CSTP Updates

• NEW! April 18: Student Growth Goal Colloquium
• March 21: Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom: An Equity Framework for Pedagogy written by Dr. Adeyemi Stembridge
• March 27: Zooming In & Out on Inclusionary Practices Dr. Katie Novak and Shelley Moore

Happy Friday! We are halfway through this year’s 105-day legislative session, and the pace has not appeared to slow one bit. Wednesday, March 8, was the last day for bills to be passed out of their house of origin, and there were several bills that got stuck in their respective Rules Committees and did not make it out. Over the last two weeks, lawmakers have spent the majority of their time on the floor of their respective houses, making last minute amendments to bills in order to keep them alive and passing them off their floor. Next week the focus will shift back to the committees, where public hearings and executive sessions will be taking place at rapid speed in order for members to pass bills out of committee in the opposite house by March 29. 

On Tuesday, the Washington State Board of Education (SBE) released a press statement, to again highlight HB 1308, which would add a performance based pathway to graduation, and all the legislative work that has gone on behind the scenes to keep this bill alive. HB 1308 currently sits with the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee and will need to be heard and voted on by March 29 in order to move forward.

Education Committee Hearings for Next Week on TVW.org

House Education Committee:

• Monday, March 13 at 1:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 14 at 4:00 p.m.
• Thursday, March 16 at 8:00 a.m.

Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee:

• Monday, March 13 at 1:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 15 at 1:30 p.m.
• Thursday, March 16 at 1:30 p.m.

House Bills

2SHB 1013: which would require OSPI and Washington ESDs to jointly establish a regional apprenticeship pilot program with one site each in Eastern and Western Washington. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

SHB 1015: which revises minimum employment requirements for paraeducators. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

ESHB 1057: which would provide a benefit increase to certain retirees of the public employees’ retirement system plan 1 and the teachers’ retirement system plan 1. The bill is in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.

SHB 1109: which would provide additional special education funding to school districts in order to increase initial evaluations during summers. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

SHB 1113: which would require the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) to adopt rules for reviewing and vacating reprimands issued to certificated professional educators. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

HB 1146: which would require schools to notify high school students and their families about available dual credit programs and any available financial assistance. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

SHB 1207: which aims to prevent and respond to harassment, intimidation, bullying, and discrimination in schools through updated policies and procedures. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

2SHB 1238: which would require K-5 elementary public schools, beginning with the 2024-25 school year, to offer universal free breakfasts and lunches if up to 30% of students at the school qualify for free or reduced lunch. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

ESHB 1277: which would establish rules to improve the consistency and quality of the implementation of the fundamental courses of study for paraeducators. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

​​HB 1308: which establishes a graduation pathway option that enables students to meet pathway requirements by completing a performance-based learning experience. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

2SHB 1316: which would lower dual enrollment program costs for eligible students from $65 to $42.50 per credit by creating a subsidy program, incentivizing reduction of per college credit fees charged to college in the high school students, and revising eligibility for the Running Start (RS) program tuition fee waiver. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

2SHB 1332: which would require all school districts to incorporate a tribal sovereignty curriculum into their social studies curricula by September 1, 2023, as well as require districts to consult with the nearest federally recognized Indian tribe(s) about incorporating materials about their history, culture, and government into their social studies curricula by September 1, 2025. The bill has passed the House Chamber. 

ESHB 1377: which would require the posting of approved courses and providers of continuing education. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

ESHB 1436: which would increase the enrollment limit for special education funding over several years until the 2027-28 school year, when the limit is removed, and would increase special education excess cost multipliers for kindergarten through age 21 over four school years to 1.059 for students who spend at least 80 percent of the school day in a general education setting. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

HB 1478: which establishes a statement of student rights for public schools and requires public schools to develop student-focused educational and promotional materials that incorporate the statement and to include the materials into required civics instruction. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

2SHB 1479: which would prohibit students from being subjected to isolation, mechanical restraint, or chemical restraint by school staff, except for school resource officers under some circumstances, and specifies that existing isolation rooms must remain unlocked, and no new isolation rooms may be created, and, by January 1, 2024, isolation rooms must be removed or repurposed. The bill has passed the House Chamber.

SHB 1504: which requires public schools, beginning with the 2024-25 school year, to provide daily recess for all students in kindergarten through grade 5, and grade 6 if the students attend an elementary school. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

2HB 1550: which would establish the transition to kindergarten program to provide no-charge assistance to eligible children in need of additional preparation to be successful kindergarten students in the following school year. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

2SHB 1565: which requires the development of an online platform for the recruitment and hiring of public school employees and establishes a teacher residency program. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

HB 1622: which aims to support the needs of students experiencing homelessness by aligning program goals, establishing common reporting requirements, and establishing examples of permitted expenditures for the OSPI program. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

SHB 1658: which would authorize high school students aged 16 and above to earn up to two elective credits through paid work experience if approval and alignment with the student’s High School and Beyond Plan are met. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

SHB 1701: which concerns basic education services to youth who are served through institutional education programs. The bill is in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

Senate Bills

SB 5019: which removes “classified staff providing student and staff safety” from the definition of physical, social, and emotional support staff and the specific funding considerations for that group (hearing time: 1:37). The bill is in the House Education Committee. 

SSB 5048: which would require colleges to provide enrollment and registration in College in the High School (CHS) courses at no cost to students in grades 9-12 at public high schools, and would require the legislature to appropriate funds to fund CHS courses, at inflation-adjusted rates. The bill has passed the Senate Chamber.

SSB 5054: which would modify instructional hours to include time students spend in educational activities under the supervision of non-certificated staff while teachers participate in professional learning communities (PLCs) as well as encourage school districts to adopt a school calendar that includes at least four hours per week for teachers to engage in PLCs during the school day. The bill is in the House Education Committee.

SSB 5072: which would establish new requirements for identifying students who may be eligible for highly capable services, including conducting universal screenings once in or before second grade, and again before sixth grade. The bill has passed out of the House Education Committee.

SSB 5102: which requires school districts and school boards to provide every student with access to school library information and technology programs. The bill is in the House Education Committee.

SSB 5127: which would clarifyschool districts’ ability to redact personal information related to a student. The bill is in the House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee.

E2SSB 5174: which would modify the student transportation allocation formula and expand the definition of “to and from school” to include the transportation of students participating in career connected and work based learning opportunities. The bill is in the House Appropriations Committee.

ESB 5175: which would allow employment contracts between a school board and principal to be up to three years in length, as opposed to limited to a term of one year. The bill has passed the Senate Chamber.

SB 5180: which aims to support the retention of teachers by removing barriers to licensure and creating a streamlined pathway to licensure mobility. The bill is in the House Education Committee.

E2SSB 5243: which revises high school and beyond plan (HSBP) requirements, and would require OSPI to facilitate the transition and adoption of a common online platform for HSBPs. The bill is in the House Education Committee.

ESSB 5257:which would ensure that public schools provide daily recess for all elementary students with a minimum of 45 minutes when the school day is longer than five hours and a minimum of 30 minutes when the school day is shorter, as well as prohibit schools from withholding recess as a punitive action. The bill has passed out of the House Education Committee.

E2SSB 5311: which would increase the special education excess cost multipliers for pre-K and K12 students over a four-year period and increase the special education enrollment funding cap from 13.5 percent to 14.5 percent. The bill is in the House Education Committee.

E2SSB 5315: which would require OSPI to establish standards for approval, monitoring, and investigating school district contracts with nonpublic agencies (NPAs) operating special education programs for students with disabilities, and requires that restraint and isolation procedures and notification requirements apply to NPAS. The bill is in the House Education Committee.

ESB 5355: which requires school districts to provide instruction on sex trafficking prevention and identification at least once between grades 7 and 12 beginning in the 2024-25 school year. The bill is in the House Education Committee.

ESB 5462: which would direct OSPI to review and update relevant state learning standards at all grade levels to include the histories, contributions, and perspectives of LGBTQ people, and historically marginalized and underrepresented groups, by December 1, 2024. The bill is in the House Education Committee.

SSB 5617: which would require interdistrict cooperative agreements in a skill center to stipulate that any course equivalencies approved by OSPI or a host district must be honored by other participating school districts (hearing time: 17:25). The bill is in the House Education Committee. 

SSB 5626: which requires OSPI to establish a grant program for expanding the capability of school districts to integrate media literacy and digital citizenship into public school instruction. The bill is in the House Education Committee.

ESB 5650: which concerns salary inflationary increases for K-12 employees. The bill is in the House Appropriations Committee.

Odds and Ends:

“When students engage in mildly disruptive behavior, teachers can try asking open questions instead of immediately confronting the behavior.” Last week from Edutopia, Using Curiosity as a Way to Diffuse Power Struggles.  Including this story from NPR because it is a great reminder that when kids dream big and adults buy in, great things can happen. These Students Raised Hundreds of Thousands to Make Their Playground Accessible.

Meet CSTP’s Legislative Update Coordinator Samantha Miller

Samantha Miller returns as CSTP’s Legislative Updates Coordinator for the 2023 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.