POULSBO — “Hey, hey, what do we say? Full funding, don’t delay!”

So went the rally cry on May 18 as North Kitsap teachers staged a walkout to protest the state Legislature’s failure to fully fund education or provide teachers across the state with cost-of-living wage increases.

Nearly 60 school districts in Washington have staged, or will stage, walkouts. Protests started April 22 with the Lakewood, Stanwood-Camano and Arlington school districts, after legislators considered an 11-percent raise for themselves. That raise was approved.

“We’re supporting our entire state (with the protest),” Poulsbo Elementary School teacher Kjersti Johnson said.

“It’s us supporting each other. No teacher gets into the job for anything other than their love for children and their wanting to see them succeed in life, and in the classroom. So we’re not only supporting North Kitsap, we’re supporting the entire state of Washington, and all the educators that do what we do every single day.”

Six years ago, the state Supreme Court found the Legislature in violation of the state’s Constitution for failing to fully fund education. Since then, legislators have failed to comply with a court’s order to fully fund education.

Voters also have approved ballot measures for cost of living increases for teachers and for smaller class sizes, with no more than 17 students in grades K-3, and no more than 20 students in grades 4-12.

“Our cost-of-living increases, smaller class sizes — those are the things that the voters have already approved,” Johnson said. “And the voters have already said, ‘This is what we want for our kids.’ And (legislators) are not doing it. So that’s why we’re (protesting).”

The North Kitsap Education Association walkout started with teachers standing at the corners of Highway 305 and Hostmark Street in Poulsbo, holding signs calling for full funding. Then, at 11 a.m., teachers and supporters gathered at the gazebo in Muriel Iverson Williams Waterfront Park in Poulsbo for a rally, with speakers including the NKEA President Chris Fraser, Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson, Sen. Christine Rolfes, state representatives Sherry Appleton and Drew Hansen, teachers and even a student.

Gayl TenEyck, an English teacher at North Kitsap High School, said, “It is not uncommon on the high school level to have classes with 30 to 33 students in academic classes that are required for graduation. This is way too many.”

Terri Duncan, a Poulsbo Middle School teacher, said she has “a class with 30 students and a class with 24 students, and my class of 24 is outdoing my class of 30 easily.”

Teachers also said that without proper funding, students are forced to use outdated textbooks, some of which are falling apart. Kingston Middle School teacher Ted Jez said he keeps a folder filled with pages that have fallen out of textbooks so students can still access the information on those pages.

Teachers also mentioned reusing disposable equipment, and Kingston High School student Gillian McCormick said she’s even had to go without textbooks in her freshman math class.

McCormick also said that one history class was taught by three different teachers throughout the year, another class bounced between three different locations and she’s seen activity fees increase drastically throughout her high school education.

“These large class sizes and poor learning environments and inconsistent teachers have been around all four years I’ve been at Kingston, and I imagine many more,” McCormick said. About the fees, she added, “This general lack of funding makes participating in activities impossible for some students, and that never should be happening.”

Terri Marshall, a special education teacher at Poulsbo Elementary, said smaller class sizes and adequate funding for materials and para-educator support is especially essential for students with special needs.

“With larger class sizes, it becomes almost unmanageable for teachers to fully meet the individual needs of each student with special needs,” Marshall said. “With larger class sizes, our students with special needs are often overwhelmed by distractions and a severely limited ability for the teacher to work with them individually.”

Another point of contention is state testing.

Washington state requires students to take Common Core tests in many grade levels. Recently, the Legislature made it known that teachers would be evaluated based on the test scores of their students, and their salaries could be affected by those scores.

As Hansen put it, that evaluation measures more than a student’s current teacher, but also past teachers, the student’s home environment and what he or she is doing in the summer or on the weekends.

“That’s what you’re really measuring,” Hansen said. “So it is weird and wrong.”

Hansen, among others, called for teachers and supporters to make their voices heard to the legislature about these issues.

NKEA president Fraser said, “We are 45th (in the nation) in class sizes. We are 44th in compensation.

“Our kids and our educators deserve better than all-but dead last. We can do better. We must do better. And it is past time to do better.”