And so it begins . . .

This blog is created to connect Kennewick Education Association members with one another and to connect Kennewick teachers and other educators with the community.

Our message is simple: Students in our community deserve highly-quality teachers.

Teachers are the strongest measure of academic success for students. Every student in Kennewick should have access to teachers who are dedicated, committed and caring. Many of us have lived in this community for years and years. We love nurturing our students to become engaged citizens in our democracy.

Currently, we are in dispute with the Kennewick School Board because they believe it is more important to prioritize brick and mortar over people.

If Kennewick is going to keep the teachers they have and attract new teachers, they need to provide us with a competitive salary. If new teachers settle in the Tri-Cities, they will certainly choose to apply to schools in Pasco and Richland before Kennewick simply because their starting pay in both of those Districts will be quite a bit more than in Kennewick.

What does that mean for our students? Fewer highly-qualified people applying for jobs in our community and our own veteran teachers abandoning our schools to drive a few minutes across the bridge where we can earn a little more so we can take better care of our own families.

We are hoping the mediator will help the process move faster so we might have a Tentative Agreement before Aug. 27. It's up to the District to make sure that happens.