No investigation! NO FIRINGS OR SUSPENSIONS!

No cuts to staffing and services! Restore eliminated positions.

Tax the rich to fully fund Washington public schools!

Thirty-eight teachers and education-support professionals at Jennie Reed Elementary School in Tacoma’s South End organized a sickout on September 12th in protest against draconian budget cuts announced by Tacoma Public Schools officials. The workers are rank-and-file members of the Tacoma Education Association and the Tacoma Federation of Education Support Professionals who took action on behalf of students and their community.

Rather than addressing the dire budget situation and the needs of students and staff, Tacoma Public Schools officials have launched an “investigation” into the sickout, in preparation to take retaliatory action against these courageous workers.

We demand

1. Tacoma Public Schools officials immediately end all investigations of Reed staff members — No retaliation! No firings or suspensions!

2. Tacoma Public Schools officials provide equitable staffing and resources for Title I schools in the South End, East Side, and Hilltop Communities.

3. Democratic and Republican elected officials in the Washington State Legislature and Democratic Governor Bob Ferguson tax the rich to fully fund the state’s public schools.

No cuts to school staffing and services at Jennie Reed! Restore the two classroom teaching positions eliminated this year. Tax the rich to fully fund our public schools!

The Democratic and Republican parties have criminally underfunded public education for decades. Both these parties represent the billionaires and multimillionaires, and for decades have presided over the nation’s most regressive tax system (now the second-most regressive). The lowest-income families pay the most in taxes and face the brunt of shockingly underfunded schools, infrastructure, and transportation.

Public school funding cuts have been particularly devastating for students at schools like Jennie Reed, where 75 percent belong to families in poverty, 85 percent are students of color, and 7 percent are homeless. Tacoma Public Schools officials have cut or displaced five Jennie Reed classroom teachers, one counselor, an instructional coach, and one education support professional since the end of last school year.

The school has faced many years of severe neglect. School water tested high for lead in 2015 and the Tacoma officials refused to review the results until 2016. Just this September, the officials failed to even notify parents and staff after a man attempted to kidnap two students outside the school.

In June 2024, Tacoma Public Schools officials went on an expensive taxpayer-funded retreat, just weeks after announcing massive budget cuts. All the officials have given themselves lavish salary increases. Superintendent Joshua Garcia makes over $385,000/year and the Chief Financial Officer Rosalind Medina over $315,000/year.