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On Tuesday, the
last day for bills to be passed out of the House or Senate fiscal
committees, the Senate Ways and Means Committee adopted a
considerable number of bills. Although the Committee moved out many
bills yesterday, an even greater number were not acted upon and are
now technically dead. Among the many bills that were adopted
yesterday, several are bills of interest to school board members.
The following education-related bills were given a “Do Pass”
recommendation by the Senate Ways and Means Committee yesterday and
now await action by the full Senate:
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SB 6377
– Career and technical education
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SB 6380
– School library programs
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SB 6388
– Pilot programs for learning disabilities
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SB 6450
– Reimbursing school districts and ESDs for performance audit
costs
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SB 6466
– Teaching Spanish and Chinese
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SB 6483
– Local farms-health kids act
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SB 6673
– Extended learning opportunities
On Wednesday, both
the House and Senate again spent most of the day in their respective
chambers as they attempted to move legislation over to the opposite
house before the next rapidly approaching self-imposed cut-off
deadline arrives. All bills must be out of their original house
before 5:00 pm on Tuesday, Feb. 19 in order to technically remain
alive. Of course, budget bills and bills considered “necessary to
implement the budget” remain exempt from most of these cut-off
dates. Members in both the House and Senate also spent a great deal
of their time today in caucus, meeting behind closed doors to
discuss the many bills — and accompanying amendments — on the floor
calendars. At the time this Update was being prepared, the Senate
had only acted on five bills today. Only one of those bills had any
linkage to education. SB 5278, as originally introduced,
would have allowed limited public financing of campaigns for local
offices. As amended and passed by the full Senate today, the bill
now specifically excludes school director elections from the new
public financing provisions.
The House, today,
adopted many more bills than the Senate, with several of them being
education-related measures. House leadership scheduled to take
action on many of the education bills today because PTA members were
in attendance for their annual Legislative Day. The following
education-related bills were adopted by the House today:
• HB 2598 –
Requiring OSPI to make mathematics curricula available online and
adjusting the current law timelines for OSPI and the State Board to
recommend three mathematics curricula
• HB 2811 –
Creating the Healthy Student Grant Program for school districts and
community-based organizations to offer innovative instruction and
activities in health, fitness, and nutrition
• HB 2523 –
Creating the position of world language supervisor in OSPI
• HB 2607 –
Requiring the Professional Educator Standards Board to convene a
work group regarding English language learner students
• HB 2679 –
Creating programs to improve educational outcomes for students in
foster care
• HB 2722 –
Creating an advisory committee to address the achievement gap for
African-American students
• HB 2775 –
Reducing the school poverty threshold for National Board certified
instructional staff to receive an additional $5,000 bonus from 70
percent free or reduced lunch (FRL) in all schools to 60 percent FRL
in middle schools and 50 percent FRL in high schools
• HB 2808 –
Providing additional opportunities to assist students who have not
completed all graduation requirements |
