AWSP Blog

About 25 of our amazing principals and assistant principals will join us in Olympia on Monday, January 30, to meet with legislators at the Capitol and to attend a legislative reception in the evening. Our goal is to continue conversations about what our principals and assistant principals need to effectively lead their schools and how the Legislature can help continue supporting students and staff.

The second week of the session is coming to an end. Almost 1,000 bills have been introduced so far, with more on the way. The highlight of the week was that our two bills related to principal and assistant principal employment were both passed out of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee. SB 5085 and SB 5175 now move on to the Rules Committee, where legislators on that committee will decide if and when to bring it to the full Senate for a vote.

This year’s legislative session kicked off on Monday, January 9th, and the Capitol was hopping! It was so great to see legislators, staffers, lobbyists, and other people bustling around the buildings and walkways of the Capitol Campus. For the most part, things feel the same as they did in 2020 when legislators last met in person. There are some new security features, such as metal detectors prior to going into the gallery sitting areas of the House and Senate floors, and there are more locked doors in the Cherberg and O’Brien office buildings. But, there are plenty of friendly faces to greet you in hearing rooms or escort you to members’ offices.

Buckle up, people! This year’s legislative session begins on Monday! This will be a long session lasting 105 days. It is the first year of a two-year biennium where a new operating budget for 2023-2025 and hundreds of bills will be passed. Of our 147 legislators, almost 30 of them are brand new to the Legislature.

Curious what changes are coming via legislation for the next school year? Here's my summary of the bills that may impact you the most next school year, which started at 10 but ballooned a little more (like your workloads). For the full text of the actual legislation, the link for the bolded bill number will take you to the actual legislation. The linked text will take you to the bill report, which summarizes the bill in a much easier to read and understand format. Hopefully, you know WHO in your district is responsible for these programs (it might be you?) and HOW you can help influence them. Please send questions if you have them. Thank you!