Class Wars: The Story Of The Washington Education Association 1965-2001

by Steve Kink, John Cahill

The story of the colourful and often controversial people who transformed the Washington Education Association.

215 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2005

Reviews

[Chase Parsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book for every educator in Washington state to read! Authors Kink and Cahill (sometimes self-serving but not too bad) chronicle the history of the WEA from 1965 to 2001. The reading is pretty dense, but it is fascinating throughout. I loved reading about how UniServs changed everything, the first strikes, ex-President Carol Coe who was a pro at unifying people and getting things done, the "good times" of 1976-80, the bitter rivalries (lots of time, but I was most into the the 1980s split that pitted Reese Lindquist vs. Terry Bergeson (who later brought WASL to Washington - our first big stakes standardized test), and more. I was also disappointed with the Democrats, in particular Governors Booth Gardner (the worst) and Gary Locke. Teachers in Washington really do have a history of struggle in this state, and I highly recommend this book to educators far and wide.