Budget information, legislative activities, WAETAG conferences, etc.
Calling all Washington State Gifted Families: Come make new friends while attending a conference designed JUST FOR YOU! The Northwest Gifted Child Association (NWGCA) is the oldest and largest Washington […]
As we announced in June, the Coalition has new leadership this fall. Co-Presidents are Janis Traven of Seattle and David Berg of Puyallup. Barbara Poyneer continues as Treasurer and sender of […]
Your voice really matters. The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education sent the following message: The annual Washington State PTA Legislative Assembly will be held on October 18th and 19th. One […]
NAGC and its advocacy partners are gearing up for some activity in the Congress in support of gifted students in the next month. Today they are asking for your help in advancing the TALENT Act in the Senate. The TALENT Act, which was introduced by Senators Grassley (IA), Casey (PA), and Mikulski (MD), amends ESEA to support high-ability and high-achieving students.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is preparing to revisit the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in June. This is the chance to include the TALENT Act (S.512), and gifted students, in those discussions.
The best way to ensure success for the TALENT Act is to have more Senators cosponsor the bill, and it’s your calls and emails that will make the difference. Please contact your two Senators as soon as possible and urge them to support gifted students by becoming a cosponsor of S.512.
Contact information for Washington’s senators can be found at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=WA
You can send your emails from this page.
The TALENT Act focuses on four areas: 1) Requires that states report on students who have performed at advanced levels on state tests and to disaggregate the data by subpopulations. The data is already available; it is a matter of making it public and increasing awareness of how states educate their gifted students, including those from poverty, 2) Requires professional development in identifying and serving high-potential and high-achieving students to teachers and other school personnel through the Higher Education Act, 3) Allows Title I funds (provided to schools serving low-income populations) and funds from the Rural Education Achievement Program to be used for teacher training in gifted education pedagogy. This will help address the frightening gap between how different income and racial groups of students perform at advanced academic levels, and, 4) Continues research and dissemination of information on how high-ability children learn and how they are best taught.
For more on the TALENT Act, go to http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=7804
If you are looking for summer enrichment activities for your gifted student, here are two opportunities from The Seabury School. Provision of this information does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation.
Your Action is Needed Immediately! Last chance to influence Highly Capable funding – contact the legislators below.
“Legislature Determines That Access to Highly Capable Basic Education Must Continue to Depend on Your Zip Code”
This might well be the headline, UNLESS YOU CHANGE IT. Today, 40% of districts offer no programs or services for their most advanced learners. Not surprisingly, inequalities in access and programming disproportionately affect small and rural districts, minorities, and poor students. The Legislature has done nothing to remedy the situation for the future.
There is no other part of basic education that is being told that to ensure proper funding, parents must go to their local school boards and ask for it. Access to highly capable programming needs to be uniform statewide and should not depend on your zip code.
The state Constitution requires that the state fully fund basic education for all students and HCP services are basic education for gifted students.
Relying on local school districts to decide whether or how to fund a portion of basic education is neither fair nor equitable. The McCleary Decision says it is unconstitutional. Today’s state funding level – 2.314% of enrollment, unchanged since 2007- is demonstrably inadequate.
The Legislature must correct this situation in this session for all of Washington’s Highly Capable children, and follow the Quality Education Council’s recommendation for increased funding at 5% of enrollment.
Please use this message, or compose one of your own, and send it to each of the legislators listed below. Not all are participating in the budget negotiations but all have influence with those who are.
You may wish to use the Legislative Hotline but that requires a much shorter and more concise message. 1.800.562.6000
Time is running out to get the HCP funding formula changed. The last bill alive is HB 2051, which was heard in the House Appropriations Committee this morning. Because of the short notice given on this bill HCP advocates were not able to testify. We need you to flood the House Appropriations Committee with messages before the executive session tomorrow (April 23) at 10:00am. So please get your emails and hot line messages in before then.
We oppose Section 3(10)( c) of HB 2051 for Highly Capable Program funding. The Legislature asked OSPI and the State Gifted Advisory in 2010 to define what constitutes a basic education program for Highly Capable students. These recommendations, including an appropriate state-level funding structure, were sent to the Quality Education Council which has three times adopted them and sent them to the Legislature.
Yet, Highly Capable is the only basic education program that has not received increased funding in the $1.3 billion McCleary appropriations proposals before the Legislature.
Highly Capable Programs are an integral part of basic education which means Highly Capable students as a class are entitled to a basic education. A basic education no matter what district they attend. Students who are sometimes identified as behavior problems in elementary school or who might become drop outs in middle and high school are often unidentified gifted students whose needs have not been assessed and addressed. Gifted students in small, rural, and high poverty school districts are entitled to the same opportunities for a basic education as those in urban and wealthy districts. Current funding levels do not provide this opportunity. Requiring parents of Highly Capable students to lobby their school board to ensure access to a basic education in NOT equitable, yet that is what the current level of state funding requires them to do.
Ask legislators to please fund Highly Capable Programs at the 5% of FTE level and at the hours recommended by the QEC. Providing Highly Capable Students a basic education is good for both the students and the State.
Please contact the members of the House Appropriations Committee as soon as possible. Use any of the information provided above to formulate your message. A list of committee members follows. Because using the Legislature’s email service requires you be a resident of the district, you will need to email each member separately. The format for names is FirstName.LastName@leg.wa.gov. It may be easier to use the Legislative Hotline: 1.800.562.6000.
If you do so, be sure to write out your message before placing the call. Operators take down your message verbatim and send it on to the legislators so having it written out before you begin ensures your message is clear and gets to the legislators as you composed it.
Ross Hunter, Chair
Timm Ormsby, Vice Chair
Gary Alexander, Ranking Minority Member
Bruce Chandler
J.T. Wilcox
Vincent Buys
Reuven Carlyle
Eileen Cody
Cathy Dahlquist
Hans Dunshee
Susan Fagan
Tami Green
Kathy Haigh
Larry Haler
Paul Harris
Zack Hudgins
Sam Hunt
Laurie Jinkins
Ruth Kagi
Marcie Maxwell
Dawn Morrell
Kevin Parker
Jamie Pedersen
Eric Pettigrew
Liz Pike
Charles Ross
Joe Schmick
Larry Seaquist
Pat Sullivan
David Taylor
Also, our Facebook and Blog pages have the committee members names as link in your email program. Will save you the effort of entering all of them yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/wagifted
http://wcge.wordpress.com
We really need you to make this effort!!!!
This may well be our last chance to influence the budget this session. Please contact the above legislators before 10:00am Tuesday morning!
Thank you for your advocacy for and support of our Highly Capable students.
Still no movement on the budget in Olympia. To summarize, maintenance level funding for FYs 2014 and 2015 has been calculated to be $19,083,000. The various proposals from the Governor and the Legislature hover around that number, with none being less than that amount. As soon as we hear anything substantive, we will let you know.
Meanwhile, our major goal of enactment of the revised Washington Administrative Code (WAC) for the Highly Capable Program has been accomplished and the new WACs approved and published. They are available here. These are the rules with which your local district must comply in implementing Highly Capable as part of Basic Education.
If you are interested in how OSPI will interpret and enforce the new WAC, there are two webinars you can participate in. I’ve copied this from a forwarded email so if the links don’t work, go here to sign up.
Find out what you need to know about the changes to WAC 392-170—Special Service Program—Highly Capable Students—background information for why the changes were made, overview of new and repealed sections of the WAC, and details about amendments to specific sections which are consistent with the RCW 28A.185—Highly Capable Students, effective September 2011, which finds that for highly capable students, access to accelerated learning and enhanced instruction is access to a basic education.
Register for a session now by clicking a date below:
Wed, May 1, 2013 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM PDT
Wed, May 1, 2013 2:45 PM – 4:15 PM PDT
Once registered you will receive an email confirming your registration with information you need to join the Webinar.
Direct questions to Kristina Johnstone, Highly Capable Program Supervisor, at kristina.johnstone@k12.wa.us or (360) 725-4991.
The Washington Coalition for Gifted Education represents all Highly Capable children in Washington. We are calling for an increase in funding to 5%, as recommended by the Quality Education Council, so that all districts can identify and support every Highly Capable child’s strengths.
All the proposals for the final supplemental budget for FYs 2012 and 2013 (the current biennium) call for $ 17,904,000 for HCP.
The Office of Financial Management has calculated that maintenance level funding for HCP for FYs 2014 and 2015 is $19,083,000. This amount is what it will take to provide the same services in 2014 and 2015 as the $17.9 million did in 2012 and 2013.
Below compares budget proposals that will be considered in conference. All funding amounts are based on 2.314%. Funding is Section 511 of the proposal.
Gregoire: $19,268,000
Inslee: $19,277,000
Senate: $19,153,000
House: $19,236,000
These amounts are all barely maintenance level funding. This level of funding leaves 40% of districts, many small and rural, with no services or programs whatsoever.
Legislators have told us that they assume that the districts will use some of the $1 billion increase all budgets propose for basic education to cover the increased costs of the Highly Capable Program based on the revised WAC. The legislature cannot direct them to do so, so they have to “assume” it will happen. That is wishful thinking.
Contact your representatives and senator NOW and tell them you want the HCP supplemental funding increased to the 5% level.
The House budget will be on the floor for a vote within a few days so contact your Representatives as soon as possible. After that vote, the different bills will go to a conference committee so contact your Senator next.
Here’s how: If you do not already know who they are, find your legislators here.
Next, call the Toll-Free Legislative Hotline, 8AM to 8PM at 1-800-562-6000 and leave this message for your State Legislators: “I want you to increase Highly Capable Education funding to 5%, the level recommended by the Quality Education Council.”
Follow up with short emails with the same message to your State Representatives and Senator. Email addresses use this format: Firstname.Lastname@leg.wa.gov or find them here.
Dear Gifted Education Advocate,
We must convince legislators to increase funding for Highly Capable Education, and need your immediate action. Thank you in advance for your advocacy.
Please do the following TODAY or TOMORROW. Please have students leave messages as well!
1. If you do not already know, find your legislators here.
2. Call the Toll-Free Legislative Hotline, 8AM to 8PM at 1-800-562-6000 and leave this message for your State Representatives:
“I want you to tell Representative Hunter that it is time for Washington State to ensure equity for all students. I want you to increase Highly Capable Education funding to 5%, the level recommended by the Quality Education Council.”
3. Call the Toll-Free Legislative Hotline, 8AM to 8PM at 1-800-562-6000 and leave this message for your State Senator:
“I want you to tell Senators Tom and Hill that it is time for Washington State to ensure equity for all students. I want you to increase Highly Capable Education funding to 5%, the level recommended by the Quality Education Council.”
4. Follow up with short emails to your State Representatives and Senator. Email addresses use this format: Firstname.Lastname@leg.wa.gov or find them at https://dlr.leg.wa.gov/MemberEmail/Default.aspx
5. Send additional emails to Ross.Hunter@leg.wa.gov, Rodney.Tom@leg.wa.gov, and Andy.Hill@leg.wa.gov
You may wish to provide them with more information in your email. Feel free to add your personal experience, or use the information below.
We are counting on you to take action immediately. There are tens of thousands of Highly Capable children in Washington state who need your help!
Gifted Education Day 2013 was a huge success with our best turnout ever. Our thanks to everyone who took the time to come to Olympia to show their support for Highly Capable Programs!
The two houses of the legislature adopted nearly identical resolutions honoring Gifted Education Day. The sponsors of the resolution are listed below. If one of them represents you, please send a thank you email for their sponsorship and ask that this support be manifested in a yes vote for a new, more equitable formula and increased funding in the upcoming budget. Email address are on https://dlr.leg.wa.gov/MemberEmail/Default.aspx
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 2013-4640
By Representatives Maxwell, Haler, Sullivan, Tarleton, Bergquist, Orwall, Magendanz, Stonier, Ryu, Habib, Fitzgibbon, Farrell, Holy, Sells, Zeiger, Wylie, Johnson, and Kagi
SENATE RESOLUTION 8622
By Senators Rivers, Litzow, Hewitt, Braun, Bailey, Honeyford, Baumgartner, Carrell, Smith, Kohl- Welles, Ericksen, Holmquist Newbry, Hobbs, Fain, Hargrove, Parlette, Fraser, Murray, Darneille, Cleveland, Hill, Schlicher, Hatfield, McAuliffe, Mullet, Padden, Brown, King, Schoesler, Dammeier, Tom, Pearson, Becker, Nelson, Conway, Benton, Hasegawa, Chase, Billig, Ranker, Frockt, Keiser, Eide, Harper, Kline, Roach, and Rolfes
Following adoption of the Senate resolution, students gathered on the floor of the Senate chamber for a group photo.