REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 14
 

• SB 6377 – Career and technical education. This is the omnibus bill that would make various changes to secondary career and technical education.
• SB 6380 – School library programs. As amended, this bill would provide an additional $12 per student to school districts to maintain and improve library materials and services. A “null and void clause” was added to the bill, negating the bill if funding is not included in the 2008 Supplemental Operating Budget.
• SB 6588 – Accumulated leave. This bill would permit transfer of accumulated leave of certificated, classified, and ESD employees to and from institutions of higher education and community colleges.
• SB 6726 – Certification assessments. This bill would grant the Professional Educator Standards Board ongoing authority to establish professional-level certification assessments and performance standards.
• SB 6556 – Anaphylactic policies. If adopted, OSPI would be required to develop anaphylactic policy guidelines for school districts.
• SB 6673 – Extended learning opportunities. This bill would create the Extended Learning Opportunities program for eighth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students, who are not on track to meet the state or local high school graduation requirements, and for eighth grade students, who are not on track to meet the state standard on the WASL. The allowable uses of funds from the Learning Assistance Program would be expanded to include providing instructional services under the new Extended Learning Opportunities program to provide instructional support for English language learners, low-income students, and students with learning disabilities.
• SB 6740 – Teacher certification.  This bill would allow a portion of fees that are collected for educator certification to be used for the provision of certification services provided by ESDs.
• SB 6879 – Basic Education finance.  Under the provisions of this bill, the Joint Task Force on Basic Education Finance would be specifically required to complete its assigned work and provide a report to the Legislature by Dec. 1, 2008.
• SB 6534 – Mathematics standards. This bill would provide additional direction to OSPI in its revision of the current mathematics standards. If adopted, OSPI would have to ensure that the new mathematics standards fortify content and increase rigor; provide greater clarity, specificity, and measurability of what is expected of students; supply more explicit guidance for educators, enhance the relevance of mathematics to students, and ultimately result in more Washington students having the opportunity to be successful in mathematics. Additionally, the revised standards would have to make clear the importance of all aspects of mathematics.
• SB 5714 – Spanish and Chinese languages. This bill would create a Spanish and Chinese language instruction pilot program in two school districts.

Last night, the House, which met until about midnight, also took action on several education-related bills. The House adopted the following bills of interest:

• HB 2810 – English language learners. This bill would provide enhanced funding through the Learning Assistance Program formula for school districts with more than 20 percent student enrollment in the Transitional Bilingual Program and more than 40 percent of students eligible for Free or Reduced Price Lunch.
• HB 2826 – Career and technical education. This is the House companion bill of SB 6377, which passed out of the Senate last night.
• HB 2869 – Certified principals. This bill would allow instructional staff to continue to receive the bonus for certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards if they later become principals and maintain the certification.
• HB 2870 – Instructional assistants. If adopted, this bill would direct OSPI to create a training strand through the Summer Accountability Institutes and January Conference for classified instructional assistants.
• HB 2798 – Locally grown food. This bill would enact the Local Farms-Healthy Kids and Communities Act, allowing school boards to develop and implement procedures to increase the purchasing of Washington grown food. Additionally, the Farm-to-School Program would be created in the Washington Department of Agriculture.
• HB 2492 – School district boundaries. Intended to resolve the conflict which resulted from the recent dissolution of the Vader School District, this bill would change the date for the determination of the boundary of a school taxing district from June 1 to Sep. 1 in determining district tax levies in cases where a school district is dissolved and merged with another. This bill should not be confused with the bill (HB 2635) to make changes to the process for resolving school district boundary disputes.
• HB 1806 – Pesticides in schools. This bill would require WSSDA to develop a model policy on integrated pest management (IPM). Each school district would be required to adopt its own IPM policy and implement an IPM program. Additionally, school districts would be required to obtain "IPM STAR" certification (an unfunded mandate which could prove costly to school districts).
• HB 2516 – Scoliosis screening. If adopted, this bill would eliminate the current requirement to screen students in public schools for scoliosis.
• HB 2567 – Open Public Meetings Act. Current law provides for a $100 civil penalty to be levied against individuals who violate provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act. This bill would allow penalties to be increased up to $1000. This bill should not be confused with the bill which would require executive sessions of local governing bodies to be recorded. That bill, HB 3292, which has been addressed at length in previous Updates, remains in the House Rules Committee; however, late last night it was added to the House’s Second Reading Calendar — making it eligible for amendment and floor debate at any time.  It is unclear if the House has the necessary votes to adopt HB 3292. It is clear, however, that several legislators intend on putting up a fight, as 14 amendments have already been prepared for introduction if the bill is brought up for discussion.
• HB 3212 – Groups of students. This bill would direct the Center for the Improvement of Student Learning and the Education Ombudsman to include students with disabilities in the groups of students for whom they identify strategies to improve success.

On Thursday, both the House and Senate spent most of the day in their respective chambers and/or political caucuses. At the time this Update was being prepared, however, neither body had acted upon any education-related bills.

Finally, we have received word that, as anticipated, budget-writers in the House of Representatives will release a 2008 Supplemental Operating Budget proposal next week. At this time, the budget proposal is scheduled to be unveiled on Wednesday morning, Feb. 20. The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the budget that afternoon and then is scheduled to quickly take action on the proposal the next day. We will have a better idea what to expect from a new budget proposal following the release of the update on the state’s revenue forecast, which will occur tomorrow morning. 

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Legislative Reports are prepared by WSSDA's Governmental Relations staff team: Dan Steele (360/252-3010) and Sheila Chard (360/252-3011). If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please contact us.