Here it is, your final update for the 2024 Legislative Session. Session officially came to a close last Thursday, March 7, and the last week of the legislative session is almost always a busy one on the hill. There are many moving pieces leading up to Sine Die, and it is quite common that last minute decisions are made simply because there is a pressure to get items wrapped up in time. However, this session did not bring with it the typical level of anxiety that we normally see during the last week as there were fewer outstanding issues that needed tending and most budget negotiations had been resolved prior to the last days of session.
During the last week, lawmakers released their finalized negotiated budgets: capital, operating and transportation. The Supplemental Operating budget, ESSB 5950, was released last Wednesday and now sits on the Governor’s desk awaiting signature. This supplemental budget makes slight adjustments to the 2023-25 biennial budget. The League of Education Voters website has a nice side-by-side visual of the final supplemental budget and the areas of education that were most impacted.
As we say goodbye to this session in Olympia, education advocates can feel pleasantly surprised about many of the advancements and financial investments that were made in education policy. Some of which have been discussed by lawmakers for many years. Crosscut noted, “A boost in the school construction formula to add $103 per square foot for school-building, and support for a statewide pilot project to increase the amount of time students with disabilities spend in general-education classrooms,” are just a few of the accomplishments that legislators made in the area of K-12 Education.
Bills Delivered to the Governor
HB 1146: which requires public schools to notify high school students and their families about available dual credit programs and any available financial assistance in order to reduce dual credit and exam costs for students and their families.
3SHB 1228: which creates grant programs for establishing dual language education and tribal language education programs, as well as requires literacy supports in service of American Indian and Alaska Native students, and modifies requirements related to the seal of biliteracy and the Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program.
E4SHB 1239: which would direct the Office of the Education Ombuds to create a simple and uniform access point for the receipt of complaints involving the elementary and secondary education system, as well as require the PESB and the Paraeducator Board to report to the Legislature on a code of educator ethics. This bill would also modify the defense for use of force on children with respect to teachers and other school staff.
ESHB 1277: which directs the Paraeducator Board to update rules and publish guidance related to the fundamental course of study, and requires school districts to provide paraeducators two days of the four-day fundamental course of study, in person and by specified deadlines, unless the school district is granted an exemption by the Paraeducator Board.
ESHB 1608: which requires the Secretary of Health to issue a statewide standing order prescribing epinephrine and epinephrine autoinjectors to any school district for use by designated trained school personnel. The bill also amends requirements related to school supplies of autoinjectors to include epinephrine.
HB 1879: which would name the curriculum used to inform students about tribal history, culture, and government after John McCoy (lulilaš).
E2SHB 1956: which directs the Department of Health to develop, implement, and maintain a statewide drug overdose prevention and awareness campaign to address the drug overdose epidemic through 2029, and tasks OSPI with developing and updating age-appropriate substance use prevention and awareness materials for school and classroom use. The bill also requires OSPI to adjust the state health and physical education learning standards for middle and high school students to add opioids to the list of drugs included in drug-related education.
HB 2110: which makes revisions to high school graduation requirement provisions without modifying the requirements or related school district and state agency duties and authorizations.
2SHB 2236: which directs OSPI to develop an Allied Health Professions Career and Technical Education Core Plus Program and provide available curriculum and instructional materials to districts and skill centers for optional use by the 2027-28 school year.
ESHB 2331: which requires school district Instructional Materials Committees (IMCs) to include at least one parent member, and directs the IMC to include recommendations for culturally and experientially representative instructional materials. The bill also prohibits school districts from refusing to approve or prohibit the use of any instructional (or supplemental) material on the basis that it relates to or includes the study or contributions of any individual or group who is part of a protected class unless the content contains discriminatory bias.
ESB 5462: which directs OSPI and WSSDA to update a model policy to require school districts to adopt inclusive curricula and select diverse, equitable, inclusive, age-appropriate instructional materials that include the histories, contributions, and perspectives of historically marginalized, underrepresented groups, which would also include the perspectives, contributions and histories of LGBTQ people, by December 1, 2024.
SSB 5804: which requires all school districts, charter schools, and state-tribal education compact schools, to obtain and maintain opioid overdose reversal medication in each school and to adopt a related policy. The bill also makes grant programs available for purchasing opioid overdose reversal medication and training personnel to administer the medication.
SB 5852: which modifies safety net award eligibility and award adjustment provisions and requires that a survey of small school districts be used to implement a simplified, standardized safety net application.
2SSB 5882: which increases staff allocations for teaching assistants, office support staff, and non instructional aides in the prototypical school funding model.
SB 5883: which establishes burden of proof requirements for special education due process hearings.
Odds and Ends
One of the education bills that made it to the Governor’s desk this session was SB 5883, which will require school districts to prove that they provided adequate services to children. This bill remained controversial throughout the session. The Seattle Times’ reporter, Dahlia Bazzaz, digs deeper into this issue in WA Lawmakers Ease Burden for Parents Challenging School Special Ed.
Back to the issue of “chronic absenteeism,” although WA State lawmakers were unable to succeed in legislation that tackled this issue, there are others out there doing the work! This week from NPR, Battling Student Absenteeism with Grandmas, Vans and Lots of Love.
Meet CSTP’s Legislative Update Coordinator Samantha Miller
Samantha Miller returns as CSTP’s Legislative Updates Coordinator for the 2024 legislative session. She writes weekly emails during the legislative session focusing on bills that impact Washington educators.
Samantha has degrees in both Political Science and History, as well as a Master in Teaching. Samantha has worked in Elementary Education for 6 years, most recently as a 3rd Grade general education teacher. The majority of her time is spent chasing around her two children who keep her very busy. Samantha enjoys running, working in her yard, listening to political podcasts, and spending time with her family.