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Following Monday night’s opposite house fiscal committee cut-off, most
of the remaining legislative action will occur in the House and Senate
chambers or behind-the-scenes in the respective chambers’ political
caucuses. Much action surrounding the budgets (Operating, Capital
Construction and Transportation) will also take place out of the
public eye as legislative leaders and budget-writers hammer out
details of final, negotiated budget proposals. Other than the
Legislature’s ultimate “cut-off” deadline — that is, “Sine Die,” the
last day of session — only one self-imposed cut-off date remains. All
bills (except budget matters and bills that are in dispute between the
houses) must be adopted by their opposite house by this Friday, March
7, at 5:00 pm, in order to remain alive.
While both the House and Senate spent a considerable amount of time
debating and passing bills today, neither body took much action on
education-related issues. In fact, at the time this Update was being
prepared, only three education bills had been moved. The House
adopted, with no dissenting votes, SB 6377, making a series of
changes to career and technical education programs. The Senate
adopted, with no dissenting votes, HB 3097 (clarifying the
authority of the Executive Director of the State Board of Education)
and HB 2781 (enhancing Washington state history and government
courses needed for high school graduation).
Both the House and Senate have numerous bills awaiting action in the
respective Rules Committees and both bodies also have lengthy Floor
Calendars, with bills on Second Reading — meaning they are eligible
for amendment, debate and then final passage at any time. Among the
many bills on the Floor Calendars, several education-related bills are
poised for action. Included are the following bills:
On the House Floor Calendar
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SB 6183 –
School district director areas
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SB 6426 –
Military children
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SB 6483 –
Local food production
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SB 6534 –
Mathematics standards
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SB 6556 –
Anaphylactic policy
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SB 6673 –
Extended learning opportunities
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SB 6740 –
Teacher certification
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SB 6879 –
Basic Education Finance Task Force
On the Senate Floor Calendar
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HB 1283 –
High school diplomas
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HB 2137 –
School employees’ children
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HB 2712 –
Criminal street gangs
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HB 2722 –
African-American achievement gap
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HB 3129 –
College credit
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HB 3166 –
State assessment system
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HB 3212 –
Groups of students
Finally, those of you in attendance at the WSSDA/WASA Legislative
Conference in February may recall Seattle School Board President
Cheryl Chow’s presentation as a part of a panel discussing the Joint
Task Force on Basic Education Finance. During her presentation, she
mentioned a series of questions that have been posed by Dan Grimm,
Chair of the Task Force and requested assistance from school directors
and administrators in answering those questions. At that time, we were
considering sending the questions to school directors/administrators
in a survey format. After further reviewing the questions, it is
evident that each of the areas covered would require background
information, research findings if available and examples of the item
being discussed as a starting point for everyone
responding. Obviously, this could be a very cumbersome process — for
us and you. However, if you have a particular interest and/or
expertise in any of the areas under discussion (salary allocation,
merit pay, salary surveys, salary equalization, health insurance, and
teacher certification) we would be pleased to have your
responses. Please view this
PDF file to review the questions. Send your responses directly to
Cheryl Chow (cheryl.chow@seattleschools.org)
and/or your WSSDA Governmental Relations staff (d.steele@wssda.org). Thank
you for your assistance. |
