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Wednesday, April 30, 2008
By ISOLDE RAFTERY, Columbian staff writer

The Evergreen Education Association is the latest teachers’ union to declare a vote of no confidence on the performance of state schools chief Terry Bergeson.

“This comes right on top — and not by accident — of the WASL,” Evergreen teachers’ union president Dave Boroughs said. “Teachers have felt overwhelmed with the responsibility of the test, the anxiety of the students and the narrowing of the curriculum that has come because of the test.”

Evergreen is the 17th school district whose teachers have voted against Bergeson, a vote that could also be seen as a vote against the state’s standardized exam, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or WASL. Bergeson has touted the exam since its inception in 1993.

“I feel very badly about it,” Bergeson said Thursday in a message left on a reporter’s phone. “I’ve been fighting with (U.S.) Department of Education to try to correct it for six years since the law was passed, and I’m looking forward to a new Department of Education when the (presidential) elections are over in the fall.

“I know teachers are discouraged,” she continued. “Teachers are having to shoulder too much of the burden without enough support, so I’m going to do the best I can to change that.”

About 3 percent of Evergreen teachers said they were happy with Bergeson; 65 percent expressed deep concern.

The Vancouver and Battle Ground teachers’ unions may follow suit. The Vancouver Education Association posted a survey on its Web site and has received about 300 responses so far.

VEA Executive Director Roy Maier said survey results so far indicate they may also take a vote of no confidence.

Evergreen made its decision based on a survey filled out by 409 teachers. Survey language comes from the state’s umbrella teachers’ union, the Washington Education Association.

The no-confidence votes bolster efforts by the WEA to undermine Bergeson’s bid for re-election.

Bergeson is running for her fourth term this year. Last week, the WEA endorsed her opponent, former Richland School District Superintendent Rich Semler.

In 2004, the WEA endorsed Bergeson’s opponent, Judith Billings.

Isolde Raftery can be reached at 360-735-4546 or isolde.raftery@columbian.com.