Session may be over, but the intrigue around education funding has picked up once again. The Washington Supreme Court has thrown down the gavel and issued sanctions in the McCleary case. The sanctions, which are $100,000 per day, go into effect immediately as the State has not prepared a plan for how it will meet its constitutional duty to fully fund education by 2018. Chief Justice Barbara Madsen said:

Now that 363 bills have been signed into law after the 176 days of the one regular and three special sessions, what lies ahead for 2016? At least five topics will be in a part of the 2016 legislative session.

Many policy bills that have been proposed earlier in the Session failed to advance by the numerous Sine Die’s. Therefore, the legislative focus on these issues and resulting legislation has shifted and they appear to be “dead” or in a deep sleep until the start of the next shorter session in January 2016 where they may be revived and returned to their house of origin.

The operating budget refers specifically to principals five times in the 538 page document. Some of the topics addressed are:

Q. We are approaching ASB elections and it looks like all of our officer positions will be uncontested. In other words, there is only one person running for each position. Do we still need to have these students campaign, give speeches, and place their names on a ballot for students to vote on? There is nothing in our constitution that addresses the situation.

Session number one has ended, some would say, with a whimper. And now we must wait.

State Superintendent Randy Dorn released his grand plan to fully fund basic education Tuesday morning, saying he wanted to give the Legislature the first shot at meeting the McCleary decision

Q. We have a couple of teachers who want to chase down a grant. However, the grant requires us to have a 501c3 status. Is it legal for our teachers to work through our Booster Club to request those grants? The money would go to the Boosters and then they would write us a check or purchase the stuff we want. It feels like a loophole, but we want to make sure it’s legal.

There are over 500 pages in a proposed budget, and there are always details and provisos hidden within the budgets that may not be where they are expected. One such detail is the proviso about funding a consolidation of health care coverage. In addition, numerous proposed bills may or may not be ‘dead’. So all this means that tracking bills and updating status is like trying to describe a moving target, especially when the speed increases as the Legislature nears the April 15 deadline for moving bills out of their respective chambers. Then, hang on. The sprint begins to finish by April 26, the ‘last’ day of the session.

First, a caveat - numerous bills still remain alive and are included in either the Senate or the House budget proposals. Because of this, these bills are deemed “necessary to implement the budget” (NTIB) so remain ‘alive’ until the eventual end of session (whenever that will occur). In addition, any bills still in House Appropriations or Senate Ways and Means have until the April 7 deadline to advance.

Representative Chris Reykdal (D, 22nd Legislative District) stopped by our office this morning to discuss HB 2214, which deals with assessment reform. The bill passed the House 87–7 and now moves on to the Senate. Watch the video below and contact your Senator with your position.

The deadline is fast approaching for bills to be heard and then voted out of committee. They are then passed to their respective Rules Committee for placement on their chamber’s floor calendar for a possible vote. Some bills are being heard and voted out of committees, others are not yet scheduled for a hearing, and others are being held as potential bargaining chips for use near the end of the session (April 26). As the end nears, the question becomes, “What are the critical, ‘must have’ bills that each House insists on having?“

The two main issues of importance this week are the continuing need by districts to increase the pool of substitutes available and the re-emergence of two fairly draconian pension reform bills.

Q. We would like to purchase items to reward kids on good behavior. These items are NOT for resale, but to give out as a “reward”. Is our ASB allowed to do that? I heard we cannot purchase food as a “prize”, and so we are looking at purchasing beanies, water bottles, Nerf footballs, etc. I’m sorry that I’m bothering you about this, but before we purchase these items I wanted to find out from you if we can. Thank you.

The soil is the ultimate source of nutrients our bodies need. The vitamins and minerals that are a necessary part of our diet come from plants that have, in turn, gotten those same vitamins and minerals from the soil. Soils support agriculture by serving as the foundation of where we grow food.

There are two “W’s” that come into play now that the first major deadline has passed. “Whew!” is the first one. Bills that have failed to clear their house of origin are ‘dead’. Some good bills didn’t make it; some bad ones didn’t either. “What the ?” is the next one, as a reaction when any of these bills come back ‘alive’, either because they are deemed necessary to implement the budget, or just because legislators desire it.

Bills are clearly on the move through both chambers as they race to meet the March 11 deadline where bills need to clear their chamber of origin.

The Children and Nature Network blog has some great tips for increasing the quality and quantity of time spent outdoors. They break down their tips into time and quality, what schools can do, and what communities can do. Here's their list for schools:

February 27 is the deadline for all bills from fiscal committees to have passed out of committee. Attention then focuses on floor action. All bills will have until March 10 to clear their chamber of origin.

Two important legislative cut-off dates are February 20 and February 27. The first date is when all policy bills have to have been heard by a committee(s) and the latter date is the similar deadline for all bills from fiscal committees.