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FRN
delegates tell Congress to invest in public
education
Washington’s members of the Federal Relations
Network (FRN) were pounding the marble in the “other
Washington” just a few days ago, taking a clear
message to the state’s Congressional delegation and
federal officials about the impacts of federal
education policy on local schools. Over 30 FRN
members from school boards around the state took
part in NSBA’s annual FRN conference, equipping
themselves with the latest information on budget and
policy issues and taking to Capitol Hill to drive
home the challenges being created by the No Child
Left Behind Act and lack of funding to meet NCLB’s
objectives. For more,
click here.
NSBA calls
Bush budget a 'mockery'
As FRN members
took to the Hill, the capital was buzzing in
reaction to President Bush’s proposal for the
federal budget. The proposal calls for cuts federal
education funding at a time when states, districts
and schools are under increasing federal pressure to
improve student achievement. NSBA’s reaction to the
Bush budget was swift and unvarnished. See the
NSBA Web site for the complete text.
Legislative
Conference targets funding issues
Advocacy efforts were also in full swing at the state level
this past week as school board members and administrators took part in
the annual WASA/WSSDA Legislative Conference in Olympia.
Participants heard from a panel representing various
education funding studies and listened to presentations from
key legislators, state Superintendent of Public Instruction
Terry Bergeson and Governor Chris Gregoire. The full
story is on our
Web site.
AGO says teachers
have no right to strike
WSSDA has long maintained that teacher strikes are illegal
even though there is no law on the books that specifically
bans them. Now, the state’s top legal officer agrees. In an
official legal opinion issued last month, state Attorney
General Rob McKenna concluded that public school teachers
have no legal right to strike. For details and links to the
full text of the opinion,
click here.
WSSDA IAC takes
positions on proposed rule changes
Per association
bylaws, WSSDA’s Interscholastic Activities Committee (IAC)
met earlier this month to make recommendations on proposed
amendments to the WIAA Handbook. The committee opted to
support half of the proposed rule changes.
Click here for a complete list of the proposed
amendments and the IAC’s recommendations.
Annual Conference
registration opens in April
Save the date for the
2006 WSSDA Annual Conference being held in the brand new
Spokane Convention Center. This year’s conference will take
place Nov. 16-18, with Pre-Conference on Nov. 15.
Registration and hotel reservations will open in early
April. Information and reservation instructions will be
available in the April issue of the WSSDA.org newsletter and
on the WSSDA
Web site.
Regional
Meetings about to get underway
We’re just a few
days away from the kickoff of the spring series of WSSDA
Regional Meetings (the first is in Dayton Feb. 22). Meetings
are scheduled in 17 locations around the state to make them
as accessible as possible for WSSDA members. We hope you’ll
check the schedule and attend the meeting nearest you.
Also, please take a moment to complete the Regional Meetings
survey e-mailed to you earlier this month…your feedback on
the agenda is much appreciated!
Teacher of the Year
nominations sought
Do you have a truly outstanding
teacher in your district who is deserving of state and
national attention for his or her efforts? OSPI is now
seeking nominations for the 2007 Teacher of the Year award.
See our
Web site for details.
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