Legislative Committee Schedule: Week 4

January 30-February 3, 2017

Monday, January 30

1:30 p.m., House Education, HHR A

Public Hearing:

1.       HB 1246 - Concerning school bus safety.

2.      HB 1279 - Concerning school safety drills.

3.      HB 1284 - Requiring creation of a statewide school emergency panic button program.

4.      HB 1310 - Creating a program to provide students and the community with the means to report anonymously concerning unsafe or violent activities, or the threat of these activities.

5.      HB 1319 - Concerning the frequency of evaluations for certain educators.

1:30 p.m., Senate Commerce, Labor & Sports, SHR 4

Public Hearing:

1.       SB 5149 - Addressing paid family leave.

2.      SB 5032 - Implementing family and medical leave insurance.

3.      Providing reasonable accommodations in the workplace for pregnant women [S-0721.1].

4.      SB 5299 - Promoting healthy outcomes for pregnant women and infants.

The draft bill is posted on the Committee's website here, and is also available from committee staff. Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business.

1:30 p.m., Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education, SHR 1

Work Session: High school graduation requirements.

Public Hearing:

1.       SB 5202 - Authorizing nationally recognized college assessments for high school assessment purposes.

2.      SB 5238 - Requiring that cursive writing be taught in common schools.

3.      SB 5241 - Concerning the educational success of youth in foster care.

Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business.

Tuesday, January 31

8 a.m., Senate Higher Education, SHR 3

Work Session:

·         Issues and Perspective on Student Textbooks.

·         Teaching Requirements for Faculty.

Public Hearing:

1.       SB 5234 - Requiring establishment of a system-wide credit policy regarding AP exams.

2.      SB 5285 - Conducting a workforce study of employment opportunities in the agriculture, environment, and natural resources economic sectors intended to provide educators with the information needed for informing students about employment opportunities in the studied fields.

3.      SB 5361 - Concerning the opportunity scholarship program.

Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business.

1:30 p.m., House Education, HHR A

Public Hearing:

1.       HB 1303 - Concerning educational interpreters.

2.      HB 1412 - Creating a pilot project to provide middle and junior high school students strategic and intentional academic support beyond the traditional school day.

3.      HB 1444 - Facilitating on-time grade level progression and graduation for certain students.

4.      HB 1445 - Concerning dual language in early learning and K-12 education.

5.      HB 1451 - Improving language access for public school students and families with limited English proficiency.

1:30 p.m., Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education, SHR 1

Work Session: Parent/Family engagement and community-school connections.

Public Hearing:

1.       SB 5258 - Creating the Washington academic, innovation, and mentoring (AIM) program.

2.      SB 5291 - Creating a pilot project to provide middle and junior high school students strategic and intentional academic support beyond the traditional school day.

Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business.

3:30 p.m., House Capital Budget, HHR B

Work Session:

1.       School Construction.

2.      Early Learning Facilities’ Needs.

Wednesday, February 1

1:30 p.m., House Higher Education, HHR D

Work Session: Report from the William D. Ruckelshaus Center on "Situation Assessment of the Regulation of For-Profit Degree-Granting Institutions and Private Vocational Schools in Washington."

Public Hearing:

1.       HB 1439 - Regulating the institutions of higher education, including for-profit institutions and private vocational schools, to protect students from unfair business practices.

2.      HB 1440 - Establishing a student loan bill of rights.

3.      HB 1425 - Creating the Washington next generation educational savings account pilot program.

4.      HB 1452 - Concerning the opportunity scholarship program.

1:30 p.m., House Early Learning & Human Services, HHR C

Work Session: Overview of the Recommendations of the Children's Mental Health Work Group.

Thursday, February 2

8 a.m., House Education, HHR A

Public Hearing:

1.       HB 1235 - Assessing physical education practices in public schools.

2.      HB 1346 - Clarifying the authority of a nurse working in a school setting.

3.      HB 1377 - Improving students' mental health by enhancing nonacademic professional services.

4.      HB 1508 - Promoting student health and readiness through meal and nutrition programs.

5.      HB 1542 - Concerning dropout prevention through engaging youth in farming.

1:30 p.m., Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education, SHR 1

Work Session:

1.       Home visiting.

2.      Programs for highly capable students.

Public Hearing:

1.       SB 5246 - Concerning the department of early learning's access to records and personal information for purposes of determining character and suitability of child care workers and individuals who have unsupervised access to children in child care settings.

2.      SB 5247 - Updating certain department of early learning advising and contracting mechanisms to reflect federal requirements, legislative mandates, and planned system improvements.

3.      SB 5357 - Establishing a pilot project to license outdoor early learning and child care programs.

Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business.

Friday, February 3

8 a.m., House Capital Budget, HHR B

Public Hearing:

1.       HB 1289 - Concerning plaques for certain state-funded capital budget projects.

2.      HB 1325 - Concerning the evaluation and prioritization of capital budget projects at the public two-year and four-year institutions of higher education.

3.      HB 1395 - Allowing public transportation benefit area authorities to use job order contracts and procedure.

4.      HB 1538 - Requiring prime contractors to bond the subcontractors portion of retainage upon request.

5.      HB 1551 - Creating a competitive equipment assistance grant program to enhance student nutrition in public schools.

Tele-Town Halls on K-12 Education

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and Ready Washington invite you to join a telephone town hall meeting about Washington's K-12 learning standards and assessments. This is your opportunity to learn more and ask any questions you may have about learning standards and assessments in our state.

OSPI and Ready Washington will host a telephone town hall on the following dates and times:

• Friday, September 9th from 12-1 p.m.
• Tuesday, September 20th from 12–1 p.m.
• Wednesday, September 28th from 7–8 p.m.

To participate and live-stream a telephone town hall on your computer or mobile device on the dates above, please visit www.readywa.org/townhall.

To help ensure all students are ready for success after high school, the Common Core State Standards were established. Washington’s K-12 learning standards are aligned to the Common Core State Standards and provide clear, consistent guidelines for what every student should know and be able to do in math and English Language Arts from kindergarten through 12th grade. The Smarter Balanced assessment system, which is aligned to the new standards, provides a way for teachers to measure student progress on those standards throughout the year and make adjustments and interventions as necessary to ensure students are on the pathway to success. The assessments are administered in grades 3-8 and 11.

To learn more, visit www.k12.wa.us and www.ReadyWA.org.

Sources: OSPI and ReadyWa

National PTA Assessments and Score Report Webinar + Free Raffle

From National PTA:

Join National PTA Tues., Oct. 20 for a webinar for parents on assessments and score reports. During the session, we'll discuss tips, resources and hear from special guests:

• Lucille Davy, senior advisor for the Hunt Institute, will review the key changes in standards, assessments and score reports.

• Bill Jackson, CEO and founder of Great Schools, will review the new parent assessment guide offered on GreatKids.org that help parents understand what the assessment scores mean.

• David Park, EVP of strategy & communications for Be A Learning Hero, will review the new parent resources offered on BeALearningHero.org that help parents understand their child's strengths and weaknesses.

We'll also raffle five $100 Amazon gift cards to the child's school of randomly selected attendees. Winners will be notified by Fri., Oct. 23 via email. Space is limited, so register today to reserve your spot!

Learn More and Get Your Questions Answered on Washington's K-12 Learning Standards and Assessments

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and Ready Washington (ReadyWA) invite you to join a telephone town hall meeting about Washington’s K-12 learning standards and assessments. This is your opportunity to learn more and ask any questions you may have about learning standards and assessments in our state.

OSPI and ReadyWA will host a telephone town hall for the communities below on the following dates:

Wednesday, July 22 | 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Southwest Washington, Olympic Peninsula, Kitsap Peninsula and Tacoma

Thursday, July 23 | 7:00 pm - 8:00 p.m.

Central and Eastern Washington

Tuesday, July 28 | 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Northwest Washington

Thursday, July 30 | 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Puget Sound area

Tuesday, August 4 | 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

South Puget Sound

To participate and live-stream a telephone town hall on your computer or mobile device on the dates above, please visit the Tele-Town Hall on K-12 Education website.

To help ensure all students are ready for success after high school, the Common Core State Standards were established. Washington’s K-12 learning standards are aligned to the Common Core State Standards and provide clear, consistent guidelines for what every student should know and be able to do in math and English Language Arts from kindergarten through 12th grade. The Smarter Balanced assessment system, which is aligned to the new standards, provides a way for teachers to measure student progress on those standards throughout the year and make adjustments and interventions as necessary to ensure students are on the pathway to success. The assessments are administered in grades 3-8 and 11.

To learn more, visit the OSPI website and the Ready Washington website.

Washington State PTA Supports HB 2214

PTA Members Take Action - Urge Senators to Support House Bill 2214

Wednesday afternoon, the House passed House Bill 2214, which will make needed reforms to academic testing in Washington State. Washington State PTA supports policies that increase academic rigor which results in career and college readiness. We are asking members to take action and send a message to the state senate, urging the passage of HB 2214 today!

This bill comes at a time where transitions are underway and each graduating class has different graduation requirements. This bill supports many tenants of the Washington State PTA public policy platform including providing a meaningful high school diploma that includes academic rigor leading to a career and college ready diploma. It makes available pathways to graduation that provide alternatives to meeting the assessment standards while continuing to increase students’ ability to acquire the knowledge to be successful in life after high school.  In HB 2214, the legislature states that: “The purpose of a high school diploma is to declare that a student is ready for success in post secondary education, gainful employment, and citizenship, and is equipped with the skills to be a lifelong learner. The Washington State PTA supports the streamlining of high school assessment requirements and the opportunities for increased local determination of alternate coursework to meet the requirement in the 12^th grade year in support of future success after high school.  We believe that requirements established in HB 2214 will assist in building and maintaining the integrity of a high quality assessment system that supports career and college ready learning standards and the requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Click here to send a message to your state senator.

Changing state assessments

To: House Education Committee

Re: State assessments and graduation requirements;
(HB 1450 heard 2/8/2013. Others bills are expected)

Dear Chairwoman Santos and committee members,

At this point, Washington State PTA does not have a position on the various proposals about assessments. But I wanted to share our perspective as you sort through bills this session.

Testimony - suicide, WaKIDS, assessments

To: House Education Committee
Re: 2/7/2013 public hearings

PRO - HB 1336, Increasing the capacity of school districts to recognize and respond to troubled youth.