Race to Nowhere
Thank-you to Dr Rasmussen for leading a discussion after the showing of this thought provoking film. I love the co-operation of getting out to the community and having the conversation about homework this is PTA advocacy in action. Keep watching this space.
Legislative assembly
Last weekend Washington State PTA met to decide on the top 5 issues for our legislative platform for the next 2 years. After information sessions caucusing and debate we voted the following issues to the top of the list.
Top Five:
1.Advance Basic Education Reform: This means to fully implement ESHB 2261, passed in 2010, which redefined basic education in Washington State, both in terms of what types of classes students should take and how schools should be funded. Among other things it calls for the state to fund a six period day in all schools. Kelly Munn (Skyline) submitted an issue similar to this that was merged into this.
2. Fund Education First: This would require the legislature to treat education as a separate issue that gets budgeted first and separately from everything else. It doesn’t necessarily guarantee full funding, but it prevents education from being put on the table during the horsetrading that inevitably occurs during budget negotiations. This issue was submitted by Alison Meryweather, Jody Mull (Issaquah HS), Janine Kotan, Kelly Munn (Skyline), Chad Magendanz (Liberty) and Ken Peatross (Council), among others.
3. Closing the Opportunity Gap: The gap between wealthy students and poor/at risk students is actually widening in Washington according to some measures; having this issue in our top 5 allows Ramona Hattendorf our government relations co-coordinator to advocate for a variety of measures that would improve learning and performance for struggling students. It is great to have it in the top 5, because it is broad enough to encompass many different issues and gives PTA lots of flexibility in our advocacy.
4. Revenue for Kids: This acknowledges that more money is needed overall in order to fully fund education without drastically cutting other services. It does not prescribe a certain manner of accomplishing that (i.e., closing tax loopholes, raising the sales tax, etc.) Kelly Munn submitted an issue similar to this that was merged into this.
5. Access to Highly Effective Teachers: This calls for implementation of incentives to attract, retain and develop top teachers and encourage them to teach in high-need schools (one example is providing financial incentives for teachers to become nationally board certified, which Issaquah already does through ISF and PTSA).
The rest of the issues, in no particular order:
- Access to Algebra in Middle School:
- Screening and Instruction of Struggling Readers
- Social Emotional Learning
- Access, Opportunity and Equity in Special Education
- School Zone Signage
- Positive Behavior Interventions and Support
- Great Family Engagement in Every School
- Access to Quality Early Learning
- Training to Support Highly Capable Learners
Historically, PTA has had a big influence on education issues in Washington State, and Issaquah PTSA’s have played a huge role in that.
My thanks to Betsy Cohen our Council Advocacy chair for this great summary