Promote and defend public higher education. We believe that four-year public colleges and universities are anchors of our nation's democratic values and vision. We celebrate the fact that Washington citizens created a public college before the state was established. This democratic promise of college for our daughters and sons was reinforced in 1889 when the federal government provided a land grant of 600,000 acres to Washington State for the erection and maintenance of public schools of higher learning. This land grant accompanied the democratic heritage of public education embodied in the State's Constitution and Barefoot Schoolboy Act of the same era, establishing the dream of educating the broad citizenry with high academic content and standards.

We oppose all those who weaken the democratic promise of these public higher education institutions, including those who would raid public funds for private purposes.

Academic freedom and integrity of the profession. We believe that faculty tenure and academic freedom provide the foundation of the highest academic rigor and discipline. We support public universities that encourage these high standards. We reject all actions that diminish the vitality of a prepared and respected faculty, including the national voices and campus administrators who use budget woes to misuse part-time faculty to replace the core of tenure and tenure-track positions.

We support full academic freedom and reject all attempts to silence the academic public square. Our heritage has always stood for broad inquiry and discourse.

Binding collective bargaining agreements. We are committed to building democratic faculty unions that can bargain and enforce solid labor agreements with public university administrations and governing boards. We believe in local organizing committees representing a broad range of faculty, cutting across academic disciplines and faculty rank. We support democratic elections to establish local bargaining unites, with open debate and choice, free of fear and threats. We negotiate serious contracts to compensate our members and create stable and productive working conditions. We urge that all our contracts include compensation and benefits standards, including Cost of Living Adjustments, salary levels at 75th percentile within peer group and employer-paid insurance packages.

Binding collective bargaining agreements, not advisory committees and surveys, give faculty a powerful platform to participate in shared governance with campus administrations.

Powerful public higher education voice. A Washington state network of higher education faculty unions creates the capacity to engage seriously in public policy at the state and national level. We believe there is strength and wisdom in numbers, and we believe a united voice for public education, reaching from kindergarten to graduate school, will be a strong champion for keeping our democratic commitments to the citizens of Washington and America.

The joint power of our organizations—WEA, AFT WA, AFT and NEA—will protect and nurture our democratic promise of public education by including public colleges and universities with community and technical colleges, primary and secondary schools. We support all efforts to unite our members and institutions involved in public education.

Therefore, with these principles as our guide, we pledge our talents, integrity and resources to build these faculty unions and proclaim the democratic mission of public higher education in Washington.

HOME | LINKS