This Week in Olympia
Week of Feb 6
House and Senate Democrats introduce funding plan
On Monday, the House Appropriations Committee held a public hearing on the various education funding plans.
WEA supports Gov. Jay Inslee’s nearly $4 billion K-12 budget. It includes a substantial increase in pay for all public school employees, raising beginning teacher base pay to nearly $55,000. Inslee's plan also maintains and protects local control and decision making so school districts can meet the needs of their students. Frankly, his is the best K-12 budget proposed in recent memory.
We also testified in support of the House Democrats’ education funding plan, HB 1843. This plan maintains the state’s focus on funding the actual costs in schools through a prototypical school model. It moves to competitive, professional compensation for educators and provides for professional development. The bill targets funding for specific needs or student populations by providing for more counselors and family engagement coordinators, and it increases funding for the Learning Assistance, ELL, gifted and CTE programs. The House Democrats maintain the state’s tradition of local control - recognizing communities’ interest in their neighborhood school system.
WEA members also used this opportunity to detail educators’ concerns with the Senate Republicans’ proposal, as detailed last week. It is worth repeating that SSB 5607 and SJR 8205 take a page right out of the DeVos playbook: the per-pupil funding model is the first step toward vouchers that drain money out of classrooms and into private schools. We say, not in our Washington!
Now that the two majority parties from each chamber have introduced their respective education plans, we expect the spotlight on funding will dim a bit until the next revenue forecast in March. That means there is still plenty of time to send your lawmakers a message to support the Governor’s budget and oppose the Senate Republicans education funding plan.
Senate rolls out series of anti-worker, anti-labor bills
This week, the Senate Commerce, Labor and Sports committee heard a spate of anti-union bills designed to take away many of our rights. Of particular note is SB 5692, sponsored by Baumgartner and Braun, which would eliminate fair-share fees. Over 1,100 people signed in against the bill, with union members spilling into overflow rooms and protesting outside.
These Freedom Foundation/American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) bills would remove the basic rights and functions of unions. It remains to be seen if any will move out of the committee.
NEXT WEEK:
Learning Assistance
HB 1511 will have a hearing on Monday in the House Education Committee. This bill would require more state funds be dedicated for students in foster care or who are homeless, and for high poverty schools with underperforming students. WEA supports the bill.
Two-Year Higher Education
HB 1237, which would allow use of local funds for bargaining salaries at Community and Technical Colleges, will be heard in House Appropriations on Monday. WEA supports this bill.
On Wednesday, the House Higher Ed Committee will vote on HB 1168, the bill that directs the state board for community and technical colleges to create a plan to increase the number of full-time, tenured faculty to 70% t by 2023. WEA supports this bill.
Labor Solidarity
On Tuesday, the House State Government Committee will host a public hearing on HB 1939, to recognize March 31 as Cesar Chavez Day. WEA supports this bill.
Health Care Benefits
The Senate Ways and Means Committee will hear two bills on Tuesday regarding educator health benefits. SB 5726 would require education employees to move to the state’s health care plan. SB 5727 mandates health benefit premiums for families cannot be more than three times the cost of an individual’s health benefits premium costs. This bill attempts to require school districts to provide a cost structure similar to the state’s PEBB model, but, and this is important, the bill does NOT provide the same level of funding for educators as it does for state employees. Currently, the state provides $888 month for each of its employees, but only $780 per month per state-funded education FTE. WEA opposes both of these bills.
Paraeducators
SB 5070 is the Senate bill that requires paraeducators to be licensed, but provides no funding to implement. WEA opposes this bill.
On a positive note, the House Education Committee passed PSHB 1115, which funds a professional development system based on standards researched and developed by paraeducators and other educational experts. The state would also fund and mandate that school districts provide paid time for paras to attend this professional development. Three paraeducators will serve on the Paraeducator Board too. WEA supports this bill.
Testing
HB 1046, the bill that delinks standardized testing requirements from high school graduation will be heard in House appropriations Committee on Wednesday. WEA supports this bill.
School Construction
On Thursday, Senate Ways and Means will hear SB 5702, is a bill to modernize the funding formulas for the state’s share of school construction costs. The current formula has been around since the early 1960’s, and assumptions used to determine the size of classrooms and schools go back to the late 1970’s. The intent of this bill is to align square foot assumptions with the K-3 class size reductions, reduce the gap between the state’s construction assistance program and the actual cost of construction, simplify the funding formula, and improve state assistance for rural school districts with low property values. WEA supports this bill.
