Tuesday, January 21, 2014

E-Wire - 1/21/2014

Greetings from under the dome at the State Capitol.  

The E-Wire was working with Heather Gillette and Sherry Krainick discussing issues with legislators and keeping a close eye on rules committee hearings in the Senate.  Not surprisingly, the big topic coming out of the noon Rules Committee Hearing was the advancement of the Teacher and Principal Evaluation’s Legislation which passed out of the Senate Early Learning and K12 Education Committee yesterday on a contentious party line vote. 


The substitute bill is different than the three that were considered originally in committee earlier in the week.  Like the other three, this version does make requirements that all districts must include student assessments in developing teacher and principal evaluations.  Unlike the other three, it requires districts to rank teachers and principals in the individual districts by quartile and requires special assistance and measures for teachers and principals who fall into the bottom quartile.  The bill also allows that seniority may only be utilized to break a tie in making human resources decisions.

It is expected that the bill may be passed out of the Senate as early as Friday. 

In other news, the Student Privacy bill which was introduced in the wake of OSPI / Seattle Times partnership revelations was pulled from executive session earlier today.  It is unclear if the bill is not ready and the executive session is postponed or if the bill is dead for the session.

Onto the E-Wire!

Senate Majority Caucus Members Flex their Muscles on Economic Issues
And change a few Senate Rules in the Process
Some of us are old enough to remember this… wonder if anyone is willing to try the same approach?

Peter Callaghan opines on the Senate T/PEP bill

The changing rules of student discipline

Should children in dependency cases get the right to an attorney?

Tanning Bed Ban for Teens

Higher Education
UW and WSU Online Business Programs are quite lucrative

So, what happens if the legislature ignores the Supreme Court?

US Department of Education raises red flags for six states and their waivers from NCLB *spoilers  we’re not on the list*

LA Unified IPad program moves forward

The Atlantic offers insight on how kids of the 1950’s and 60’s dealt with the stress of desegregation

It’s harder to extend that school day than you thought

KING5 takes credit for Senator Hargrove, O’Ban, and Darnielle’s efforts

Homeless students on the rise in Clark County

Valerie Strauss has a good article on why teachers cannot reach every child

And finally, Muslim American Lobby was in Olympia yesterday urging passage for the dream act – the E-Wire saw a few of the kids rehearsing in the hallways and honestly believes that he saw future legislators in action

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