Issaquah Education Association

News

• Calendars and Murphy's Law

  Many in our community are wondering if we can avoid another year with six make-up days added to the end. Our contract states that the IEA determines our calendar preference for three years ahead and we share our survey results with the district. Thus, the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 calendars were already established, and the 2021-2022 calendar is still being determined (we surveyed our members in February and shared the results in March).
  
  IEA and the district have met to discuss ways to build in make-up days in case of inclement weather events during the next couple of years. That has to be done with a Memorandum of Understanding approved by the School Board and the IEA Executive Board. One is reminded of Murphy’s Law (If anything can go wrong, it will) and no one anticipated a February like this year’s. In all candor, we began with some very creative ideas, and as various constituencies weighed in with their interests it became apparent that “creative options” aren’t always appealing to different groups within our membership or the community.
  
  Your elected IEA Executive Board scrutinized the proposals and offered some counters, which are currently in the hands of the ISD Board of Directors. I expect the decision to be made this week if the school board approves our counter.

• IEA's response to the Classified's Union Strike Date

  Dear IEA Members,
  
  On January 15th, our classified colleagues — office professionals and paraprofessionals, including Unique Needs Specialists (UNS) and school health room staff — voted to strike, but they did not set a strike deadline. Office professionals are represented by PSE. Paraprofessionals are represented by SEIU 925.
  
  Your IEA Executive Board met on January 9th to discuss what we knew at that time, and we scheduled an emergency Executive Board meeting for the 23rd.
  
  After the strike vote, IEA called a late afternoon meeting on Friday, January 18th with PSE and SEIU. Shortly before that meeting, PSE and SEIU notified IEA that their joint strike committee set a strike deadline: if they don’t reach settlement with the District by January 28th, our PSE and SEIU 925 colleagues will be on strike the morning of Tuesday, January 29th.
  
  Will IEA honor our classified colleagues’ strike and picket lines if it comes to that? Only the 1,300+ members of the Issaquah Education Association, at a general membership meeting, have the power to make that decision, or to decide to take some other collective action.
  
  Before first Winter Break, we’d invited PSE and SEIU leaders to attend our IEA Representative Council on January 29th, to speak to your IEA Building Reps and to answer their questions. As you can see, things escalated rapidly. We do not have time to call a general membership meeting before January 29th.
  
  The IEA Executive Board and I maintain that if there is a strike, opening schools without the paraprofessionals and office professionals presents an unacceptable risk to student safety. Leaders from classified unions representing other Issaquah School District staff have voiced similar concerns.
  
  IEA is in consultation with WEA Legal. We will update you with answers to questions we know you have as soon as possible after today’s holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
  
  We want you all to understand that our school district and our PSE and SEIU colleagues are in a contract dispute over their negotiated 2018-19 pay increases. Currently, office professionals’ starting rate is $20.23 per hour and tops out at $25.59 for a 20-year employee. Paraprofessionals begin at $15.03 per hour and top out at $24.83. ($24.83 is the rate for an UNS in their 20th year). A key issue is the handling of inflationary increases, which are commonly referred to as a COLA, or Cost-of-Living Adjustment.
  
  Your IEA Executive Board members and I want our colleagues to be paid a fair wage. We want their wages to keep pace with inflation – and more. We want them to feel respected and valued. IEA has a long track record of accomplishing quality work with members of the school district administration. We value that greatly and expect that to continue, but it is difficult to accept that people so important to our schools feel pushed to this point.
  
  We feel it necessary to update you on what has been happening up until now, and we’ll be sending out more communications as we gather facts.

• IEA Diversity Statement

  Our IEA Representative Council Unanimously Approved Publication of Our Diversity Statement on September 25, 2018:
  
  “We are a diverse community of educators, and we acknowledge that institutional racism and marginalization exists within our community.
  
  The Issaquah Education Association supports ongoing cultural competency learning for IEA members in order to interrupt bias, oppression and inequity throughout our institution on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion and beliefs, age, income, appearance and ability, and all other marginalized groups.
  
  We know that students thrive in environments that are socially and culturally aware, and where educators are responsive to students’ needs.
  
  We will listen to the needs and concerns of our members, work toward meeting our goals of inclusivity, and encourage the district to partner with us in our work toward equity.”