Week 19 - Legislative Session Updates
If you've been following
#waleg
or
#waedu
on twitter, you may have seen this exchange on Tuesday.
Senate Republicans,
@WashingtonSRC
, tweeted, "
House D budget: No levy equity. Continues unconstitutional reliance on local levies. That's NOT a solution. Back at square 1."
House Democrats,
@WAHouseDems
, responded, "
And your prop tax is not a solution. But instead of starting over, we could put aside any political games & negotiate a compromise."
*sigh*
Feeling frustrated by the lack of movement and transparency in budget negotiations? So is the
editorial board of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, which bemoans the "waste of time and taxpayer dollars."
But, at least we can be grateful we're not working in Arizona, where the governor just signed the
"Warm Body Law," he claims will "
entice 'great teachers' into the classroom" by not requiring teachers to have any training. As in zero credentials, other than five years' experience in a "relevant" field.
We understand the need for solutions to the teacher shortage, and, as the Seattle Times' Ed Lab explains, our state has a growing number of "
emergency teachers," in classrooms, especially in smaller, rural districts that tend to have more high-needs students.
In contrast to the Arizona approach, however, our state continues to work on teacher retention and improving instructional quality, and with positive results. According to an OSPI
news release, a new study shows the Beginning Educator Support Team (BEST) program is a success. Although the program is just getting "its feet off the ground," there is already evidence that more new teachers are staying in teaching and are "building instructional skills faster."
Hmmm . . . so supporting new teachers helps keep them in the classroom and become better at their jobs. What a concept.
Odds & Ends
And finally, perhaps we could pass the hat for a
nap pod in the teachers' lounge?
Have a great weekend!
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Legislative Links:
Legislative Website: Get information on bills, legislators, hearings and more.
Bill Tracker: Track specific bills, read bill reports.
TVW: Watch live and archived legislative proceedings.
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Note about
l
egislative updates:
CSTP relays these legislative updates to provide information on bills, budgets and legislative processes. CSTP doesn't have a legislative agenda, but does track legislative issues most relevant to teaching.
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