Michael Cannon: Living within our means to protect Mead’s schools for the next generation

By Michael Cannon

In a place like Mead, we know what it means to take care of what’s ours. Whether it’s a farm, a family business, or the family home, we plan for the hard times, and make sure what we’ve built will last. That’s not just thrift – it’s pride, and it’s how you pass something better on to the next generation.

The Mead School District is entrusted with the education of our children and the stewardship of your tax dollars. That trust means keeping our schools strong today, while simultaneously protecting them for the kids who will walk through our doors ten, twenty, even fifty years from now. That requires clear-eyed decisions now – even when they’re not easy.

We have invested heavily in our educators. Today, the average Mead teacher earns about $103,000 a year, not counting state-funded health insurance and one of the best retirement systems in the nation. Teachers in Mead work a 180-day contract. We’ve made these investments in recruiting and retaining educators, made because we understand the importance of the work they do with and for kids.

However, we’ve seen what happens elsewhere when costs outpace revenues. Across Washington, a growing number of districts have been placed in binding conditions; many others are on the precipice. And when that happens, it’s not just a budget line that disappears – it’s a safety officer in the hallway, a valued school program, a roof repair in the dead of winter, a set of textbooks that should have been replaced years ago.

We cannot – and will not – let that happen here. We are grateful that taxpayers approved a healthy increase to the local school levy in 2024. Given the substantial investments made in educator compensation in recent years, taxpayers were promised we would use additional local levy funds to address critical needs in other areas, which included things like outdated curricula and updates to safety and security infrastructure.

Yet, while making these investments, we’re committed to living within our means, restoring a healthy rainy-day fund, and making spending choices that put Mead’s long-term future ahead of short-term pressure. And right now, those choices are being shaped at the bargaining table with the teachers union.

We’ve been in active negotiations with the Mead Education Association since May. We know that as the first day of school approaches, rallies and public statements are designed to turn up the heat. The goal is simple: make us move faster than we should for Mead citizens and force the district to give into unsustainable or unwise demands. But moving fast in the wrong direction is how you fall off a cliff.

Our position is steady: negotiate in good faith, work toward a fair deal, but don’t make promises that will weaken or compromise the district down the road. That’s not stubbornness – it’s responsibility, and will be best in the long run for teachers, parents, students, and taxpayers.

We’re also clear about one thing: There is no rescue coming from Olympia. The legislature isn’t lining up to bail out school districts that spend beyond their means.

By living within our means, we keep our decisions – and our future – in our own hands. That’s how we make sure Mead’s schools stay safe, strong, and here for the generations to come.

The Mead community has taken immense pride in its schools for decades, but let’s take a moment to picture Mead School District decades from now; schools that are modern and well-maintained, teachers who are well compensated and proud to work here, students who are provided every opportunity to succeed, families who will want to stay and move into the district, and a budget that weathers any storm. That’s not a fantasy. It’s the result of discipline, planning, and the belief that we owe our children more than just the next year – we owe them a future.

We’ve done it before. We can do it again. And it starts now, with thoughtful and collaborative dialogue at the bargaining table that leads to a comprehensive and sustainable plan for how we’ll meet the needs of our kids for years to come.

Michael Cannon is president of the Mead School Board.