Here we are cruising right through February and have met two major legislative bill deadlines: policy cut off and fiscal cut off in the houses of origin. The bills that are moving forward have now been voted out of their respective education and fiscal committees. This does mean, however, if you don't see a particular bill that you have been following, it is probably dead. The next deadline comes on Wednesday, February 19, which is the floor cutoff, so bills must be voted on by the entire body and pass out of their house of origin. Bills that do will then move to the opposite house and go through the same hearing process.
On Monday, Governor Inslee signed the first bill into law related to higher education. This college grant funding billguarantees aid to college students at or below the state's median family income through a modified tax structure.
Don't forget to check out OSPI's Policy Shop video for
week 5 of the legislative session. Themes discussed: Increasing counselor support, professional development and staffing enhancement.
BILLS PROGRESSING
ESHB 1264: Concerns secondary traumatic stress in public school staff
3SHB 1660: Concerns the participation of students who are low income in extracurricular activities. Passed house chamber, now in senate.
HB 2220: Concerns volunteers in schools after a criminal conviction
HB 2458: Concerns optional benefits offered by school districts
HB 2704: Establishes a competitive grant program for community sexual assault programs to provide counseling services in school
SHB 2711: Increases equitable educational outcomes for foster care and homeless children and youth from prekindergarten to post-secondary education (hearing time: 35:11)
SHB 2816: Nurtures positive social and emotional school and classroom climates
SSB 5354:Concerns programs for highly capable students
ESSB 5395: Concerns comprehensive sexual health education. The Tacoma News Tribune highlighted HB2184 (which never made it out of fiscal committee) and SB 5395 as bills to keep an eye on, as did the State Board of Education in their weekly update.
SSB 5607: Concerns dual language learning in early learning and K-12 education
SB 5834: Concerns the immigration status of students. Passed senate chamber and is headed to the house. (time: 6:05)
ESSB 5908:Provides training for equity and cultural competency in the public school system. Passed senate chamber and is headed to the house. (time: 58:14)
SB 6047: Prohibits retaliation against school district employees that report noncompliance with individualized education programs. Passed senate chamber and headed to the house. (time: 2:42:05)
SB 6066: Expands ethnic studies materials and resources for public school students in grades kindergarten through six. Passed senate chamber and is headed to the house. (time: 12:30)
SB 6101: Concerns statewide implementation of early screening for dyslexia. Bill passed through the senate chamber and will head to the house.
SB 6132: Allows the learning assistance program to support school-wide behavioral health system of supports and interventions. Passed senate chamber and is headed to the house. (time: 24:01)
SB 6138: Concerns the beginning educator support team program. Main objective of this bill is to recruit more mentors of color in order to provide more mentorship opportunities for teachers of color to help improve retention and new teacher growth. Passed senate and is headed to the house. (time: 45:20)
SSB 6117: Concerns appropriations for special education programs. This bill would financially incentivize schools to keep special needs students within the general education classroom up to 80% of the school day.
SSB 6191: Assessing the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences in middle and high school students to inform decision making and improve services. Passed senate and is headed to the house. (time: 33:19)
SSB 6262:Teaches Washington's tribal history, culture, and government. Passed the senate chamber and is headed to the house. (time: 25:11)
SSB 6282: Concerns the development of individualized highly capable learning plans (IEP)
SB 6480: Develops comprehensive school counseling programs. Passed senate and is headed to the house. (time: 37:51)
SB 6505: Expands access to dual credit opportunities by eliminating direct costs to students and families
SSB 6511: Increases equitable educational outcomes for foster care and homeless children and youth from prekindergarten to post-secondary education. (hearing time: 6:47:09)
SB 6521: Creates an innovative pilot learning program. This bill requires OSPI to create a program that would authorize full time enrollment funding for students who are enrolled in mastery-based learning programs. (hearing time: 5:08:41)
SB 6563: Creates statutory authorization for school-based health centers
ODDS AND ENDS
"Above all, never tell your host if you're leaving the table to use the restroom..." Last week, Vancouver's Sunset Elementary School fifth graders were treated to a fine-dining etiquette lesson.
In the spirit of Valentine's Day, these elementary kids share some love with first responders.
TVW: Watch live and archived legislative proceedings.
Note about
legislative 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.
