Skip ads and navigation
Advertising
Our network sites seattlepi.comHelp

Thursday, August 19, 2004

WEA comes out in favor of Billings
Former state school chief shares same views as union, teachers group says

By SAM SKOLNIK
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The leading state teachers association has endorsed a former state school chief in her bid to reclaim the job.

The political action committee of the Washington Education Association, expressing several concerns about the current school chief, recommended Tuesday that Judith Billings be elected as the next superintendent of public instruction.

Billings, 64, had the job for eight years until 1996, when she announced she had contracted HIV after being artificially inseminated with infected donor sperm.

She's worked since then as an AIDS awareness activist. In 1996, she was appointed to President Clinton's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.

WEA President Charles Hasse said in a news release that Billings rightly opposes using a single test such as the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or WASL, to make "high-stakes decisions" about students and schools.

"Her common-sense positions on testing and reform align with ours," Hasse said.

The endorsement means that the teachers union opposes the current school leader, Terry Bergeson, who is running for a third term -- and who is a former WEA president.

Bergeson, 61, "has alienated and disappointed" many teachers because of her stances supporting the WASL and the implementation of charter schools, among other issues, the news release said.

Before Billings announced her candidacy last month, WEA-PAC members had voted to make no recommendation in the race.

Bergeson said late last night that although she was "tremendously disappointed" by the WEA endorsement, "it makes me even more determined to win.

"They want to turn back to the past, and ignore the kids and the gains we've made for them," she said.

P-I reporter Sam Skolnik can be reached at 206-448-8176 or samskolnik@seattlepi.com
Add P-I Local headlines to
My web site My Yahoo! Google *More options
advertising
INSIDE SEATTLEPI.COM

Day in Pictures
Madonna in Germany and more
David Horsey
Building a little character
Photo Gallery
Melbourne Spring Fashion
ADVERTISING
LOCAL HEADLINES
· Cracking down on chronic batterers
· Skagit County victims' bodies taken to Snohomish examiner
· Under the Needle: Fremont Tugboat Co. has been holding the course for 93 years
· Duwamish Tribe fights for recognition
· GOP revives culture and class wars
· Spokane man's suit claims popcorn led to lung disease
· Despite experiences, teens in foster care mostly optimistic
· $4.8 million Hanford verdict award upheld
· State's military a McCain plus?
· Father searched world to find help for his son
· Student sues Seattle Central for readmission after pot confession she says was coerced
· Amtrak ridership is up in Washington, Oregon
*more
AP LOCAL HEADLINES
· Sprouts blamed for salmonella in Wash., Ore.
· Puyallup Fair opens 17-day run
· Perjury charge dropped in Sturgis shooting
· Serial killer Yates getting date with death
· Seahawks coach says Buffalo tough place to play
*more
AP WEST HEADLINES
· Feds warn climate change could harm giant sequoias
· Groups file notice of lawsuit over mouse delisting
· Simpson goes to trial in Vegas, dogged by his past
· Fed investigators perplexed by Reno tanker crash
· Fed investigators perplexed by Reno tanker crash
*more
Advertising
OUR AFFILIATES
NWsource KOMO
Pacific Publishing

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
101 Elliott Ave. W.
Seattle, WA 98119
(206) 448-8000

Home Delivery: (206) 464-2121 or (800) 542-0820
seattlepi.com serves about 1.7 million unique visitors
and 30 million page views each month.

Send comments to newmedia@seattlepi.com
Send investigative tips to iteam@seattlepi.com
©1996-2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Terms of Use/Privacy Policy

Hearst Newspapers