Advocacy

Washington State PTA shall support legislation or policies that ensure all students have access to the behavioral and mental health resources they need to thrive, including funding for:

• Reduced ratios of students to mental health professionals.
• Programs and incentives to recruit, train, and retain mental health professionals.
• Resources to assist families.
• Training and support for educators and administrators.

Addressing the Student Mental Health Crisis One Pager

Washington State PTA shall advocate for legislation or policies that help resolve critical education funding gaps and inequities with predictable, progressive, and sustainable revenue sources including, but not limited to:

• Resources for students needing additional academic/physical/emotional supports.
• Services for students with disabilities.
• Categorical funding to support highly mobile students.
• Student transportation.
• Unfunded mandates to school districts.
• School construction.

Addressing Critical Gaps in Education Funding One Pager

Washington State PTA shall support legislation or policies that prevent and reduce gun violence and suicide including:

• Addressing the disproportionate impact on BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth.
• Funding community-based prevention and intervention programs.
• Promoting safe storage of medication and firearms.
• Prohibiting the sale or transfer of military-style assault weapons.

Preventing and Reducing Gun Violence and Suicide One Pager

Washington State PTA shall advocate for legislation or policies that support students with disabilities and their families by:

• Fully funding special education services with no caps on funding enrollment.
• Developing solutions to address a statewide special education staffing shortage.
• Promoting full inclusion in general education classrooms.
• Promoting high leverage teaching practices.
• Assessing needs for and providing assistive technology and multi-tiered systems of support.
• Simplifying the safety net reimbursement process to school districts.
• Banning student isolation in schools.

Addressing Funding, Inclusion, and Supports in Special Education One Pager

Washington State PTA shall advocate for legislation or policies that:

• Fund school safety changes, including emergency signs, improving indoor air quality and other environmental hazards, seismic upgrades, and an earthquake early warning system in all schools.
• Require safety plans to include persons with disabilities and all people in school buildings, and to conduct annual emergency reunification training.
• Increase the transparency of the condition of school facilities to allow public review.

Building and Maintaining Safer School Facilities One Pager

Washington State PTA shall support legislation or policies that ensure that every child has outstanding paraeducators, educators and administrators by preparing all educators for supporting students with disabilities as part of their preservice, expanding programs that grow, recruit and retain an effective and diverse workforce, and providing equitable access to preparation or certificate programs.

Creating a Diverse and Effective Educator Workforce One Pager

Washington State PTA shall advocate for legislation or policies that:

• Increase overall state funding and funding options for school construction projects and improvements.
• Provide equitable funding options so all school districts across the state can complete capital projects and improvements.
• Lower the 60 percent super-majority to pass bonds to no more than 55 percent with a strong preference for a simple majority of 50 percent.

Expanding School Construction Funding Options One Pager

Washington State PTA shall advocate for legislation or policies that harness the benefits of mastery-based learning to ensure all students experience learning through a positive progression of demonstrated mastery that increases learning outcomes through inclusivity, communicated performance indicators, and timely feedback and supports to reach learning goals.

Harnessing the Benefits of Mastery-based Learning One Pager

Washington State PTA shall initiate and/or support legislation or policies that:

• Achieve equity for traditionally under-represented and under-served student populations through universal screening and access to high quality Highly Capable (HiCap) services.
• Require OSPI to publish HiCap demographic data by district.
• Ensure educators and staff serving HiCap students receive effective professional development in the academic, social, and emotional needs of HiCap students.

Improving Equitable Identification and Access for Highly Capable Students One Pager

Washington State PTA shall support legislation, policies, and funding that ensure equitable digital inclusion and access for all students, families, and staff through the implementation of a statewide digital equity plan, including adoption of best practices and strategies for use of technology to improve student education and behavioral outcomes.

Increasing Education Equity by Closing the Digital Divide One Pager

Washington State PTA shall advocate for legislation or polices that:

• Require adoption and implementation of the Washington State Family Engagement Framework, with funding and technical assistance for school district implementation.
• Expand the ratio of family engagement coordinators in middle and high schools.
• Reduce barriers for caregivers to participate on workgroups, committees, or other engagement opportunities.
• Fund family engagement professional learning for all educators.

Increasing Support for Equitable Family Engagement One Pager

Washington State PTA shall advocate for legislation or policies that build a socially, economically, and environmentally resilient world for children and youth by:

• Providing education, funding, planning and implementation resources to schools and communities to promote sustainability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Equitably mitigating adverse climate change impacts.
• Declaring climate change a public health crisis in order to implement policies and solutions that strengthen public health and health care infrastructure, direct funding and raise awareness about the health impacts of climate change.

Mitigating the Adverse Impacts of Climate Change One Pager

Washington State PTA shall advocate for legislation or policies that prepare students for college or career including:

• Graduation requirements that support a meaningful diploma.
• Opportunities to attain credits through evidence of content mastery and dual credit course options.
• Innovative and student-centered class offerings using culturally responsive curricula and teaching practices.
• Equitable access to, and family engagement about, relevant graduation pathways, high school and beyond plans, and college and career counseling.

Supporting a Meaningful High School Diploma One Pager

1. Before beginning the process, submitters are encouraged to review the advocacy webpage for the following:
   • online issue proposal form
   • issue review checklist for new and amended issues
   • full list of existing issues
   • Savvy Submitter’s Guide video series. There is an overview video, an issues video and a video detailing the steps after submission.
2. Email the draft issue title (for new and amended issues) to the WSPTA Advocacy Director at ptaadvocacydir@wastatepta.org no later than May 1, 2023.
3. Complete the online issue proposal form no later than 12:00 PM on June 1, 2023.
   PLEASE NOTE: You are NOT able to save an in-progress issue proposal form once you have begun. If you close your browser or go back, your proposal form will not be recorded. You must complete the proposal form in one sitting. We recommend that you review this proposal form in advance and save your answers in a separate Word document you will later email.
4. Email the required Word document to e309afaa.washingtonstatepta.onmicrosoft.com@amer.teams.ms no later than 12:00 PM on June 1, 2023, that includes the required issue title, issue description, persuasive statement, citations, and facts and evidence. PDF and other noneditable file types will not be accepted. If you have any problems with your submission, please email support@wastatepta.org.

• 2023 Issue Proposal Form
• Issue Proposal Instructions
• Issue Review Checklist – New Issues
• Issue Review Checklist – Amended Issues
• The Savvy Submitter’s Guide to Issues Resolutions and Principles – Part 1 – Overview
• The Savvy Submitter’s Guide to Issues Resolutions and Principles – Part 2 – Legislative Issues
• The Savvy Submitter’s Guide to Issues, Resolutions and Principles – Part 5 – You’ve Completed Your Submission, Now What?

• Be a current Washington State PTA member.
• Submit a completed issue proposal (including the online issue proposal form and an emailed Word document) by the deadline above and include all links/references so the information is verifiable.
• Be available by email and phone to work with the advocacy committee member assigned to review your issue to provide clarification or additional information as needed.
• In the case where more than one issue submitted is of similar scope, agree to work with others to combine issues.
• Register for and attend WSPTA Legislative Assembly (or send a representative) to present your issue to attendees to encourage adoption. Any representative should understand the issue submitted and be prepared to speak on it during caucusing and debate. Please note that you must be a voting delegate to speak during debate.
• Additional items may be requested such as an education PowerPoint to share with delegates and an opening persuasive statement for the debate.
• All issue submitters must sign the submitter team code of conduct.

The advocacy committee will review the issues using the issue review checklist and make recommendations to the board of directors. Following the board meeting, you will be notified if your issue will be forwarded to the members at legislative assembly.

Each submitter shall complete the issue proposal form and submit by the deadline. If the directions are not followed and/or deadlines are not met, it may prevent your issue from being considered and/or moving forward.

Submitter Information:

1. Identify whether the submission is being offered by an individual PTA member, local PTA/PTSA (in good standing), council (in good standing), or WSPTA committee.
2. Provide primary submitter contact information including name, PTA/PTSA name and number, mobile number, and email.
3. Provide additional submitter contact (if applicable) including name, PTA/PTSA name and number, mobile number, and email.
4. Identify if you are available to attend legislative assembly and willing and able to participate in future advocacy, including taking part in weekly meetings and testifying during legislative session.
5. Identify if you are submitting a new issue or amending an existing issue. (Amending an existing issue is only applicable in odd-numbered years.)
6. For new issues only:
   • Work in progress – Are any legislators and/or groups or coalitions currently working on this topic?
   • Is this topic a current or past position of PTA? – List the WSPTA, other state PTA congress, or National PTA positions, principles, issues or resolutions that align with your proposed new issue. Cite the position or resolution title and year, if known.

New Issues: When you have completed and submitted the online form, email the required Word document to e309afaa.washingtonstatepta.onmicrosoft.com@amer.teams.ms that includes the required issue title, issue description, persuasive statement, citations, and facts and evidence. PDF and other noneditable file types will not be accepted.

1. Issue title – In 50 characters or less, including spaces, provide a proposed title for your new issue. The title should concisely and accurately describe the legislative issue.
2. Issue description – In 350 characters or less, including spaces, please provide a description for the new issue. The description must follow the provided format “Washington State PTA shall advocate for legislation or policies that:” (the 350 character limit begins AFTER this introductory language).
   Examples of other issue descriptions:
   • Improve the quality and nutritional content of school breakfast and lunch programs. (85 characters)
   • Institutes a state-wide Breakfast After the Bell Program and initiate policies at the District Level that encourage Early Adoption of Breakfast After the Bell Programs. (170 characters)
   • Support school district capital improvements, fund school facilities and pass simple majority for bonds by adjusting the state’s capital funding formula in the School Construction Assistance Program. Also require the improvement of and use of school facility impact fees in local jurisdictions. (296 characters)
3. Persuasive statement – Provide a persuasive statement for this new issue, up to a maximum of 250 words.
4. Citations – Citations are required to provide evidence to support the issue description and each fact quoted in the persuasive statement. Please provide the hyperlink to the actual webpage or document, not just a footnote without a hyperlink. Put the citation number in parenthesis at the end of the statement and add the numbered list of citations immediately after the issue/resolution/legislative principle. Please do not use the footnote feature.
5. Facts and evidence – Provide the facts and evidence that lead you to propose this new issue. Include references and links to substantiate facts. Limit your response to no more than 5 pages.

Amendments to Existing Issues: When you have completed and submitted the online form, email the required Word document to e309afaa.washingtonstatepta.onmicrosoft.com@amer.teams.ms that includes the required issue title, issue description, persuasive statement, and citations. PDF and other noneditable file types will not be accepted.

1. Current issue title – Provide the current title of the existing issue to be amended.
2. Issue title amendments – Indicate your proposed amendments to the current title, if any. The title, as you propose it would read, must be 50 characters or less, including spaces. Use strikethrough to note deletions and bold/underline to show additions. The title should concisely and accurately describe the amended issue.
3. Issue description – Indicate your proposed amendments to the current issue description. The description, as you propose it, must be 350 characters or less, including spaces. Use strikethrough to note deletions and bold/underline to show additions.
4. Persuasive statement – Provide a persuasive statement for the amendment of this issue, up to a maximum of 250 words.
5. Citations – Citations are required to provide evidence to support the issue description and each fact quoted in the persuasive statement. Please provide the hyperlink to the actual webpage or document, not just a footnote without a hyperlink. Put the citation number in parenthesis at the end of the statement and add the numbered list of citations immediately after the issue/resolution/legislative principle. Please do not use the footnote feature.