2017-18 WSPTA Men’s Essay Winners Announced
by, Laura Peterson, committee chair For the fourteenth year, Washington State PTA conducted a statewide essay contest so that young people could describe, from their unique perspectives, how males in their lives make positive differences for them. Essays were scored based upon the Common Core Standards for Writing and by content of the essay. We…
Category:
Programs
WSPTA//Game Development Competition Results
by, Roberta Conti, committee chair The Game Development Competition Committee is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s competition. The awards ceremony was held April 28th, 2018 at Green River College. Our first place Team winner with Best Game is Team Calypso, with “A Gravity Adventure”. Team Calypso is Linkai Shao and Yifan Xu,…
Category:
Programs
May Checklist for Running Your PTA
May Ongoing Tasks Attend any board and membership meetings Read meeting minutes and offer corrections Prepare reports for board and membership meetings Attend training Be familiar with your responsibilities and fulfill them Review and ask questions about monthly financial report Prepare articles for newsletter/social media Update website Participate, help, and communicate Monthly Tasks Submit delegate…
Category:
Leadership
What does a Budget Committee do?
As your PTA’s treasurer and chair of the budget committee, you’ll want to start developing next year’s (July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019) budget now. Who should you ask to join you? Good choices are often the incoming president and treasurer, and outgoing president because they understand the past and future needs of your PTA. This…
Category:
Leadership
Joint Select Committee on Article IX Litigation
In a short session today, the Joint Select Committee on Article IX Litigation unanimously approved a report to the Supreme Court describing the 2018 session’s accomplishments towards meeting the McCleary lawsuit. Two major elements of the 16-page report include expediting educator salaries to the 2018-19 school year and establishing a $105 million “penalty account,” which…
Local Public K-12 Education Investments – OSPI Tool
On March 30th, Superintendent Chris Reykdal sent every legislator a handout with information about the public schools within their legislative district. You can find all of those handouts on the OSPI website – use the drop-down box on the top left-hand side to choose a legislative district.
Education Funding Changes Signed into Law
On Tuesday, March 27, Governor Inslee signed E2SSB 6362, the “fixes” to last session’s EHB 2242 on education funding. For a summary of the changes, see our Week 9 recap. Details on the effects on funding statewide and for each school district can be found by downloading the “Updated Multi-Year Budget Comparison Tool” from the OSPI…
Category:
Advocacy
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Legislative
April Checklist for Running Your PTA
April Ongoing Tasks Attend any board and membership meetings Read meeting minutes and offer corrections Prepare reports for board and membership meetings Attend training Be familiar with your responsibilities and fulfill them Review and ask questions about monthly financial report Prepare articles for newsletter/social media Update website Participate, help, and communicate Monthly Tasks At the…
Category:
Leadership
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Training
National PTA Legislative Conference Recap
The 1.1 million students of Washington state were represented by WSPTA leaders in Washington, D.C. March 13-15, during the annual National PTA Legislative Conference. The WSPTA delegation was WSPTA President Michelle Nims, WSPTA Legislative Director Nancy Chamberlain, National PTA Board member and WSPTA past-President Heather Gillette, National PTA- and WSPTA- past-President Laura Bay, and Seattle…
Category:
Advocacy
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Legislative
Legislative Session – Week 9 Recap
After a very busy 60 days, the Washington State Legislature adjourned Sine Die moments after 10 PM March 8. This was only the second time in the past 10 years that the Legislature has adjourned on time. The 2017 session went into multiple overtimes, clocking in at an unprecedented 193 days. With 2018 elections just…
Category:
Advocacy
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Legislative