AWSP Blog

WSU football kicks off tonight, UW opens this weekend, the Seahawks are playing their last preseason game, and before long all the state's school hallways will be filled with kids. Also looming large, the outcome of the McCleary vs State decision. WASA Executive Director Bill Keim has a great blog post on school funding. Here's an excerpt below, but be sure you read the whole article.

Are you spending more time on dress code violations than instructional leadership? Or, has your school found that "silver bullet" policy that helps you spend your time where it counts? We’d like to hear from you.

We all know that taking attendance is mandatory. We also all know that taking attendance is one of those daily systems that either supports or detracts from learning. We are making a plea to our members to share their best practices around attendance systems. Enough is enough - let’s stop the suffering and bombardment for principals in attendance-related issues!

Principals, it’s your month nationally and here in Washington, Governor Inslee has proclaimed the last week of the month to be School Principals Week. Read the proclamation below or view a signed copy of the proclamation (PDF).

Kids are more ready to learn on the first day of school than any other day of the year. In many cases, it is the day they learn the least. What would happen if we set aside the rules for a couple of days and energized our students around the fun of learning and being a part of a very exciting school? It would take some creativity on the part of the teaching staff, but it would pay dividends throughout the year.

The PESB would like input deciding whether or not to require teacher candidates to pass the content knowledge test (WEST-E / NES) in the endorsement area being earned prior to student teaching. Currently, the content test is required, but there is no deadline for passing the assessment. The rationale for this proposed change is:

One in four U.S. households are without Internet access

Q. I was contacted today by a former student. She was inquiring how she could obtain the funds that her graduating class of 2004 left unspent. She wanted to use the funds for her 10 year reunion. Could you please shed some light on this?