Urgent Action Needed on Our Bills!
We are halfway to the end of this year’s legislative session, and we are fast approaching the next legislative cutoff date when bills must pass out of their house of origin. We need SB 5085 and SB 5175 to get pulled to the Senate floor by Wednesday, March 8th for a vote, or their journey this legislative session ends.
I’ve heard this week that SB 5175 may get a vote but SB 5085 may not. There is a potential concern with the salary piece in SB 5085, so I told Senator Wellman to remove that section if that is what is needed to keep the bill moving.
We need YOU to email senators to urge them to bring these bills up for a vote.
Here are the key senators and staff to email. Feel free to include your own local senator. Find the email for your senator here.
Email Addresses of Senate Leadership:
Suggested Email (please edit as you'd like):
Dear Senators and Lt. Gov Heck,
SB 5085 and SB 5175 address some essential pieces to providing principals and assistant principals with greater support and job protection. The demands and expectations of these jobs are significant. We need these specific changes for current and future leaders. As it
is now, we feel like we are managing our buildings and not truly leading instruction and change.We urge you to bring these to the Senate floor for a vote and to support these bills.
SB 5085 would do these three things:
- provide more protections for assistant principals,
- allow principals and assistant principals to retain years of experience as educators if transferring to different roles,
- and clarify required training for evaluations.
We asked for the section on bargaining working conditions to be removed.
We appreciate Senator Van de Wege's attempt to set a minimum salary for principal and assistant positions, but if this is problematic, we urge you to leave this out and move the rest of the bill forward.
SB 5175 would allow (not require) districts to provide principals with contracts of up to three years. Currently, all principals have year-to-year contracts.
For more information and to learn why we brought these bills forward, read our latest update on our blog, watch the video, or listen to the podcast. Each format has the same message,
so we’ve got you covered whether you want to read, watch, or listen.
Other Bills This Week
As floor action was taking place this week, a few bills that have passed out of either the House or Senate are starting to go to the opposite house. Here are some updates on bills that continue to move.
One is SB 5257, the recess bill. We worked with a coalition of groups on this, and the final bill should require 30 minutes of recess,
and encourage recess before lunch. There is also language that discourages withholding recess for disciplinary or academic reasons. Thank you to Patrick Vincent, Principal at Union Gap School, for providing testimony to the House Education Committee
this week.
We worked with another group of associations (WEA, AFT, and the Washington School Counselors Association) on a joint letter related to SB 5670,
adding 10th graders to Running Start. We’ve been opposed to this bill from the beginning. We have strong concerns with expanding this program before investing in College in the High School programs, as well as with the potentially negative social
and academic experiences for 10th-grade students.
HB 1479, the restraint and isolation bill, would prohibit chemical restraint and mechanical restraint, and prohibit isolation beginning
August 2, 2025. It prohibits the creation of isolation rooms and requires isolation rooms to be removed or repurposed by August 1, 2025. It also adds training and professional development requirements. Building administrators are added to this list
of people who would be prioritized for this training.
HB 1308 passed out of the House yesterday. School districts may offer students the opportunity to meet graduation pathway requirements
by completing a performance-based learning experience through which the student applies knowledge and skills in a real-world context, providing evidence of applying state learning standards in at least two of the core subject areas identified by the
SBE that are most directly aligned with the student's education or career goals as stated in their HSBP.
HB 1207 passed the House this week, and it would change the term "emergency expulsion" to "emergency removal" and permit certain students
to request that their records use the new term. It would also require OSPI to develop a model student handbook that includes, among other things, a complaint procedure related to harassment, intimidation, bullying, and discrimination.
SB 5243 passed the Senate today, and it would revise high school and beyond plan (HSBP) requirements and require OSPI to facilitate
the transition to and adoption of a common online platform for HSBPs. It would require school districts to provide access to an adopted universal platform within two years of platform development.
HB 1238 is titled “An act relating to free school meals for all”. This bill passed the House yesterday, but it was narrowed
significantly and will fund meals for about 40,000 additional students in our state rather than all.
HB 1478 passed the House yesterday, and this bill establishes student rights. It also requires each public school to develop student-focused
educational and promotional materials that incorporate the statement and to include the materials into required civics instruction. It directs OSPI to make the statement available on its website.
The big budget push in education this year is for increased special education funding. The House had a robust and passionate discussion about how to accomplish this yesterday. HB 1436 ultimately passed with lower funding levels than many would have liked. The Senate is scheduled to vote on its special education bill (SB 5311)
today.
HB 1550 is the Transitional Kindergarten bill, and it is awaiting a vote on the House floor. Legislators are trying to ensure funding
stays the same for the current programs while creating statutes and procedures for future programs. Current TK programs will remain in place for the 2023-24 school year, but changes will come in the following school year.
Bill Tracking
There are more bills still moving through the Legislature. For more information, here is the complete list of bills that I’m tracking.
Get Involved
Our advocacy efforts need all of our voices to contribute to the process. There are many different ways (big and small) that you can get involved in these efforts. Your participation can be as easy as doing an action alert to email your legislators or signing in support of a specific bill. Or, if you feel
really passionate about a particular bill, we would love to have you testify. It takes all of us to make an impact!
If you have questions or comments or want to get involved, please reach out to me.
Thank you so much!