Political Action Committee

Your Contributions Are Voluntary – and Needed

AWSP-WSPLEA is entirely funded by member donations. No AWSP dues are used to support AWSP-WSPLEA activities. AWSP has 3,543 Active members, yet only 159 are PAC members. We need your help to stay on top of education issues at the state and federal levels. We all share in the benefits, so let’s all contribute to the organization that works for you. Help us advocate. Join today!

PAC Accomplishments

With your help, AWSP successfully supported the passage of the following actions during the 2021 Washington State Legislative session:

• Graduation Waivers | HB 1121 permits schools to grant individual student emergency waivers from credit and subject area graduation requirements, graduation pathway requirements, or both, due to a disruption from a local, state, or national emergency. Proposed final waiver rules are being discussed at the State Board of Education meetings and should be adopted in July, 2021.
• School Safety | HB 1214 requires enhanced training and accountability for school resource officers and classified safety and security staff in schools.
• Mental Health | HB 1363 requires OSPI to provide resources, self-assessments, and best practices to prevent and address secondary traumatic stress for adults in the K-12 workforce. It requires that districts establish a district-wide workforce mental health committee.
• Behavioral Health Resources | HB 1373 requires public schools to post contact information for behavioral health organizations on their website home pages and to post corresponding information on social media websites used by the school district.
• Learning Assistance Program | HB 1208 requires that school districts budget and expend Learning Assistance Program (LAP) funds: (1) immediately and temporarily to identify and address the academic and nonacademic needs of students resulting from and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic; and (2) beginning with the end of the COVID-19 emergency or Sept. 1, 2025, whichever is later, using the framework of the Washington Integrated Student Supports Protocol. It makes changes to requirements and restrictions on the use of LAP funds and directs the Center for the Improvement of Student Learning to review and report on programs and practices used in the LAP. It also expands the Extended Learning Opportunity Program to ninth and 10th grades.
• Continuing Education Requirements | HB 1426 directs PESB to adopt rules for renewal of administrator and teacher certification. Beginning July 1, 2023, administrators who are submitting certificate renewals need to complete 10 clock hours on equity based school practices, 10 clock hours on educational leadership standards, and 5 clock hours on government-to-government relations with tribal nations. AWSP is working closely with PESB on these rules and will have some fantastic professional learning opportunities available in each of these areas. Teachers must complete 15 clock hours focused on equity based school practices beginning July 1, 2023.
• Equity Related Professional Learning | SB 5044 PESB must develop or update cultural competency, diversity, equity, and inclusion (CCDEI) standards of practice for preparation, continuing education, and other training of school district staff and post it on its website. WSSDA must develop CCDEI standards for school director governance and post it on its website. WSSDA and PESB must collaborate to compare and align CCDEI standards. EOGOAC must, and the Office of Equity may, review the CCDEI standards. In the 2021-22 school year, school districts must use one of the professional learning days to train school district staff in one or more of the following topics: cultural competency, diversity, equity, or inclusion. Beginning in the 2023-24 school year, and every other school year thereafter, school districts must use one of the professional learning days to provide a CCDEI training program to school district staff. School district staff includes classified staff, certificated instructional staff, certificated administrative staff, and superintendents.

2021-22 PAC Board Members