(The following comments from the Web are in response to Brian Hansford’s letter, “Teachers unions are getting in the way of education,” from last issue.)

The sentiment is understood and sound — I am not in agreement with the walkout, either. That said, there is some misinformation in this letter.

1. Students/parents have been “striking” state/national exams throughout the country. School districts have been “striking” the legislature not meeting the Supreme Court requirements throughout our state.

2. But — LWSD’s day off is not a strike. The school day will be made up at the end of the school year. Kids will get their education and teachers will work those hours.

3. The determination of education being under funded is by the Washington Supreme Court. You ask some valid questions, but it is not the teachers union that would answer them since they did not make the ruling — it would be the judicial branch of our government since they are the ones forcing this issue.

4. The legislative branch was almost found in contempt for not showing enough progress last year, so while the increase is welcome news — it is also a year late. Some would also argue it is not enough, but the decision on that front is made by our Supreme Court.

5. The teachers union is all for weeding out bad teachers but they have a different opinion on how that should be done than the state tests and other methodologies. Yes — they exist to represent the teachers, so you are not going to see them tossing their members overboard, but they have been open to ways to identify and assist poorly performing teachers. (Do keep in mind that no employee is ever comfortable with how they are judged for potentially being sacked, though.)

6. Teachers are required to have a masters degree (six years of higher education) to practice in our state and the starting salary is less than 40K. Statements like “You are hard pressed to find a lot of folks who have had raises since 2008” could be interpreted as insulting to a professional who may have college loans amounting to more than their annual salary. Teachers are professionals that are educating the next generation of our country and, at the very least, deserve a cost-of-living increase annually.

Johnmichael Monteith, Kirkland