Governor helps Boeing, but don’t school children deserve protection from union disputes too?

Governor Inslee is clearly worried, as are many Washingtonians, about the power of union executives and their ability to disrupt our state’s aerospace sector. There is a very real danger that the threat of union action in the future could lead Boeing to locate 777x assembly in another state. 

For that reason, Governor Inslee is pressing union executives to accept a long-term agreement with Boeing, to avoid conflict and create the labor stability the company needs to plan for new manufacturing.  Governor Inslee is certainly aware that under two of his predecessors Boeing moved both its headquarters and major new manufacturing out of the state.

Still, the Governor seems less concerned about how union conflict in the area of education affects children in our public schools. As I explained last June in The Seattle Times, to appease the powerful WEA union, the Governor worked to kill positive school reforms that had passed the Senate:

• Allowing school principals to hire the best teachers and end the practice of cycling bad teachers from one school to another in the infamous “dance of the lemons.”
• Giving schools A–F letter grades so parents could easily understand how well their local school are performing.
• Raising standards for third grade reading.
• Directing funding to provide professional training for teachers to help underachieving students improve in reading, writing and math.

Union executives often use pressure tactics, disruption and controversy to advance their agenda, even through children are often affected in the process.  Recently union executives temporarily closed schools to students in Tacoma, Kent, Bellevue and Marysville, and threatened a city-wide strike in Seattle, action that would have disrupted the education of 49,000 school children. 

Aerospace companies are not alone in needing the Governor’s help when it comes to working with unions. Public school children need assistance in a similar way.  Once the 777x assembly issue is settled, Governor Inslee may want to work in a similar way with education unions, to advance the cause of real reform. 

Of course it’s much harder for parents to move out of state if the WEA union goes on strike, but don’t school children also deserve help from the Governor in dealing with union disruptions in public education?