OLYMPIA, Wash. - A serious rift has formed between the biggest state teachers' union and the state superintendent. Petitions were dropped on the superintendent's doorstep Tuesday demanding change.

It is a highly unusual move, especially when you consider that State Superintendent Terry Bergeson used to be the president of the teachers union.

At one time they were united. Now, with the delivery of all of these petitions, they are definitely divided.

On Teacher Appreciation Day, teachers say they don't appreciate what the state superintendent is doing. They're going to tell her so with a box filled with 11,000 petitions from members of the Washington Education Association asking the schools chief to change her ways.

"We have a funding crisis in Washington and that's not all her fault but she certainly bears some of the responsibility so again we're calling for new leadership from her in her office," said Washington Education Association President Charles Hasse.

What the teachers really don't like is what they believe is the superintendent's closed-minded support of the statewide test known as the WASL. They say this protest is a warning, much like the teachers do with their kids.

"We're doing the same thing with the superintendent of public instruction," said WEA President-Elect Mary Lindquist. "Getting her attention, letting her know that she's not meeting our standards and laying out our expectations."

But the petitions were delivered at a time when the superintendent is out of the office at a conference of superintendents in Eastern Washington.

Reached by phone, Bergeson said, "I think I am a very very strong leader and I wish that I could have delivered more to teachers in terms of salaries, but there's nobody who works harder and works smarter than I do to get this to happen."

Hasse, who serves in a position once held by Bergeson, said the union is disappointed that Bergeson is not listening to educators.

Bergeson said that allegation is what hurts the most. "There's nobody I care about more than the kids in our state and the great teachers that serve them," she said.

But if she were here to look out her window she'd see teachers who find those words hard to believe. The teachers say this is not a vote of no-confidence, and they're not asking Bergeson to resign.

They just want her to fight harder for them and give up the fight to support the WASL.