On Sine Die (Thursday, March 12) J. Lee Schultz, SBE Director of Advocacy and Engagement, gave an overview of how Legislative session had gone so far to Board Members via ZOOM. You can find her PowerPoint presentation and the video recap of the presentation online. 

High-level 2020 session highlights include: 

• Sign-ins - SBE signed in support 62 times on 44 bills
• Testimony - 2 SBE staff and 4 Board Members provided testimony ten times on 8 bills
• Bills tracked - 211 (42 passed the latest cutoff)

SBE’s Legislative priorities this year were in line with our agency vision: to ensure all of Washington’s students graduate prepared for civic engagement, careers, postsecondary education, and lifelong learning. 

Legislative priorities and related bills that passed this session: 

• Educational Equity
  • E2SHB 1783 – Office of equity ($1.3M)
  • SHB 2711 – Educational outcomes ($250k)
  • SB 6066 – Ethnic studies materials ($50k)
  • SB 6263 – Data sharing/schools, tribes ($6k)
  • ESHB 2551 – Tribal regalia/graduation
  • 2SSB 6561 – Dreamer higher ed loan program ($396k)
• School Safety
  • SHB 2589 – Suicide prevention/ID cards
  • 2SHB 2737 – Children’s mental health work group ($246k)
  • ESHB 2816 – School & classroom climate
  • ESSB 5395 – Sexual health education
  • SSB 6191 – Adverse childhood experience ($200k)
  • ESHB 2660 – School meals at no cost ($57k)
  • $31.8M for an additional 0.5 FTE counselor per prototypical school for high-poverty elementary schools
  • $2.5M for the student mental health and safety network established in 2019 (per 2SHB 1216)
• Special Education 
  • No bills, just budgetary considerations, including: 
    • $1.9M for anticipated increases in safety net awards
    • $14.4M* for two days of comprehensive paraeducator training in the 2019-20 and the 2020-21 school years (per 2017 ESHB 1115)

* This funding is not specifically for Special Education but is listed under this category because paraeducators often work closely with students with special needs. According to the Professional Educators Standards Board one-pager, “paraeducators provide 60% of instruction for students with special needs.” 

• Early Learning
  • SSB 6483 – Child care provider rating
  • SHB 2456 – Working connections eligibility ($1.9M)
  • SHB 2556 – Community based provider pathways ($500k)
  • HB 2619 – Early learning access ($250k)
  • ESSB 6540 – Working connections payments
  • ESHB 2455 – High school/child care ($652k)
  • $31.9M for Working Connections Child Care rate increase
  • $15.5M for restoring the Working Connections Child Care caseload savings
  • $9.1M for ECEAP rate increase and creating special needs rate

Bills were passed that will impact the State Board’s work including: 

• SSB 6521 – Innovative learning pilot ($734k)
• ESHB 2116 – Institutional education
• HB 2853 – Charter school commission
• EHB 2965 – Coronavirus response ($200M)

With the closing of schools state-wide until at least April 24, SBE will continue to work with partners to ensure communities are served and implementation of recently passed legislation continues to the best of our ability.

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