 to June 2013 period. This could save $91 million, Alexander said.

Over the weekend, The Washington Conservation Voters and the Washington Environmental Council released a joint statement responding to the Republican proposal, which would cut the Department of Ecology by 14 percent as opposed to Governor Gregoire's proposed 4.4 percent cut. [pullquote]"It is not possible to balance the budget on the back of the environment."—Brendon Cechovic of Washington Conservation Voters and Joan Crooks of Washington Environmental Council[/pullquote]

The House Republicans' proposed budget takes a slash and burn approach to environmental protection ...Their budget proposal cuts the natural resource program four times deeper that the Governor’s all cuts budget. Clean air and clean water protections currently make up less than 1% of the state's general fund budget -- it is not possible to balance the budget on the back of the environment. This is just a bald attempt to roll back environmental safeguards and allow major polluters to profit at all of our expense.

The house Democrats are expected to release their budget proposal early this week.

5. Anti-gay rights activists who put R-71 on the ballot—the failed 2009 effort to repeal the state's domestic partners' rights legislation (known as "everything but marriage")—claimed, in their case to keep their petition signatures shielded from the public, that they would be subject to harassment. They have continually lost that argument in front of the courts.

Pro-gay rights activists, however, are evidently vulnerable to harassment. This weekend, the home of a lesbian couple quoted in the Tacoma News Tribune when the gay marriage bill passed the state senate earlier this year, was vandalized with a swastika and a "fuck you" symbol.