Policy Newsletter: June 2016 Edition

Policy News You Can Use: June 2016

How legislation and policy changes affect children's well-being

Founded in 1978, Committee for Children is a global nonprofit dedicated to fostering the safety and well-being of children through education and advocacy. We work on the federal, state, and local level to prevent bullying, violence, and child abuse and to encourage teaching social-emotional skills to children and youth. Read on to learn the latest news affecting our priorities as well as opportunities to advocate for change.

Please forward this newsletter to other colleagues who are interested in these topics. And feel free to submit timely news on these topics from your state or region. I look forward to your feedback!

Carol Wood, Advocacy Specialist

[email protected]

Federal

How to Spell Success? E S S A

Appropriations discussions are occurring now for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in December 2015. ESSA replaces No Child Left Behind and shifts responsibility (for implementation of curriculum, standards, and accountability) away from the federal government to state education agencies (SEAs) and local school districts. The new law requires states to include at least one "non-academic" measure in their accountability system and opens up opportunities to use indicators such as social-emotional learning (SEL).

Learn more about the new law on our blog and whether your state has SEL standards here.

Weigh in on Child Abuse Prevention

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is up for reauthorization by Congress this year. Last authorized in 2010, the Act outlines laws governing federal programs for child abuse and neglect, grant eligibility, adoption opportunities, and abandoned infants' assistance. Committee for Children will be working with other national organizations to advocate for updated language.

If you want to join future advocacy efforts, email [email protected].

Workforce Readiness Talk Begins

The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Act of 2006 is up for reauthorization this year. The Perkins Act strengthens connections between secondary and postsecondary education and provides federal support for career and technical education programs in all 50 states. At a May 17 hearing, members of the House committee on Education and Workforce questioned witnesses about a variety of topics including incorporating language about employability or so-called "soft skills."

These are the non-technical skills that employers say current job applicants need and may be better indicators of success than academic achievement.

Is Bullying a "Serious Public Health Problem"?

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says that bullying is a serious public health issue that should not be considered developmentally appropriate or normal social behavior. Research suggests that anywhere between 18% and 31% of adolescents are affected by bullying, and cyberbullying is on the rise, affecting between 7% and 15% of young people. Does zero tolerance for bullying change how people behave?

Not according to this article from CNN.

State

WA SEL Guidelines on the Way!

The state-convened Social Emotional Learning Benchmarks Work Group unveiled its recommendations for developmentally appropriate interpersonal and decision-making knowledge and skills following their May 18 meeting. You can view the draft and provide input on the benchmarks here. The final recommendations will be presented to the Washington State legislature and the Office of the Governor by October 1, 2016.

State-Level ESSA Implementation

The Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has established 11 workgroups to advise on how the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) will be implemented on the state level. These work groups report directly to the ESSA Consolidated Plan Team (ESSA CPT). OSPI is encouraging people to participate in one of the forums being held across the state to provide an overview of ESSA implementation. Find out who is serving on the Consolidated Plan Team here and catch the results of their efforts via this link.

Child Sexual Abuse, SEL, and Opportunity Gap Legislation Passed in 2016

House Bill 2597, passed unanimously by the House and Senate and signed by the governor, included child sexual abuse prevention in school district plans for addressing students' emotional and behavioral distress. You can read about it here. As a result of the bill, school districts will provide additional training to educators on how to recognize, report, and discuss possible child abuse.

Senate Bill 6620 instructs the State Office of Public Instruction to create and maintain an online social and emotional training module for educators, administrators and other school staff that is based on the 2016 comprehensive benchmarks report due to the state legislature on October 1, 2016. The module must promote students' self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, positive relationships, and responsible decision-making.

House Bill 1541, originally introduced in 2015 and passed in May 2016, lays out strategies to close the educational opportunity gap including reducing use of long-term suspension and expulsion as a disciplinary measure, development of culturally competent training for all staff, and the collection (and analysis) of disaggregated student data by subracial and subethnic categories.

Local

Mayor Calls Education Summit

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray hosted an Education Summit on April 30, 2016 that was the summation of 16 facilitated conversations held across the city during March and April. A major issue identified during the conversations was equity for all students. Seattle has the fifth-worst opportunity gap between black and white students in grades 3-8 of all major cities in the country, as reported in this Stanford study.

Citizen University 2016

Committee for Children sponsored a panel on restorative justice at the second annual Citizen University Conference held in Seattle on March 18, 2016. Over 500 people registered for the event, which had youth and adult presenters and participants from around the country.

View the panel discussion here.

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