PTAs and Coronavirus: How We Deal
Grace Jurado, President, Northshore Council PTSA Guest Post Provided By Grace Jurado, President, Northshore Council PTSA Since March 5, all schools in the Northshore School District have been closed in an effort to slow down the spread of COVID-19 within our district boundaries. With Evergreen hospital and the Life Care Center both just a couple of…
2020 Legislative Session – Week 8 Recap and Final Bill List
Spring forward – session likely to end March 12 Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org As mentioned in the last report, this week was expected to be fast and furious and it didn’t disappoint. March 6 was the deadline for most bills to pass the opposite chamber; the main exceptions are budget bills,…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
March 2020 – WSPTA Executive Director Message
Dear Members, PTA members are such a passionate group of people! I see it every day in the thousands of hours that volunteers spend in support of the children and youth in our state. During the Washington state legislative session, it really comes through in testimony in Olympia where volunteers will drive 4 hours to…
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Leadership
Ten Tips for Speaking with Media
The president is the designated spokesperson for the PTA. The board should refer all media contact to the president or if that is not possible, to another designated board member. Return calls and requests for comment from the media whenever possible. Even when the topic is difficult, these can be important relationships to build for…
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Leadership
2020 Legislative Session – Week 7 Recap and Look Ahead to Week 8
Leaping into the last two weeks! Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Both the House and Senate released proposed supplemental operating, capital and transportation budgets on February 24. Usually one chamber will release a budget proposal, and the following week the other chamber will release its budget proposal. But this 60-day session is…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Call to Action: Special Education Funding Remains Insufficient
Dear Washington State PTA Member, Every child, no matter what their ability, deserves a high-quality education. Unfortunately, the various funding factors that determine how much special education support a school district receives cause significant gaps and vast inequities across our state. We are asking you to remind our legislators that until every student with disabilities…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Call to Action: Equity Regardless of Student Immigration Status
Dear Washington State PTA Member, Access to a free public education is a basic right of all children residing in the U.S. and Washington. Nearly 40 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that undocumented school-aged children have the right to a high-quality public education. Since it is the vision of PTA that every child’s…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Call to Action: Paraeducator Funding
Dear Washington State PTA member, Paraeducators are the only educators who spend their entire workday with students, directly assisting them in learning, growing and navigating the world around them. Many paraeducators begin as PTA volunteers and continue to develop their relationships with these students in their own communities. We are asking you to contact your…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
WSPTA Testifies to House Committees
WSPTA Asks for Limits to High Capacity Magazines Kate Dillon Levin testified before the House Finance committee February 25th in favor of a new bill that would restrict high capacity magazines. Levin is one of the authors of the Preventing Gun Violence resolution adopted at Legislative Assembly. Hear Kate’s testimony. House education committee hears immigration…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
2020 Legislative Session – Look Ahead to Week 7
Legislative Session Highlights The legislative session has passed the halfway point. Of the more than 4,600 bills on the docket (including those automatically reintroduced from the last session), fewer than 600 remain “alive” after last Wednesday’s House of Origin cut-off deadline. The House and Senate are releasing their supplemental budgets on Monday, February 24. Keep up…
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Advocacy
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Legislative