WSCC School Bulletin- 2015, No. 4

March 31, 2015

Dear Catholic school leader,

The legislature is in the last phase of the regular session, which ends on April 26th. Bills must pass both chambers by April 15th. In addition to passing bills, legislative attention is focused on the budget.

The House Democrats unveiled their operating budget HB 1106 on Friday, March 27th. The budget will fund the state for the next two fiscal years, starting July 1, 2015. The House operating budget calls for spending $39 billion over the next two years, an increase of 15.7% over the current operating budget of $33.8 billion. The majority of the spending increase would go to K-12 public schools. The House Democrats also released a proposed revenue package, HB 2224, which includes a capital gains tax and the closing of seven tax loopholes. The Senate will release its operating budget this week. The House and Senate must reconcile their budgets, before passing one and sending it to the Governor for his consideration and signature.

Most observers consider that the legislature will not be able to pass a budget before the end of the regular session on April 26th. If that happens, the governor will need to call a special session. The legislature must approve a budget before the end of June to avoid a government shutdown.

Early Learning: HB 1491 and SB 5452 would make comprehensive changes to three programs: a) Early Achievers (EA), Washington's quality rating and improvement system for early care and education programs; b) Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP), preschool for eligible three to four-year-old children; and c) Working Connections Child Care (WCCC), subsidized childcare for families that meet certain requirements.

However, private schools that operate early learning programs and do not receive state subsidy payments would only be subject to state licensing requirements necessary to assure the health and safety of all students in the state and to assure a sufficient early childhood education to meet usual requirements needed for transition into elementary school.

HB 1491 passed the House and was heard and passed the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee. The bill is now in the Senate Ways & Means Committee which has until April 7th to pass it. SB 5452 passed the Senate and was heard and passed by the House Early Learning & Human Services Committee. It is now in the House Appropriations Committee, which also has an April 7th deadline for passage.

Early learning fatality reviews: This bill was amended and passed the House. It also was heard and passed by the Senate Human Services, Mental Health & Housing Committee. It is presently in the Senate Ways and Means Committee awaiting further action. The bill would require the Department of Early Learning (DEL) to convene a child fatality review committee to investigate fatal and near fatal accidents. WSCC supports HB 1126 and is monitoring it to ensure that review processes are designed to create safe environments for children and reasonable requirements that schools can adopt.

Promoting student mental health and well-being: SB 5688 would require OSPI to convene a workgroup to recommend comprehensive social emotional learning benchmarks for kindergarten through high school that build upon what is being done in early learning .passed the House. It passed the House Education Committee, and is presently in the House Appropriations Committee. This bill represents a starting point for "comprehensive social emotional learning benchmarks." The benchmarks would include self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making at each grade level.

Tribal History: Schools are currently encouraged to incorporate the history, culture, and government of the nearest federally recognized Indian tribe(s), HB 1511 would require this incorporation and that it be developed by OSPI. The bill passed the House and was heard in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee, where no vote on the bill has been scheduled.

Breakfast After the Bell: HB 1295 would require high-needs schools to offer school breakfast after the beginning of the school day starting with the 2016-17 school year. The bill passed the House and was heard in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education on March 16th, but no committee vote has been scheduled.

Student Safety: Building on the existing anti-bullying laws in the state, SB 5526 would have mandated that each school have a transgender student policy created by the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA). The bill did not pass the Senate and is considered "dead" for the session.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness: Roughly 2,000 people under the age of 25 die from sudden cardiac arrest in the United States every year. SB 5083, which would create a program to spread awareness among student athletes, their parents and coaches regarding sudden cardiac arrest was amended and unanimously passed by the Senate. In the House it was heard and voted out of the House Education Committee on March 24th. It is in the House Rules Committee.

Paraeducators: Many Catholic schools communities have paraeducators, or someone working under the supervision of a certificated staff member to support instructional services. SB 5179, which would create minimum standards for paraeducators who work in certain programs is scheduled for hearing in the House Committee on Education. WSCC is monitoring this bill to ensure that new criteria is reasonable to produce safe and excellent learning environments.

Teacher Certification: HB 1770 would repeal the current statute that describes, in detail, each of the four Alternate Route certification programs and grant the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) the authority to establish policies based on expectations for program outcomes. The bill passed the House, and was heard in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education, but is not scheduled for vote.