Welcome to WSPTA’s 41st Annual Legislative Assembly
Dear PTA leaders and members, On behalf of your Washington State PTA board of directors and staff, I would like to invite you to attend the 41st annual WSPTA Legislative Assembly taking place October 26-27, 2019 at the Bellevue College in Bellevue. At legislative assembly, you will discover the power PTA has to advocate for…
Call to Action – Save Student Meals
Dear Washington State PTA member, PTA members know that nutrition is essential to children’s health and well-being, and that hungry children can’t focus on learning. The USDA is currently taking public comments on a proposed rule change that threatens to leave tens of thousands of Washington State students without access to the free school meals…
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Legislative
2019 Legislative Session End of Session Report
Prepared for the Washington State PTA By Legislative Consultant Marie Sullivan Legislature ends session on time, passes $52.4 billion operating budget For the first time since 2009, the Washington State Legislature ended a 105-day budget session on time with just minutes to spare. This was the second year in a row, however, for lawmakers to…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
An Easy Way to Connect Students On Your Campus
Guest Post Provided By: JC Pohl, LMFT I am so thankful that Lifetouch + Shutterfly was able to help us connect at the WSPTA Conference. What a special day! As a follow up to my keynote session, I wanted to ask you… Is every student on your campus connected? If they aren’t, let’s fix that…
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Health & Well-being
2019 Legislative Session Ends on Time – Sine Die!
Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Moments before midnight, it all came together – miraculously! The Senate concurred with the House changes to SB 5313; passed HB 2163, the hold harmless bill, by a margin of 41-7(!), and passed an operating budget in record time. The House also rapidly passed an operating budget and…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Call to Action – Increase the Levy Authority
Dear Washington State PTA member, Please contact your legislators and help advocate to increase funding to support the Washington State PTA’s top 5 issue “Strategic K-12 Investments to Close Gaps”. Too many districts are facing huge shortfalls which penalize students and especially those most at risk. Click here to participate through The Action Network. You can…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Analysis of Assessment Bill HB 1599
Legislative Consultant Marie Sullivan has put together an analysis of the elements of the new state high school assessments legislation. See the bill elements here.
2019 Legislative Session – Week 15
It’s the final countdown Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org The Legislature has one week left in the regular 105-day session and odds are against them finishing on time. In fact, lawmakers haven’t ended a regular budget session on time since 2009, when the state was facing serious cuts to programs to make…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Call to Action – Stop Loss of Funding
Dear Washington State PTA member, Many school districts across Washington are in danger of losing funding next school year because they cannot achieve the required 17:1 class size in Kindergarten through grade 3. We are asking you to send a message now to your State Senator asking them to support a one-year delay in the…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
WSPTA Testifies in Favor of the School Meals Demonstration Bill (HB 1272)
Click to hear Jessica’s testimony Bellevue PTSA Council parent Jessica Smiddy testified on behalf of Washington State PTA Monday, April 9, in favor of the school meals demonstration bill, HB 1272. Jessica was joined by Vancouver parent Caressa Milgrove, and several other speakers who all spoke in favor of the legislation. Despite the comments in…
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Advocacy
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Legislative