Week 9: Spring ahead to the second half of the 2025 session
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Be sure to check out our comprehensive Week 9 Bill Tracker to see how bills we support have fared. Last week, the Legislature crossed the half-way mark of the 105-day session, which means there is still a lot of time left on the calendar to advocate for priorities, share concerns, and…
Act Now: Attend town halls and demand legislators prioritize K-12 funding
Education Funding Crisis: Students across the state need your help! To invest in our future, we must invest in education, yet districts across our state are struggling financially. Funding from our legislature has not kept up with the true costs of education. Our students will continue to be impacted by the loss of staff, programs,…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Week 8: Big 3 Reduced to Big 2 – Amounts Also Reduced
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Friday, February 28 was the final day of consideration for bills that cost the state money to pass out of their respective fiscal committees. Both the House Appropriations and Senate Ways & Means Committees worked well into the afternoon Friday, while Transportation committees and the House Capital Budget Committee finished up…
WSPTA Awards of Excellence March 13 Deadline Approaches
All WSPTA Awards of Excellence are due March 13th. PTAs in Washington State are doing amazing things and WSPTA wants to see what you are doing and recognize your PTA for doing them. WSPTA Awards of Excellence are easy to apply for. Click here to learn more. Click here to apply. Categories include: Advocacy Award…
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Leadership
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Programs
WSPTA Testifies: Lowering the Thresholds
Advocacy in Action! WSPTA Board member Tori Emerson, a parent and educator in the 39th legislative district, urged members of the Senate Ways & Means Committee to pass SSB 5186, which would lower the threshold to pass bonds by a simple majority. Tori shared her frustration and concern about her school district failing five bonds…
First deadline signals end of the line for many bills, Big 3 remain alive
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Over the course of the 105-day session the Legislature has set deadlines for bills to remain under consideration and possibly cross the finish line for signature by Governor Bob Ferguson. The first of these “cutoffs” was Friday, February 21st, when bills needed to pass out of policy committees. Bills with a…
National PTA dues increase effective July 1, 2025
Overview During the 2024 National PTA Virtual Convention, the voting body approved a $1 increase in the National PTA dues rate as proposed by the National PTA Board of Directors. Effective July 1, 2025, the new National PTA dues portion will be $3.25 per member. This includes any membership sold for FY2026 before July 1,…
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Membership
Learn More About the Community Your PTA Serves
PTA represents parents, caregivers, educators and communities of all children, which enables us to best achieve PTA’s mission to make every child’s potential a reality. Our collective backgrounds, perspectives and ideas allow us to create the strongest future and direction for PTA. To more effectively serve ALL children and families, we need to understand who…
Week Six: Make way for Focus Day!
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Click here to view the comprehensive Week 6 bill tracker. More than 280 people have registered for Washington State PTA’s Focus Day in Olympia, and the capital will be a crowded place, with many rallies and protests taking place on the Capitol campus. WSPTA members will be meeting with legislators and…
WSPTA Testifies: Fully Fund Special Education and Student Transportation
Advocacy in Action! President Angela Steck testified in favor of SSB 5263, a bipartisan bill that would increase funding for special education services. Angela also asked for funding to support inclusionary practices and a study that would identify how other states fund programs to support students with disabilities. Listen to Angela here. Angela also spoke…