WFIS Legislative Update
February 22, 2010
While the 2010 legislative session is a short one, since it is not a budget-adoption session, it is still an extremely important one for the private and faith-based schools of Washington. With the February 26 deadline approaching for bills to be read in committee in the opposite house of origin, WFIS remains vigilant and continues to testify on behalf of three bills that continue their trek to the floor of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
SHB 1329 - Providing Collective Bargaining for Child Care Center Directors and Workers. Initially, when a striker amendment was proposed that would make union affiliation a voluntary decision by each pre-school or day care, we were leaning in support of this change. However, the February 18 public hearing in the Senate Labor and Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee only reinforced our adamant opposition to this bill for several reasons:
1. The union dues come directly out of the subsidy given to poor families to access pre-school/day-care services.
2. There are no exemptions for owners/operators whose conscientious objection to labor union membership is not attached to an established denominational belief system that discourages membership.
3. There are no exemptions for individuals once 30% of the workers choose to opt-in. There appears to be some Federal Title VII law that is being violated by the provisions of this bill.
4. The large child care centers are exempted from this bill (e.g. KinderKare, YMCA, etc.) That leaves the smaller operations vulnerable to a full union push for membership.
5. The legislative premiss of the bill assumes that all early childhood programs are faced with low employee wages, lack of training, and high turnover. While that may reflect a segment of early childhood educational institutions, it does not reflect the whole picture, including our WFIS programs.
6. Section 2 of the bill states that "the governor is the public employer of family childcare providers and of child care center directors and workers who, solely for the purposes of collective bargaining, are public employees." What does that mean? What would that do to a private school's ability to hire those employees that match the mission of their school? Our schools have voiced their opposition to being public employees for any reason.
This bill is a clear power-grab by the SEIU and legislators who are union supporters. At the above mentioned hearing on February 18, 2010, each side was allowed to present evidence of support or non-support during the public hearing portion of the meeting. Commentors were allowed two minutes each to present their case, because "there were so many who wanted to testify and there was no time for everyone to be heard" according to the committee chair. In a stunning and very disappointing display of partisanship, the chair then gave the SEIU and the AFT the time needed to rebut any negative testimony given previously. No other testifiers were given such privilege and in many cases were characterized as misinformed and "liars." While both sides of any issue have the right to be passionate in their arguments, those opposed are still citizens of the state, taxpayers and voters and have a right to be treated with dignity and respect for their views and the missions of their private organizations.
HB 2731 - This bill would make early childhood education part of Basic Education in the state. Basic Education is the aegis under which OSPI operates all public schools as required by law, providing education to all children within its borders. On the surface, this sounds like a great idea and would eventually make early childhood education mandatory in order to prepare students to be successful in their K-12 educational experience. Since basic education is state funded, it would ultimately be discriminatory for our faith-based schools. Our private non-sectarian schools would be able to receive state funding for their programs; however, it would be a violation of the neutrality clause of the federal constitution for our faith-based schools, since
they would be excluded solely because of their faith and mission.
This bill will be heard in the Senate Education Committee on Monday, February 22.
HB 2996, SB 6619 - These companion bills would include approved private schools in the Superintendent of Public Instruction's background check information rules. To date, both bills have been moving through committee hearings without any opposition. WFIS supports these bills and has testified in favor of their passage. We have been working with OSPI and others for many years toward our administrators having access to FBI background checks instead of only those done by the Washington State Patrol. The challenge now is to make sure this does not get overlooked in moving to the house and senate floors.
IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS AND HAVE YOUR FACULTY AND PARENTS DO THE SAME:
HB 1329 - OPPOSED
HB 2731 - OPPOSED
HB 2996 AND SB 6619 - SUPPORT
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