Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Joe schmick
State Representative Joe Schmick paid a visit to the Gazette April 11, and talked about a range of issues large to small, including education, the Department of Energy, construction bids, marijuana and whether waiters and waitresses should make minimum wage.
In comments about our state’s funding of education, Schmick said there has been too much of a shift to local levies, referring to the 2012 state Supreme Court decision McCleary v. Washington which requires funding of basic education.
The decision will bring changes which go beyond money.
One of the issues of contention is whether test results should be a portion of the way teachers are evaluated.
“The Legislature said no,” Schmick said.
He pointed out that the Seattle Education Association – the teacher’s union - had allowed this in their contract.
“That’s amazing to me, it’s part of the contract,” said Schmick.
He went on to say that the state gave up $44 million in No Child Left Behind money for low-performing schools.
“We lost the ability to direct that money because we got a waiver on teacher evaluations until this year,” he said. “We gave up that much money because the teachers unions said no.”
Locally, he indicated that money would have paid para-educators and some teachers to help with low-performing students.
Jonathan Knapp, President of the Seattle Education Association, confirmed that test scores are an element of teacher evaluations there.
“We have a parallel track for the students with test scores available,” he said. “But (we) don’t evaluate directly on test scores. If there’s a low student growth rating, then the evaluator can take a second look at the teaching practices.”
The evaluators he refers to are principals or assistant principals.
“The waiver was about making test scores a weighted factor in teacher evaluation,” said Knapp. “For Seattle, it’s a potential marker.”
Overall, Knapp suggested that the $44 million of federal Title I money that Schmick mentioned was not given up completely.
“The districts lose some flexibility on that but it’s not like it just disappears,” he said.
Title I refers to poverty in education, similar to how Title IX is about girls’ participation in sports.
On the matter of test scores, Schmick suggested that certain benchmarks for all students are misleading.
“The way I see it, if you have a low performing student, say they go from 40 percent to 60 percent at the end of the year, I would call that a success,” he said.
On the subject of the Washington State Department of Transportation, Schmick said some changes need to be made in the bidding process for construction.
“There has to be some reforms,” he said.
Citing the 520 bridge replacement project connecting Seattle to Medina over Lake Washington, he said work had to be redone and contractors asked for an additional $170 million to the original bid of $2.7 billion.
“We can’t function like this anymore,” he said. “Contractors lowball bids so they get approved and then we give overrides… It always happens, that’s just one example.”
He said Washington has a particular problem with this.
“If it costs 1 million to build a road in Idaho, it’ll cost two to two-and-a-half million in Washington.”
Reasons to
run again
Schmick will run for re-election this fall, for a fourth two-year term for the Ninth District.
“It seems like it’s all the time,” he said of nearing another campaign.
He cited two reasons for running again.
“I do not want the people to forget about the local taxpayer,” he said. “I want to restore faith in government… People don’t trust the government, and rightfully so.”
He talked some about future challenges, mentioning a proposal in the state house to raise Washington’s minimum wage to $15.
“I call that partially the war on small business,” said Schmick, who once worked for the Gazette stuffing inserts as a teenager. “We’ve made it so hard to hire youth now. We just don’t do it. People come out of WSU, they haven’t had a job before.”
Schmick also cited his opposition to a rise in the minimum wage in that it belittles workers already at that level, at a higher position in a given company.
One effort he has made on this has to do with requiring tip credit as part of the minimum wage for a restaurant server.
“I have sponsored bills to work on tip credit. I can’t even get a hearing,” he said.
He said that the number one reason he hears in opposition is that it sets a precedent.
“’What’s next?’ they say,” Schmick said. “It’s always been the labor committee we can’t seem to get through.”
On the issue of legalized marijuana in Washington, Schmick said the small towns aiming to keep it out will look to higher advice.
“They will abide by the Attorney General’s opinion,” he said.
He talked about a developing problem with medical marijuana vs. recreational, saying that medical is still not regulated, adding that a medical card allows for legal possession of 24 ounces while recreational is legal (for ages over 21) it is one ounce.
He deemed that medical marijuana needs to be regulated.
“We would treat it like a regular prescription,” he said.
As far as the tax proceeds from the coming sale of recreational marijuana in Washington — expected this summer — he said the state should be required to distribute more of it.
“We contend that the local cities and counties should get some of the tax,” Schmick said. “They are the ones that will have to deal with the fallout day-to-day.”
He cited how he had recently talked to the Spokane County Sheriff, who reported a distinct rise in marijuana activity in the schools since I-502 passed.
“’The old people passed this, it must be okay,’” Schmick said, relaying the thoughts of a juvenile. “I don’t think we’ve seen the social ramifications of this. I’m really worried.”
When asked if being on the state legislature made him more conservative or less, he thought for a moment.
“You probably should ask my wife,” Schmick said. “She would probably have a better opinion. As a general rule, I don’t like taxes, (unless) there is a direct value to them… but if it’s just gonna go in the general fund, I struggle with that.”
On matters of healthcare, he said he has picked up something in his time as a state legislator.
“What I’ve learned is there is a legitimate need to help people who can’t help themselves. But on the other side, there is a lot of abuse,” he said.
He mentioned being opposed to recent cuts in food banks.
“I see too many families that genuinely need that,” he said.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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