More victories but Special Education and CTC funding still on the line

Coming up this week – take action now!

We’re down to the last few days to advocate for what our students and schools/colleges need in the state’s biennial budget, and a few of our biggest priorities are still on the line.

• The House and Senate proposed different funding levels for Special Education; we need the higher Senate levels to get students more of what they need.  Take action now – send your legislators a message calling for the higher funding levels!
• As lawmakers negotiate the differences between the House and Senate budgets, we need them to come to agreement on 100% funding for Community and Technical Colleges.  Send a message to your legislators now.

Looking ahead by strengthening WEA-PAC

We’ve had an incredibly successful legislative session and found more lawmakers than ever willing to listen to us and act to win what our students and schools/colleges need. This was only possible because WEA members united in WEA-PAC and supported candidates who back public education. As we look at what we won and what we could have won, it’s a great opportunity to join or level up your WEA-PAC membership. Together, we can keep making public education in Washington even better.

Updates on major bills

Signed into law by Governor Inslee:

• SB 5650 to fund a 3.7% K-12 educator Cost of Living Adjustment for 2023-24 and at the Implicit Price Deflator, a measure of inflation, for 2024-25 and beyond
• The bill to exempt benefit enrollment information from public disclosure (SB 5421)

Bills on their way to the Governor for his signature

• The Safe at Work ergonomic protections bill (SB 5217)
• The bill adding financial transparency to public four-year colleges (SSB 5512)
• The bill providing privileged protection to communications between employees and their unions (HB 1187)
• HB 1200 to ensure public employers share basic employee contact information with unions
• The bill ensuring universal screening for highly capable students (SB 5072)
• The bill preventing musculoskeletal injuries and disorders (ESSB 5217) that would allow L&I to adopt ergonomic rules
• SB 5257 requiring 30 minutes of recess for elementary students
• Increasing access to PEBB retiree benefits for Plan 2 members (HB 1008)

Awaiting concurrence or resolving differences between the two chambers

• Increasing funding supports for Special Education (ESHB 1436)
• Free school meals for 600,000 of our 1,000,000 K-12 students (HB 1238)
• The bill that exempts disclosure of personal information of state employees who are survivors of violence, assault, or harassment (HB 1533)
• Providing a one-time 3% COLA for Plan 1 TRS/PERS retirees(SB 5350)
• The bill creating oversight and accountability for charter schools (ESHB 1744)
• The Transitional Kindergarten bill (HB 1550)
• HB 1701, the bill about education in institutional settings

Missed cutoff and now effectively dead for this session

• The bill updating the Paraeducator Fundamental Course of Study (HB 1277)
• The bill expanding media literacy and digital citizenship in schools (SSB 5626)

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