Call to Action – Prevent Student Hunger This Summer
Dear Washington State PTA member, Washington was the first state in the country to face widespread school closures because of COVID-19, and OSPI acted fast by submitting many critical waiver requests to USDA to help ensure no child would go hungry. With so many families facing new financial challenges, school meals have kept many from…
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Advocacy
2020 Supplemental Operating and Capital Budgets Signed by Governor
Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Friday afternoon, March 27, Governor Jay Inslee signed the 2020 supplemental operating and capital budgets. The Governor acknowledged that in normal times he would have signed the budget with very few changes. “These are not normal times, however, and we need to look ahead to our falling revenues…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Washington State PTAs and COVID-19
Updated on March 26, 2020, to include summary of topics. Updated on March 11, 2020, adding information on Childcare and Venue Rental Agreements. This post covers the following topics: Advocating for All, Childcare, Supporting Schools, Events and Activities, Venue Rental Agreements, Virtual Meetings, Donating to Families, and Media Inquiries. Our local PTAs and PTA councils…
2020 Legislative Session – Week Nine Recap, Sine Die
Legislature adjourns March 12 Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org The Legislature adjourned “sine die” on March 12, leaving $2 billion in the Rainy-Day Account and nearly $1 billion in reserves. To support COVID-19 efforts, the Legislature appropriated $200 million, of which $25 million was set aside in a new unemployment account created…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Supplemental Operating Budget Highlights
Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant On March 11, the House and Senate operating budget negotiators released their agreed-upon supplemental operating budget. Here are the highlights for K-12 education: $45.7 million for LEA hold harmless (list of school districts and funding); $31.8 million for 0.5 school counselors, starting with high-poverty elementary schools (50% or…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Information regarding ESSB 5395 – Comprehensive Sexual Health Education Bill
Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant Parents who are wondering about ESSB 5395, the comprehensive sexual health education bill, may find the following bill information or this bill report helpful. As always, I encourage people to “read the bill.” Here some things to keep in mind: Timing & Curriculum If your district doesn’t currently…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
2020 Legislative Session – Week 8 Recap and Final Bill List
Spring forward – session likely to end March 12 Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org As mentioned in the last report, this week was expected to be fast and furious and it didn’t disappoint. March 6 was the deadline for most bills to pass the opposite chamber; the main exceptions are budget bills,…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
2020 Legislative Session – Week 7 Recap and Look Ahead to Week 8
Leaping into the last two weeks! Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Both the House and Senate released proposed supplemental operating, capital and transportation budgets on February 24. Usually one chamber will release a budget proposal, and the following week the other chamber will release its budget proposal. But this 60-day session is…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Call to Action: Special Education Funding Remains Insufficient
Dear Washington State PTA Member, Every child, no matter what their ability, deserves a high-quality education. Unfortunately, the various funding factors that determine how much special education support a school district receives cause significant gaps and vast inequities across our state. We are asking you to remind our legislators that until every student with disabilities…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Call to Action: Equity Regardless of Student Immigration Status
Dear Washington State PTA Member, Access to a free public education is a basic right of all children residing in the U.S. and Washington. Nearly 40 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that undocumented school-aged children have the right to a high-quality public education. Since it is the vision of PTA that every child’s…
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Advocacy
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Legislative