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
Call to Action: Equity in the Identifying of Highly Capable Students
Dear Washington State PTA member, Highly Capable programs across the state do not currently reflect the demographic makeup of the communities in which they reside. Children in poverty and from minority groups are 2.5 less likely to be identified for, and in, highly capable programs. We are asking you to contact your legislators with the…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Call to Action: Best Practices for School Meals
Dear Washington State PTA member, WSPTA recognizes that schools play a critical role in providing access to adequate nutrition and the formation of healthy eating habits that are a cornerstone to health, well-being, learning, and academic achievement. For too many Washington students, meals at school are their only food for the day. Without adequate time…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Testimony – WSPTA Supports Gun Destruction Bill
With the lobbyist for the NRA sitting next to her, Seattle parent Kate Levin did a fabulous job of sharing why the Washington State PTA supports HB 1010, a bill that would allow the Washington State Patrol to destroy confiscated guns rather than requiring the patrol to store and then sell the guns. Levin made…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
WSPTA Board Position Statement – Sexual Health Education
The WSPTA board of directors adopted a legislative position at their winter board meeting concerning equitable access to consistent and comprehensive sexual health education across our state. Current legislation on this topic is pending in Olympia and the parent voice will be important as local implementation phases in. Local PTAs and councils are encouraged to…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
WSPTA President’s Power of Connection – February 2020
How can you tell if your PTA is “healthy”? One fairly easy and fun way is to apply for one or more of WSPTA’s Awards of Excellence. These are a celebration of how much impact a PTA has in their community, and recognizes PTAs for the great service and programs they provide to their members.…
Category:
Leadership
2020 Legislative Session – Week 5 Recap and Look Ahead to Week 6
Lawmakers expect positive revenues February 19 Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Wednesday, February 19 is the next revenue forecast. Budget writers will meet to hear the most recent revenue projections for the 2019-21 and 2021-23 budget years. At this time, lawmakers are expecting a positive difference for the 2019-21 biennium, which could…
Category:
Advocacy
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Legislative