This Week in Olympia

January 9, 2017 

The 2017 Legislative Session starts Monday

WEA’s 90,000 members have a student-focused agenda as approved by the Board of Directors last fall:

• Fully fund K-12 basic education as required by state law, the Supreme Court’s McCleary decision and the Washington Constitution.
• Fund smaller K-12 class sizes, additional support staff, and professional & competitive base salaries and benefits for all educators, including higher education employees. This includes protecting the right to invest in our local schools through local levies and opposing any restrictions on collectively bargaining educator compensation at the district level.
• We believe local families and educators know what their students need to be successful and that they have a fundamental right to make decisions about their children and public schools.

Governor’s budget sets the tone; hearings scheduled this week

Governor Inslee, responding at least in part to pressure from WEA members, set the tone for the session last month when he released his proposed budget which adds nearly $4 billion in new spending on public education.

Both the House and Senate will host hearings on the Governor’s budget this week, and WEA President Kim Mead is expected to testify in support of his

“Bold budget that goes a long way toward fulfilling the promise the Washington Constitution makes to our children.”  

The Governor’s capital budget will have hearings this week as well, Tuesday in the House and Thursday in the Senate. WEA thinks his investments in K-3 are a good start but that more needs to be done to ensure that our primary grade students have the small class sizes they deserve.

Higher Education

No bills are up yet, but WEA will continue to push for full state funding to backfill student tuition freeze for both our community/technical college and UFWS faculty and staff.

Levy Cliff

The issue of the so-called levy cliff has received a lot of attention in the media recently as districts try to determine how to budget this year. What if they lose levy authority but the legislature fails to fully fund McCleary?

On Wednesday, the House will hear HB 1059 (sponsored by Rep. Lytton) a proposal that would extend the higher levy authority by one year. We expect a companion bill to be introduced by Senator Wellman. 

WEA would support this bill as part of a more comprehensive package to adopt a stable funding solution for all districts that meets the McCleary promise of full funding.

Coming up: 

The Rally for Student Civil Rights and Ample Funding, January 16, Martin Luther King Jr. Day

WEA isn’t the only group advocating for the legislature to fully fund public education. We are being joined by a variety of parent and community organizations who will come together on the steps of the Capitol Building on Monday, January 16 between 10:30 and 11:30.

Let’s make sure Gov. Inslee and our legislators amply fund K-12 basic education as required by state law, the Supreme Court’s McCleary decision and the Washington Constitution: smaller K-12 class sizes, professional pay for educators and recognizing that local communities know what their students and schools need.

Immediately after the rally, we will deliver the Student Bill of Rights to legislators in all 49 districts.