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 Linda Thomas
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Lynnwood High School government teacher Sharon Kriskovich has been using bi-partisan campaign signs for a decade as a teaching tool in her classroom. This year, she had to pull them down or risk a fine. (Photo by Linda Thomas)

Local high school teacher must remove campaign signs

October 22, 2012 @ 6:25 pm (Updated: 8:11 am - 10/24/12 )

UPDATE: 10/24/2012 7:30AM Since nobody is taking responsibility for the request to take the signs down, the principal is telling the teacher to put the signs back up. If any penalty is levied, the principal will personally pay the fine.

Here's the catch, the teacher is advised to wait until the election is over. At that point the campaign signs become "historical artifacts."

Original story below:

Sharon Kriskovich is the kind of energetic teacher you'd want for your kids.

She's been a social studies and history teacher for 10 years. This year at Lynnwood High School, she's teaching U.S. Government to classes full of seniors, many of whom will vote for the first time.

"I'm good at what I do. I'm a good government teacher and I love election years," Kriskovich says.

If you walked into her classroom a week ago you would have seen the walls covered with local, national and state political campaign yard signs.

Jay Inslee, Rob McKenna, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Chris Gregoire, Dino Rossi, and more.

"Many signs are from past elections. I like Mike is a play on words from 'I like Ike' which was a historic Eisenhower campaign, so Mayor Mike (McGinn) ran on that slogan," she says. "Some of these kids don't know that because they weren't aware of politics then. Some of the signs are from 10 years ago."

She uses the signs to teach about propaganda, advertising, and candidates' talking points in a non-partisan way.

"If you see slogans or if you see the color schemes, things like that evoke different 'rally around the flag' feelings. Here's one with stars and stripes. Does one see more patriotic than another one? Why or why not?" she asks her seniors.

Now more than two dozen signs are piled in the corner of her classroom, waiting to be carried out to her car and stored in her garage at home.

"It's inane. It's appalling," she says.

Lynnwood High School is fine with the signs, her school district is too. But her union, the Washington Education Association said she cannot display them.

"They told me, through email, some teachers in the State of Washington had personal fines for having campaign signs in their classrooms," Kriskovich says. "If it's displayed, it's public policy. If it's on my person, it's covered by first amendment rights. Which I think is even more biased. I can wear an Obama t-shirt or a Romney pin, but I can't use campaign signs as a tool?"

The WEA's Linda Mullen says they're trying to protect their teachers from potential Public Disclosure Commission fines. She didn't know how much the fine would be, and didn't know of any other teachers who were singled out for using campaign materials in the classroom.

The WEA says teachers may display signs during a lesson, but then have to take them down as soon as the particular class is over.

Kriskovich doesn't think the union is even aware of how she teaches her classes. She has a different theory about what's really going on.

"Jay Inslee is supported through our union, but Rob McKenna isn't," she points out. "I know that's a big issue with campaigns, but wow that's your union stuff, it has nothing to do with my classroom."

She thinks she's done a good job of presenting both sides of political campaigns and candidates, and even her students don't know where she stands personally.

"My job is to be bipartisan, so if I start to lean I want students to call me out on it," says Kriskovich. "I want to keep them guessing. 'What is she? Oh my gosh, what is she? She says this, but then she did that.' So they don't know, which is great."

A spokeswoman with the PDC says no one has filed a complaint against the teacher, and she would be exempt from their laws anyway as long as she's using the campaign materials in a non-partisan way for her curriculum.

The PDC's Lori Anderson says she only knows of one case when a teacher was fined in 2009. A substitute teacher at Shorecrest High School told her students she was running for the Shoreline City Council and they could get community service hours for working on her campaign.

The teacher in that case sent emails to the students from district property to coordinate their volunteer activities. A $750 fine was imposed, with $500 of that suspended. She ended up paying a $250 fine.

By LINDA THOMAS

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (19)


  • Add A Comment

  • DJFavorite wrote...
    I bet she didn't have to 'donate' to get the signs
    October 23, 2012 9:24 am
    so why would she be fined? She had nothing to disclose, she shows both candidate signs for a particular position, I think the Union is overreacting and are full of hot air. I bet she hasn't done anything wrong and is just being bullied by the union.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • iotollah wrote...
    How much is the fine?
    October 23, 2012 9:36 am
    Tell the Union to stick it. Education comes first. We'll donate to cover the fine.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ron prevost wrote...
    Attention WEA - I think you're lying about the PDC.
    October 23, 2012 9:39 am
    'Protecting' their teachers? ....... I suspect this teacher HAS figured it out. Jay Inslee aside, I would guess that if her teaching prop signs had been only "D"s, the WEA would have said nothing.

    But, I guess, even bipartisan and non-partisan aren't good enough to the 'inclusive', politically correct WEA.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Stevebo wrote...
    This is one where I'd side with the teacher...
    October 23, 2012 9:51 am
    If she were trying to provide a particular political slant it would be one thing, but from what it appears here, she has approached this from a very non-partisan standpoint - which I think is excellent. It's the absolute best message to provide to kids - To get them to think for themselves...

    It's unfortunate (and silly) that she is being singled out for this.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • southi5 wrote...
    Not Surprised
    October 23, 2012 10:16 am
    Heaven forbid you show both sides of an issue in a union infested place, if its not propaganda, its not union! If they were all democrat signs, you wouldn't hear anything about this.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • KeysAndStops wrote...
    Another example
    October 23, 2012 10:22 am
    This is yet another entry in the Book of Crap, authored by the unions who are trying to justify their existence. The WEA is the best example of uniion blockage of true progress, of innovation, and of greed. The WEA isn't protecting anyone or anything. Get them out of the way for Sharon Kriskovich and other creative minds to stimulate and grow our children's education. Screw the WEA.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ibedavey wrote...
    Unbiased? NOT!
    October 23, 2012 10:44 am
    Puts both parties signs in the room and then thinks that this gives her sanction to talk about the candidates. Yeah. We can see thru the smokescreen. No way can one talk about the candidates and issues without their bias coming thru.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • dhb345 wrote...
    She's that biased..
    November 6, 2012 12:38 pm
    I've had my friend's in her class and, one of them being the Salutatorian of our class, and learned a ton from this teacher. The purpose of US Government class is to educate the senior class, who are usually about to vote that year, about the government. Now how do you go about teaching the election process and how our government works without teaching propaganda? Also I love her method of teaching it as well, showing how both sides choose to represent themselves with signs over the past 10 years and showing the differences and similarity's between the different elections.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • eastcoastexpat74 wrote...
    Yes on 1240
    October 23, 2012 11:29 am
    This shows another good reason to vote yes on Initiative 1240.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • spuddog wrote...
    eastcoast....
    October 24, 2012 9:48 am
    no it doesn't. Voting yes on 1240 will have no effect on this type of ridiculous behavior by the WEA. And as a retired social studies teacher who used similar techniques in teaching about the political spectrum and elections, I do find that the WEA's demand that she take down these signs ridiculous, short-sighted, and stupid.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • geekalot wrote...
    Don't do it just because WEA says "do it"
    October 23, 2012 12:22 pm
    If you are not violating the law, keep doing it. The PDC says it is OK, your union is trying to bully you. Don't let that happen. "We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate." Thomas Jefferson
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • PaperMachete wrote...
    There should be no problem
    October 23, 2012 12:38 pm
    with this teacher doing this. If I had kids, this class sounds like one I would want my kids to be in. If she is showing both sides and not letting her personal bias come through, she should be able to use the signs as teaching aides. More kids need to be taught about propaganda in school so we don't get more generations of left and right lemmings who will swallow the party line.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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