Olympia
House Supplemental Budget
Posted on 27. Jan, 2009 by admin.
I just came across an interesting analysis on Schmudget on the House supplemental (PSHB 1694) from the Budget and Policy Center. It led me to take a second look at the House supplemental - so I thought I’d pass it on…
The House Ways and Means Committee will hear the House Democrats’ supplemental budget proposal (PSHB 1694) this afternoon.
Three important things to note:
- The House proposal does not assume any maintenance level changes, making comparisons with the Governor’s proposal potentially misleading.
- The House proposal reduces the current budget by $172 million more than the Governor’s supplemental budget.
- Both budgets assume the same level of federal stimulus money (assumptions that may be too low given recent developments in D.C.); the House proposal assumes less total federal contribution.
Continue Reading
Senate Committee Takes Public Testimony on SB 5444
Posted on 26. Jan, 2009 by admin.
After the great group of LEV supporters at the press conference earlier, I was no longer worried about our showing before the Senate Early Learning & K-12 committee.
The hearing just ended and it was packed! There were so many people (parents and children alike!) that staff had to open up an overflow room. The committee heard testimony on several bills today so we had to wait a while, but it was well worth the wait. We had close to a dozen parent advocates testify in support of SB 5444. Everyone who spoke, did so with great passion and determination.
It was clear today that students, parents and advocates will not accept anything less than bold action this session. SB 5444 and HB 1410 provide a framework for a quality 21st centruy education system. The time for change is now!
Continue Reading
Moving education reform forward
Posted on 26. Jan, 2009 by admin.
Thanks for all of your support today. Your testimony as parents and education advocates in support of Senate Bill 5444 made a difference.
The second hearing entirely devoted to SB 5444 is this Wednesday at 8 AM in Senate Hearing Room 1, followed by a hearing on House Bill 1410 at 6 PM in House Hearing Room A.
If you can attend one or both hearings, contact us at info@educationvoters.org.
Here’s a brief summary of public testimony at today’s Senate Early Learning & K-12 Committee hearing.
In support of SB 5444:
- Mary Jean Ryan, chair of the State Board of Education
- Most important contribution of the Task Force is the recommendation to re-define Basic Education to ensure all children are ready for life.
- Please resist efforts to piecemeal the Task Force’s package of recommendations.
- Laura Wells, state director of Fight Crime Invest in Kids Washington
- Proponent of the Task Force’s recommendation to make early learning for at-risk children a part of Basic Education.
- Dan Kimball, Thurston County Sheriff, reinforced the importance of investing in high quality early learning programs to reduce crime and help children succeed in school and life.
- Ruth Lipscomb, Board Member, League of Education Voters Foundation, Bellevue schools parent
- Implementation of 6 period school day critical for schools.
- Bellevue’s 7 period school day enables students to take the courses they need to get into job training programs, college and university.
- Byron Shutz, member of Washington State PTA, two children in Lake Washington School District
- This is a once in a generation opportunity to reform our schools.
- We must be bold enough to do better for our kids and communities across our state.
- Brooke Valentine, parent, Kent schools
- Reinforced the importance of paying teachers based on productivity in the classroom.
- Biggest concern is to ensure our children’s future is brighter and better.
- Mary Bannister, teacher and librarian in Seattle Public Schools
- In favor of bill because it will help reduce the achievement gap.
- Enhanced funding for librarians and library resources will help all students have access to technology and a world class education.
- Connie Gerlitz, parent
- Testified year after year to ensure our schools receive the funding they need.
- So grateful that we have a proposal to fix the problems we in our education system.
- Passionate plea to move forward and pass education reform this year.
- Kursten Holabird, SEIU Local 925
- Support for including early learning in basic education.
- Eric B., parent of two elementary children in Seattle
- Daughters are using portable classrooms their grandfather used.
- We need to give our schools resources necessary to provide a modern learning environment.
- John Stokes, parent, Bellevue Schools
- This bill is exciting because it has vision and hope to offer something for the future for our kids.
- Connie Fletcher, Issaquah school board
- We’ve waited a long time for these recommendations.
- Basic Education is re-defined to help our students learn the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in today’s economy.
- Urge legislators to reconsider the implementation schedule. Today’s 5th graders will be the first graduating class to benefit from the recommendations.
- Steve Miller, Board Member, League of Education Voters
- Time to move beyond a complex, obscure funding structure.
- This bill is a good foundation for a more transparent, equitable, and stable funding structure.
In opposition to SB 5444:
- Mary Lindquist, president, Washington Education Association
- The bill is divisive, dramatically alters the K-12 system while the fiscal note says it comes at no cost to the state.
- Offers no means to pay for the promise.
- Urges legislators to look at the Full Funding Coalition proposal in order to provide ample funding for education.
- David Spring, parent in North Bend
- The bill does not provide a single additional dollar for schools.
Continue Reading
Press Conference - A New and Improved Education System Draws a Big Crowd!!
Posted on 26. Jan, 2009 by admin.
I just left a press conference on the recommendations from the BEFTF (now known as HB 1410/SB 5444). The press conference was led by Representatives Sullivan, Priest, Hunter, Quall, Anderson and Senators Jarrett, McAuliffe, and Pflug. Most important was the great turn-out. LEV alone had over 30 community activists and affected children in the crowd!
The event was a great success. Legislators championing this innovative legislation spoke on the tremendous need for quality early learning for at-risk youngsters; a more modern teacher compensation program; an increase in investment; and a transparent budgeting system that allows meaningful dialogue between families, school boards, and legislators.
Of course, the conversation quickly turned to financing. Rep. Hunter and others were quick to point out that despite the current economic climate in our state, there is a unique opportunity this session to make key structural changes in the education system and create a clear plan for the future. Once the economy begins to recover, the new system will be in place and ready to absorb additional funds. Rep. Anderson made the compelling point that, yes, the realities of this budget crisis are stark. However, not making the critical investments in education now will create a much bleaker reality in the future - a reality where the workforce can’t support the economic demand or support the state infrastructure.
I just wanted to let you all know how things were going down here in Olympia. I am off to the Senatae Early Learning & K-12 committee hearing on SB 5444 now. There are so many people interested in this legislation that they just opened an overflow room to watch the proceedings.
Stay Tuned. More info to come!!
Continue Reading
WASL Workgroup meeting Oct. 13
Posted on 10. Oct, 2008 by admin.
Posted by Heather
The WASL Workgroup is meeting at 9am on Monday, October 13 in Olympia (House Hearing Room B in the O’Brien Building). The agenda:
Work Session:
- Follow-up from Previous Meeting.
- Balanced Assessment Systems: Trends in Other States.
- Update on Implementation of Math End-of-Course Assessments.
- Balanced Assessment at the District Level: Experiences in Three Districts.
- Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Achievement, and Assessment.
- Public Comment.
- Discussion: Next Steps.
Continue Reading
PESB: Day 1
Posted on 17. Sep, 2008 by admin.
Posted by Heather
Here’s a recap of today’s Professional Educator Standards Board meeting. Handouts are not online yet, but some are worth a read once they are (or contact PESB staff next week and they will email them to you).
To start, David Kinnuen, Corrine McGuigan, JoLynn Berge and Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson presented on certification fees for FY 2007-08. Certification fees are collected to finance certification office expenditures. Previously, revenues from certification fees exceeded expenditures, but now, the opposite is true. OSPI would like to 1) revamp the accounting system for cert fees (to make things more transparent) and 2) talk to all parties about raising certification fees (but won’t be asking to do so in the 2009 legislative session).
Next, Jennifer Wallace (PESB) presented on the work of the PESB Task Force - Ensuring an Adequate Supply of Well-Qualified Math and Science Teachers (summary materials from August meeting available here). I won’t rehash the entire summary — the meeting summary on the PESB website does it well enough. This Task Force has taken on a large task and it will be interesting to see what its final recommendation is. After Ms. Wallace’s presentation, Chair Van Glubt required every PESB member to comment on the issue. Below are questions and comments raised:
- Are math and science teachers on Task Force? They should be included.
- Pedagogy and subject-area knowledge are important.
- Need to look beyond UW-Seattle to supply teachers.
- Access is an issue: subject-area courses are often offered during the day, which are hard for working individuals to attend.
- Teacher compensation needs to be looked at.
- Easier access to information for interested candidates, maybe one person/group as the information source.
- Teachers don’t know about retooling, don’t feel incentive ($) to retool.
- Concern over differential pay; try loan forgiveness instead. How will English teachers feel? What about elementary teachers who teach all subjects?
- Why can’t we recruit teachers? Money is an issue. Maybe embed teaching course requirements into math and science majors.
- We need a substantial mentorship program, 5-10 years.
- Need to change image of teaching: salary, challenges under NCLB, etc. No one saying “this is a great profession.”
Ms. Wallace then presented on out-of-state and online teacher preparation programs that operate field experiences in Washington State. The PESB is putting together a policy framework for working with these programs. This proposal outlines requirements for these programs, including conducting a needs assessment and agreements with school districts.
After lunch, Nasue Nishida (PESB) put forward three legislative budget and policy requests to be made to the Office of Financial Management and Gov. Gregoire. (These handouts are suggested reading)
1) Educator Workforce Data System: This proposal will be made with the State Board of Education and wants a data system by the end of the 2010-11 school year. The system should respond to the needs of stakeholders and include, at minimum, whether and where teachers are assigned, teaching assignments versus qualifications, and teacher qualifications related to student demographics by school.
2) Institutional Priority for Teacher Education Task Force: This Task Force would “raise the level of awareness, attention and dialogue addressing how Washington’s state institutions will better reflect and prioritize the need to produce more teachers, particularly in hard-to-fill subject areas and hard-to-staff locations.” Members of the Task Force will come from the PESB, public universities, the Higher Education Coordinating Board, OSPI and K-12. The Task Force has a list of directives and will need to make recommendations by September 2010. (Price tag: $59,500)
3) Preparation Program Quality and Teacher Effectiveness: This proposal seeks to revamp the evidence-based pedagogy assessment teacher candidates must take, increase response rates on beginning teacher survey, and fully funding the Teacher Assistance Program (linked to teacher survey). (Price tag: $695,288)
The final two agenda items — the biennial SBE-PESB report and changing program administrator certification requirements — need follow-up, so I’ll leave them for now.
Continue Reading
Tried and True Education Champ
Posted on 24. Mar, 2008 by admin.
Posted by Bonnie, 3/24/2008
Sunday mornings are a casual affair in my household. As I sipped my coffee and read The Seattle Times, I came across a great article about Rep. Helen Sommers. I laughed a little as I read this line out loud to my roommate:
They quickly learned Sommers’ favorite word when it came to spending requests: no. She’d often put it more diplomatically, however, said Appropriations Vice Chairman Hans Dunshee. “She’d say, ‘Well, we’ll consider it.’ That meant you were dead.
My relationship with Helen began almost four years ago as her campaign manager. Many will remember her 2004 re-election campaign when the SEIU spent over $300,000 to try and unseat her, and lost. Much of what they say is true. She is unapologetically tough, incredibly sharp, and one of the few politicians I’ve met who does not speak unless she has something important to say. However there is a lot more to her than the word “no.”
Campaign life is tough. You are sleep deprived, live on junk food, and every day is Wednesday (because you worked the past two days and will work the next two days). This stressful work environment allows you to quickly see who a person really is. Helen was always upbeat, determined and ready to fight. Case in point, doorbelling. Most campaign managers have a tough time getting their candidate to doorbell; this was never the case with Helen. Even in the 90 degree heat, she doorbelled everyday for hours and never complained. I was always impressed with sharp wit, results-oriented approach to problem solving, and a sense of gratitude. And, she even found time to take a break during the chaos. She pushed me to take breaks and retreated to her garden regularly (even if it was only for 15 minutes before doorbelling).
It wasn’t until after the campaign, however, did I fully understand and appreciate what I was fighting for. I remember having dinner with Helen during the 2005 Legislative Session. She had just invited a UW scientist to present information to the Appropriations Committee on early brain research. She could not stop talking about how amazed she was and immediately began to discuss ways to invest in early learning programs. Helen was also a strong proponent of higher education. I remember telling her about my college loans. She asked me about my payment plan and interest rates and I told her that my current plan would have my loans paid off by 40ish. She looked at me, shocked, and began to brainstorm programs and investments that would target this growing problem.
She is one of the few people who get it —“it” being the link between quality education and socioeconomic development. This commitment coupled with her results-oriented tenacity made her an incredible force for education. For her, investing in education was not only based on the right to opportunity; it was a smart budget strategy for Washington state.
Thank you, Representative Sommers, for setting such a strong precedent in both leadership and commitment to education in Washington state.
Continue Reading
Cutoff Day in Olympia
Posted on 07. Mar, 2008 by admin.
Posted by Michael, 3/7/2008
We’ve reached cutoff day in Olympia!
Most of the bills I’m tracking for the League of Education Voters have passed the floor of the Senate or House.
Last night, I tuned in to TVW to view floor action in the Senate and House. Lawmakers were working well past sundown in a rush to approve bills by today’s 5 p.m. deadline. Despite all those extra hours at work, legislators left two important early learning bills to the last minute — HB 3168, creating the new Washington Head Start program, and HB 2449, authorizing collective bargaining authority for child care center directors and workers.
However, at 1:30 p.m. today, I caught Sen. McAuliffe speaking to the good merits of HB 3168. Her colleagues agreed and voted unanimously to approve the bill to set the stage for the creation of the new Washington Head Start Program. I’m still watching the Senate for action on HB 2449, but I’m discouraged that it hasn’t made it onto the floor calendar as of 2 p.m.
For play-by-play action, watch TVW’s live television feed.
These include legislation to help students not on track to meet state graduation standards (SB 6673), require the Basic Education Finance Task Force to report back by Dec. 1, 2008 (SB 6879), and expand a program that provides accessible and affordable child care options for students attending our state’s public colleges and universities (HB 2582).
