Welcome to Outlook

Welcome to the Washington Education Association's Legislative Outlook, a regular update on what's happening in Olympia. The paper version of Outlook is mailed to every WEA building representative in the state. (If you are a rep, please post Outlook on your WEA bulletin board.) You can subscribe to the e-mail version of Outlook by sending an e-mail to Lyris. Include the words "subscribe weaoutlook" in the body of the message. A printable version of Outlook is available online (Adobe PDF file). Questions? Contact Rich Wood in the WEA Communications Department.

Tuition bill would benefit WEA members

WEA backs a bill that provides for tuition waivers for teachers seeking a master's degree or their professional certification.

House Bill 1965 is sponsored by Rep. Mark Ericks, D-Bothell.

Elizabeth Cano, an Edmonds EA member, testified in support of the bill before the House Higher Ed Committee this week. She said the high cost of continuing education for teachers is a challenge. She said the bill would encourage educators to stay in teaching rather than pursue other careers.

WEA members who support tuition waivers should contact Rep. Ericks so he can share your comments with fellow committee members.

WEA backs school funding bill in the Senate

WEA supports Senate Bill 5441, which calls for a comprehensive study of early learning, K-12 and higher education funding.

It's sponsored by Sen. Brian Weinstein at the request of Gov. Chris Gregoire.

"WEA supports and strongly urges a linkage between education finance and student learning so that we can finally identify bold, comprehensive, and sustainable long-term solutions that ensure the success of our students and educators," said Miebeth Bustillo-Booth, WEA's Director of Public Policy.

WEA higher ed members lobby for compensation

WEA higher education members visited Olympia on Presidents' Day to lobby for improved compensation and other priorities.

Ruth Windhover, WEA Higher Ed chair

"We had statewide coverage on the issues facing public higher education," said Ruth Windhover, WEA Higher Ed chair.

Windhover and other higher ed members met with Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, who emphasized the need for increased state revenue.

"We need to help them get a revenue package through," Windhover said.

Simple majority for levies passes the House -- again

For the third year in a row, the House has passed simple majority legislation for school levies. The big question remains: Is there enough Republican support in the Senate to pass the issue? Media reports suggest an additional seven votes are needed in the Senate, where previous simple majority bills have died.

If the proposal gets two-thirds support in both houses, it would go on the fall ballot for voters to decide. WEA, like all education groups in our state, strongly supports eliminating the current 60 percent super majority for school levies.

Bills would boost local school funding

Senate Bill 5786 and companion bill House Bill 1484 would allow voters to invest more in local schools via permanent countywide school levies that could be approved with a simple majority vote. The money could be used to fund student enrichment programs, professional development for educators and additional pay for educators, especially in high-cost areas. The bill would help equalize the salary disparities between high-cost districts and those in less-expensive areas.

HB 1484 has bipartisan support in the House, but support in the Senate for SB 5786 is less certain. Our legislators need to hear from us.

You can send an e-mail urging your state legislators to support SB 5786 and HB 1484 via WEA's Legislative Action Center.

COLAs set to rise

It appears that next year's COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) for school employees will be slightly higher than initially estimated, increasing one-tenth of a percent to 1.2 percent.

WEA members expect the Legislature to fund the COLA in the state budget. WEA also is lobbying legislators to make up the COLAs educators lost over the last two years. That's another 3.6 percent.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has said she won't approve a budget that fails to fund the COLAs. To thank her for her support, visit WEA's Legislative Action Center.

Member talks with Gregoire

WEA member Anna Raup talked with Gov. Chris Gregoire at a Democratic dinner this week.

"I appreciate her commitment to funding I-732," said Raup, an Olympia teacher. "She is sincere."

In her speech that night, Gregoire mentioned the need to "give every one of our children the opportunity for a quality education."

Pro cert must be fixed

Improving the cumbersome professional certification process for teachers is one of WEA's key goals this session. The new system applies to new teachers and those transferring from other states. Pro cert is timely and expensive, WEA members argue.

WEA's proposed changes include:

• A $3,000 stipend for teachers who earn professional certification. The stipend would count towards retirement.
• Start the pro cert clock when a teacher gets a continuing contract. Keep the current option allowing a teacher to start sooner with approval from his/her principal.
• Reciprocity for all teachers with experience moving from another state. These teachers should get a professional certificate, not a residency certificate.
• Require higher education institutes to offer the pro cert program as continuing education credit hours.
• Require an immediate review of all higher education institutes approved for pro cert to make sure they are following the law and actually doing the program they were approved to do.

Notable quotes

"Weinstein's bill would allow voters to approve permanent, countywide school levies that would be distributed on per-pupil basis among all districts within a particular county. And because the bill uses a portion of the state's uncollected levy capacity, these new school levies need only a simple majority to pass." -- BEA President Stephen Miller, King County Journal, 2/23/05

"It's hard, stressful," -- student Jennifer Foster, referring to the WASL, The (Everett) Herald, 2/19/05

Please contact Rich Wood if you have questions or comments about the content in Legislative Outlook.

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