The union predicted it: Teacher pay is rising statewide
OLYMPIA — Teacher salaries are soaring as the Washington Education Association predicted they would.
Leaders of the statewide teacher union declared in March that a surge in state funding because of the McCleary lawsuit meant classroom instructors could win pay raises of double-digit percent at the bargaining table.
It happened for teachers in Edmonds public schools this week. The local union reached a deal with the school district Monday to boost starting pay for a first-year teacher by nearly 19 percent and to hike earnings for veteran instructors by 13 percent to 20 percent.
Before them, teachers achieved agreements to push up salaries by an average of 13.5 percent in Omak, 17.2 percent in Othello, 17.3 percent in Bellevue and 12.2 percent in Lake Washington, to name a few.
Some lawmakers want to know how these are possible as they thought laws passed the past two years prevented supersized wage escalation. Other lawmakers are glad it is happening and insist it is exactly what they intended in those laws.
Some asked Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal to weigh in. Last week, he offered an explanation along with a broader look at the salary-setting landscape now that the legal fight on school funding is over.
But one of the first points he makes in his July 26 letter is the difficulty of providing school districts guidance when lawmakers themselves are not on the same page.
“What is clear to me is that you do not all agree on what you passed or what was meant by one aspect of a policy or another,” he wrote.
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Maybe one day the pay will match their education, experience and hard work. 
When teaching isn't considered baby sitting service and teachers are given the respect that their profession deserves then we will have made some strides as a society. The main reason for the low pay and disrespect is the history of the job itself in the US. Mostly women taught school in our US history (and mostly women still do) instead of men and women STILL make 3/4 what their male counterparts earn for the same job, experience, education and work.
