The votes are in. The teachers of Wenatchee School District have voted to have a district-wide walkout day to protest the Washington State legislature’s failure to fully fund education. The walkout will be conducted on Monday, May 18.

On May 18, every school in WSD will be completely closed. The walkout will not affect athletic events or graduation dates. Senior awards night will still be held May 18.

Forty-four percent of the 500 staff members invited participated in the vote, with an 82 percent majority in favor of supporting the walkout. Additionally, there was a “deluge” of teachers who weren’t able to attend, but called in and wanted to support the walkout, according to Washington Education Association (WenEA) President Kris Cameron.

“It’s very historic,” Cameron said. “Nothing like this has happened in the Wenatchee School District before. This is really a dire commentary on the political state of Washington… We are so lucky we such a large support from the community.”

The teachers are protesting budget plans from both the Washington state House and Senate. These plans deny schools the funds to support smaller class size for students in every grade. Cameron emphasized that the walkout is not against the WSD, but against the state Legislature.

“We are not walking out against the district, we’re walking out against the legislature. We’re not walking out on the kids, we’re walking out for the kids,” Cameron said.

The walkout has four main goals:

• Competitive professional compensation

Teachers who have been working in the district for an extended period of time have lost $30,000 in the last six years. Teachers new to the district six years ago have lost about $18,000 due to lack of cost-of-living raise

• Reliable, predictable, and sustainable school funding

School districts need full funding and resources to provide students with more one-on-one attention, inviting classrooms, and a well-rounded curriculum

• Focus on students

Eliminate the high-stakes nature of state standardized tests. WenEA believes too much testing takes time away from learning.

• Protecting and strengthening the education profession

Professional educators should be the primary voice in education policy decisions at every level.

One of the teachers who participated in the vote was Wenatchee High School English teacher Brian Higgins.

“It’s very important to me that students are being taken care of by their teachers and being treated correctly by their teachers so any time there is a vote where teachers are going to walk out of school, they are putting their own needs in front of the needs of the students,” Higgins said. “There are times where that is important to do, but it needs to be taken very seriously because we’re here to be leaders and guide students… Students can’t produce if teachers aren’t there, but teachers can’t produce if they’re not being taken care of.”

Higgins believes that the decisions the legislature is making towards education will “snowball into causing harm to students.”

Teachers have begun planning activities for the walkout, including a community education rally. The lost day of school will be made up on June 12, similar to a snow day.