On behalf of the Legislative Committee, we are asking you to use the message below to contact your state senator in support of House Bill 1046.
HB 1046 would continue the practice of using statewide high school assessments in English Language Arts, Math, and Science for federal accountability purposes, but would remove the requirement to pass these assessments to graduate.
This bill aligns with WSPTA’s resolution 18.13, which states that the association will oppose any efforts to use a single indicator for making decisions about individual student advancement, such as grade promotion, high school graduation, or entrance into specific educational programs. Unfortunately for thousands of students each year who have met all the other district graduation requirements, passing this single test or tests determines whether they receive a diploma.
Please be assured that WSPTA will continue to support rigorous learning standards. We acknowledge that a statewide test is one method of determining a student’s proficiency in a specific subject. However, making that assessment a requirement for high school graduation ignores the numerous reasons a student may not pass, many of which have nothing to do with their mastery of the subject area being tested.
Our students deserve an academic system that is both rigorous and equitable; a single assessment requirement for graduation is neither. Please contact your state senator NOW and urge them, on behalf of Washington State PTA, to support HB 1046.
Sample Email
Dear Senator,
I am writing you today to ask you to urge Senate leadership to bring HB 1046 forward for a vote, and for your support of this bill when it comes to the Senate floor.
HB 1046 would continue the practice of using statewide high school assessments in English Language Arts, Math, and Science for federal accountability purposes, but would remove the requirement to pass these assessments to graduate.
This bill aligns with WSPTA’s long-standing resolution 18.13, which states that the association will oppose any efforts to use a single indicator for making decisions about individual student advancement, such as grade promotion, high school graduation, or entrance into specific educational programs. The resolution was first approved in 1991, and amended by the full membership in 2006.
Unfortunately for thousands of students each year who have passed their classes in these subject areas and met all the other district graduation requirements, failure to graduate is based on failing one exam. And that is not only unfair, but inequitable.
Please be assured that WSPTA will continue to support rigorous learning and academic standards for all of Washington’s students. However, holding onto a policy that a single assessment is the overall best measure of determining a student’s competency in a specific subject area ignores the numerous reasons a student may not pass that assessment, many of which have nothing to do with their mastery of the subject area being tested.
As your constituent, I respectfully am asking for your support of HB 1046. In addition to saving money at the state and local district level, it is the right time and the right policy to remove this arbitrary requirement and to help more of our students graduate and proceed onto their next path to college or career.
Sincerely,
[your name]Proud Washington State PTA Member
Prepared by
Duncan Taylor
WSPTA Legislative Director