At the 2023 Annual Conference, from left to right: Kwabena Ledbetter, Student Board Rep with Ferndale School District and President of the WSSDA Student Rep Network; Marissa Rathbone, WSSDA Director of Strategic Advocacy; and Yanetzi Gonzalez, Student Board Rep with Quincy School District.

Per the February revenue forecast, there is over one billion dollars in projected revenue compared to when the budget was passed last year. You won't be surprised but rather disappointed to know, it isn't dedicated to education. Our very own Daniel Lunghofer shared important information with us during this week's InSession Live about the existing strengths and opportunities for education funding when comparing the House and Senate budget proposals. See his analysis here and feel free to use this slide deck to help inform your conversations with legislators.

Two additional and detailed side-by-side budget proposal analyses are available from OSPI, showing a detailed comparison of the proposed budgets, and from WASA, showing a simplified up and down comparison of the House and Senate proposals. This information will be helpful as you and your teams consider how to reinforce your needs with legislators in the week ahead.

Speaking of communicating needs, school board members from Director Area (DA) 2 are taking action this week to communicate their priorities for the final K-12 budget increases by sending THIS LETTER to their legislators. We recommend you do something similar with yours. A big thanks to Sara Betnel of the Shoreline School Board for sharing this model for any and all of you to use. Time is of the essence and you are encouraged to communicate these priorities to your legislators by early next week.



Sources: Daniel Lunghofer, WSSDA Accountant, Jenny Plaja, OSPI, and Dan Steele, WASA

This week, many bills moved through Policy and on to Fiscal committees. If a bill was voted favorably out of the policy committee, it's most common next step is the fiscal committee (if it costs money, and they usually do). Learn more about fiscal committees from our very own Advocacy Consultant, Mike Hoover, on Teach with TVW (a great resource for learners, young and young at heart).

After passing through the fiscal committee, a bill will move to Rules Committee where it sits before being pulled to the floor calendar (if it's lucky). Learn more about Rules again from our fun and festive Mike.

Each of these steps in a bill's progression is an opportunity to engage and advocate. If you want to see a bill move that is not already scheduled for executive session in fiscal committee, you should ask for that now.

To learn more with Teach for TVW, visit their Civics 101 series.

Guided by WSSDA's member-adopted positions, we weighed in on multiple bills that still remain alive following this week's opposite house policy cutoff. Some of your fellow school directors provided thoughtful and relevant testimony as follows:

E2SHB 1272 - Voter's pamphlets. (Signed in Pro)

E2SHB 1368 - Zero emission school buses. (Submitted suggested amendment language to increase grant options and make timelines and exemptions more flexible.)

SHB 1147 - Capital budget, supplemental. (Testified Other, Mike Hoover, WSSDA Consultant)

HB 2104 - Operating budget, supplemental. (Testified Other, Sandy Hayes, Northshore SD)

SB 5950 - Operating budget, supplemental. (Testified Other, Marissa Rathbone, WSSDA staff)

ESB 5462 - Inclusive learning standards. (Submitted suggested amendment language to increase flexibility and retain school board authority.)

ESHB 2494 - School operating costs. (Signed up to Testify Pro, submitted written testimony, Nikki Lockwood, Spokane SD)

ESB 5344 - School modernization loans. (Signed in Pro)

SSB 5873 - Student transportation. (Signed in Pro)

E2SHB 1692 - Student advisory groups. (Testify Pro, Kwabena Ledbetter, Ferndale SD Student Board Rep and/or Logan Endres, WSSDA Consultant)

You can also track education bills and weekly schedules on the WSSDA website. 

There will be more bills scheduled for public hearings and exec sessions between now and next Monday's (2/26) cutoff. Some are still yet to be determined. Therefore, keep an eye on the daily schedules for fiscal committees through next Monday for bills you may want to advocate for or against through testimony, sign ins, and/or direct communication to legislators. In the meantime, here is what we know:

Ways & Means (Senate) - SHR 4 and Virtual JACB - 2/24 @ 9:00am

E2SHB 1692 - Public Hearing - Creating student advisory groups. (Remote Testimony Available). (Support)

SHB 1044 - Public Hearing - Providing capital financial assistance to small school districts with demonstrated funding challenges. (Remote Testimony Available). (Support/High)

ESHB 2494 - Public Hearing - Increasing state funding for operating costs in schools. (Remote Testimony Available). (Support/High)

ESHB 1248 - Public Hearing - Concerning pupil transportation. (Remote Testimony Available). (Monitoring)

E2SHB 1368 - Public Hearing - Requiring and funding the purchase of zero emission school buses. (Remote Testimony Available). (Monitoring)

SHB 2180 - Public Hearing - Increasing the special education enrollment funding cap. (Remote Testimony Available). (Support/High)

E4SHB 1239 - Public Hearing - Establishing a simple and uniform system for complaints related to, and instituting a code of educator ethics for, conduct within or involving public elementary and secondary schools. (Remote Testimony Available). (Neutral)

E2SHB 1956 - Public Hearing - Addressing fentanyl and other substance use prevention education. (Remote Testimony Available). (Support)

Capital Budget (House) - HHR B and Virtual JLOB - 2/26 @ 8:00am

SB 5789 - Exec Session - Concerning the sales and use tax for school construction assistance program capital projects. (Support/High)

ESB 5344 - Exec Session - Establishing a public school revolving fund. (REVISED FOR ENGROSSED: Establishing a school modernization loan program.) (Support)

Appropriations (House) - HHR A and Virtual JLOB - 2/26 @ 10:30am

ESB 5462 - Exec Session - Promoting inclusive learning standards and instructional materials in public schools. (Concerns)

E2SSB 5838 - Exec Session - Establishing an artificial intelligence task force. (Support)

SB 5852 - Exec Session - Concerning special education safety net awards. (Support/High)

2SSB 5882 - Exec Session - Increasing prototypical school staffing to better meet student needs. (Support/High)

ESSB 6031 - Exec Session - Modifying the student transportation allocation to accommodate multiple vehicle types for transporting students. (Support)

More on next week's schedule will be posted to the Washington State Legislature Online website.