Kate Simkowiak

Advocacy

Budget information, legislative activities, WAETAG conferences, etc.

Message from The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education – Nov. 26th

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A number of Legislative positions (in the 17th and, possibly, the 47th Legislative districts) will not be decided until recounts are concluded in early December. Otherwise the makeup of the Legislature is pretty well settled. If you want to check it out, go to www.vote.wa.gov and click on election returns.

The Quality Education Council (QEC) and the Joint Task Force on Education Funding (JTF) are getting close to finalizing their recommendations to the Legislature. The Coalition has made presentations to both groups at their public meetings and submitted a position statement to them on Highly Capable funding.

Based on the most recent revenue forecast, it appears there will not be sufficient revenue to fund the increase in basic education funding necessary to meet the requirements of the McCleary decision. Governor Gregoire will be submitting her proposed budget in December (as required by law) and Governor-elect Inslee will submit his proposal after he takes office in January. No doubt there will be several budget proposals floated in the Legislature from both houses and both parties. All of this is going to make for a most difficult session. There are unverified rumors that some parts of basic education may be suspended for a year or two. I do not know if this is possible; the Coalition will do its best to keep you informed as to what is happening and to let you know when you need to contact your Legislators about HCP funding or other vital issues. Look for our regular messages and follow us on Facebook.

Gifted Education Day on March 19th is going to be an important piece of our advocacy efforts. Please plan to join us in Olympia. An XXL turn-out is vital to our chances to get a new, more equitable, funding formula for HCP into the budget.

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We invite you to join us at our general meeting on Friday, November 30 at the Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Avenue SW, Burien, beginning at 10 am. We will be planning our strategy for the legislative session and begin organizing for Gifted Education Day. If you live in the Puget Sound area, please join us. Everyone is welcome!

On the agenda are (1) HCP funding issues, (2) The McCleary Decision and what it means for HCP, (3) Strategy for the upcoming legislative session, (4) Reports from observers at the QEC and JTF meetings, (5) Discussion on continuing to offer the Joint Membership with WAETAG and NWGCA, (6) Planning for Gifted Education Day.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP to wagifted@earthlink.net so we know how many to plan for.

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Opportunity for Training.

The League of Education Voters is holding their 3rd advocacy training session in January. Click here for more information.

Another opportunity to learn about gifted.

The World Council for Gifted and Talented Children will hold its biennial 2013 conference August 10 through 14, 2013 in Louisville Kentucky. For more information, go to http://www.worldgifted2013.org/

Message from The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education – Nov. 8th

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HCP funding is our primary issue for the next legislative session. First, at a minimum, to retain the funding that we have and second to have the funding formula changed to reflect the realities of having HCP as a part of basic education. A change could mean a substantial increase in state funding.

Across the state, new and re-elected legislators will be preparing for the next session in Olympia.  Since Legislators are in an information-gathering stage, NOW is the time to contact your legislators to introduce yourself as a constituent and to tell them that you support Highly Capable Programs. Tell them the 2.314% funding basis is too low. We currently serve 4.62%, with the vast majority of that funding local levy funds; every task force that’s looked at it said 2.314% was inadequate and that 5% was more appropriate; and that in the end we want the inclusion of HCP in Basic Ed to be meaningful, providing adequate and appropriate programming

Attached is the position statement on funding submitted by the Coalition to the Joint Task Force on Education Funding and the Quality Education Council. Both will be submitting recommendations to the Legislature before the end of the year. Also attached is the joint comment on the proposed revision of the Washington Administrative Code. As you might expect, the comment deals with the issue of funding.

Adequate funding will be the theme of Gifted Education Day, March 19, 2013. Plan to join advocates in Olympia to talk with legislators about the needs of highly capable students. We’ll be sending out more information as we get closer to the date. Preparation of the new Gifted Education Day Handbook is underway.

*** Members of the Coalition will be meeting Friday, November 30 at the Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Avenue SW, Burien, beginning at 10 am. We will be planning our strategy for the legislative session and begin planning for Gifted Education Day. If you live in the Puget Sound area, please join us. Everyone is welcome! ***

A large amount of pertinent information is posted to the Coalition’s Facebook page. As of today, we have 611 followers. We would like to reach 750 by the time the legislature goes into session in January. A number that large gives us much more “heft” when talking with legislators.

So, if you use Facebook, please “like” us at http://www.facebook.com/wagifted We also have a blog where many of our messages are posted at http://wcge.wordpress.com

Message from The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education – Oct. 18th

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1. Comments on the proposed revision of the Washington Administrative Code sections on Highly Capable (available at http://www.k12.wa.us/HighlyCapable/default.aspx) are due at OSPI by November 19th. Instructions for submission of comments are on the website. Comments may be made by individuals as well as organized groups.

The public hearing is November 28 at 1:00 in the Brouillet Conference Room of OSPI –
Old Capitol Building
600 Washington St. S.E.
Olympia, WA 98504-7200
Driving Directions

2. Attached is a flyer for the Educational Forum at Annie Wright Schools in Tacoma on Sunday, November 4th. The Coalition is not a sponsor of this event and passes this flyer to you for informational purposes only.  If you are interested, please check it out.

3. We invite you to join other members of the Coalition at our general meeting November 30, Burien Community Center, located at 14700 6th Avenue SW, Burien, from 10:00 to 1:00.  We won’t know which conference room until we get there.

A great many things will have been settled by the 30th – the election will be over and we will know who our new governor and legislators are; the Joint Task Force on Education Funding will be close to completing its work; and the QEC will be finalizing its recommendations to the Legislature. We may even know what SPI Dorn proposes in his budget for HCP.

We will be charting our course for the upcoming 2013 legislative session and making preliminary plans for Gifted Education Day, March 19th.

4. As things stand right now (and this is subject to change depending on what happens between now and Nov. 30th) our focus for the next session will be funding for HCP.

Message from The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education – Sept. 10th

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Campaign Season In Full Swing; General Election Coming Up

• Due to retirements and redistricting, many of you are finding yourself in a new district and/or with new candidates to consider.

• We will have a new Governor and education seems to be a major issue in the campaign.

• 20% of the seats in the Legislature are open.

• Supt. of Public Instruction Randy Dorn will be unopposed on the ballot.

• Initiative 1240 on charter schools is among the issues before the voters.

Do visit the web page of the Secretary of State for more voter information, a voters’ guide and make use of your custom-tailored voter guide. http://blogs.sos.wa.gov/FromOurCorner/index.php/2012/09/heres-your-wa-2012-electionataglance/

If you missed the gubernatorial debate on education (August 29) and the presentations on the initiatives, they are archived on TVW and can be viewed on your computer.  http://www.tvw.org/index.php?option=com_tvwsearch&year=2012&contentCode=G

Please attend candidate forums and presentations and ask key questions about the candidate’s support for Highly Capable Programs.

The following are some key points to be made when questioning candidates.

– Washington is on the cutting edge in establishing a quality education for Highly Capable students. We are the first state to make it a part of basic education.

– To retain the educated business community and their families, we need to provide a high quality education system for children who will be our future leaders.  Support for Highly Capable Programs is an opportunity to move forward in raising standards and promoting economic growth in Washington.

– Three important pieces are now in place:

Effective with the school year 2012-2013, Highly Capable Programs are part of basic education for students in K – 12.
Highly Capable Program Technical Work Force was given the mission to standardize state-level procedures, including definition, identification, and criteria for programs. This task is completed and the Report is available at http://www.k12.wa.us/HighlyCapable/Workgroup/default.aspx
Special Endorsement – Washington State now offers educators a special endorsement in gifted education.

– The challenge is to insure that districts have the support needed to fully implement highly capable programs K-12 as part of basic education.

Tell candidates that we need them to:

Do We Know How to Teach Highly Able Learners?

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Article by Peter DeWitt on Education Week’s blogs

The reality is that we need to look at this issue as achievement versus growth. Many highly able learners may achieve high grades without ever growing at all.

Teaching highly able learners is a topic that we often ignore in education. We discuss how to teach struggling learners and spend a great deal of time discussing how to meet the needs of special education students. However, when parents state that their children are gifted, some teachers (and a few administrators) politely smile and roll their eyes when the parents leave the room.

There are a few sad excuses why this happens. Sometimes parents will enter a new school and tell a teacher that their child is highly able, and then after testing and other authentic assessments, the teacher finds out the students is not highly able at all. There are parents who want their children to be gifted so they tell everyone around them that there child has special capabilities. In a nation that pushes children to the breaking point, some parents want their children to be more academically gifted than they really are because it helps them stick out in a crowd.

For full disclosure I have been a skeptic. After teaching for eleven years and being a principal for six, I heard my share of “highly able” stories. I often worry that we push kids too much too soon. They need to be Michael Jordan on the court, Tiger Woods on the field and Doogie Houser in the classroom (I’m showing my age). However, I began questioning my own skepticism when I began teaching. I began to feel uncomfortable that I was contributing to the problem and not being a part of the solution.

The truth is that if we have so many students who qualify for Academic Intervention Services (AIS) we must have students on the other side who qualify as highly able. Some times we cannot see it because the child who is highly able does not want to show us what they know. Other times, our own stubbornness blocks us from being able to see that a child has the ability to advance quickly or engage in academics at a much deeper level than their peers.

The issue becomes complicated when we look at the fact that children with special needs or those who qualify for AIS may get extra services by teachers other than their classroom teachers. Highly able children often do not get special services and it is left to their teacher to find engaging and authentic learning experiences for them. If a teacher is working in isolation, which using 21st century skills should never happen, or feels overwhelmed, they may not feel they have the time to search for these activities on their own.

Message from The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education – June 12th

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Primary and General Elections are Coming Up

If you take a look at the list of candidates for state legislature, governor and superintendent of public instruction (https://wei.sos.wa.gov/agency/osos/en/Pages/CandidateFilings.aspx or attached pdf file) you will notice there are a lot of open seats due to retirements and redistricting. As well as a new governor, there will be many new legislators in the next session so it is vital that we start the work of educating them about highly capable NOW and not wait until January.

Please attend candidate forums and presentations for both the primary and the general election and ask key questions about the candidate’s support for Highly Capable Programs. As HB 2261, Sec. 708 stated: for highly capable students, access to accelerated learning and enhanced instruction is access to a basic education.

The following are some key points to be made when questioning candidates.

Washington is on the cutting edge in establishing a quality education for Highly Capable students. We are the first state to make it a part of basic education.

To retain the educated business community and their families, we need to provide a high quality education system for children who will be our future leaders. Support for Highly Capable Programs is an opportunity to move forward in raising standards and promoting economic growth in Washington.

Three important pieces are now in place:

  1. Effective with the school year 2012-2013, Highly Capable Programs are part of basic education for students in K – 12.
  2. Highly Capable Program Technical Work Force was given the mission to standardize state-level procedures, including definition, identification, and criteria for programs. This task is completed.
  3. Special Endorsement – Washington State now offers educators a special endorsement in gifted education.

The challenge is to insure that districts have the support needed to implement highly capable programs K-12.

Tell candidates that we need them to:

Support legislation or policies that provide educators with access to appropriate training and/or professional development in identifying highly capable learners and serving their divergent educational needs.

Support for data collection and out of level testing to help measure growth for these students and to assist in determining success of programs.

Summary

Advocacy for maintaining highly capable programs is about giving highly capable learners an appropriate education. As HB 2261, Sec. 708 stated: for highly capable students, access to accelerated learning and enhanced instruction is access to a basic education.

Highly Capable students are found in all populations – rural, urban, socio-economic levels, ethnic groups. Approximately 50,000 students receive services but another 50,000 will be able to have these services with K-12 implementation.

List of Canidates for Election

Message from The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education – June 7th

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Fiscal Year 2013:  Senate Subcommittee Meets June 12

The Senate subcommittee that handles education funding will be meeting on June 12 to recommend federal education program and research funding levels for fiscal year 2013.

As you know, the Javits Gifted & Talented Students Education Act (Javits) was de-funded in fiscal year 2011. This means that there is no funding for the National Research Center on the Gifted & Talented, and there are no 5-year grants to fund projects that yield best practices in identifying and serving underserved gifted students.

It’s a difficult funding environment – the impulse in Congress is to reduce, not increase spending for education. That’s why your messages to your Senators are so important. It’s critical that policymakers hear from the gifted education community about the need to support advanced students in federal education programs and research so that ALL students can make learning gains each year.

Please contact your Senators before noon on Tuesday, June 12, and urge him or her to make excellence a federal priority by supporting gifted and talented students, and the research needed to develop best classroom practices for this population of learners, in the fiscal year 2013 appropriations bill.

Message from The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education – May 9th, 2012

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THE ROUNDUP
The Governor has signed the 3rd supplemental budget for this biennium and HCP funding to the districts is maintained. In the initial budget for this biennium, funding for the arts program at Centrum was cut and funding for Destination ImagiNation and Future Problem Solving was eliminated, cuts which were not restored in the 3rd supplemental. These opportunities for students have been an integral part of the Highly Capable appropriation since it began in 1985.

There was no legislation regarding Highly Capable Programs other than the budget.

GOING FORWARD
Including Highly Capable in basic education is a major reform. It follows that there are implementation issues to be followed and resolved. We are currently working on:

  • Restoration of funding for Centrum, Future Problem Solving and Destination ImagiNation.
  • An increase in HCP funding to the districts.
  • The WACs are being revised to bring them in line with HCP’s new position in basic ed. Gifted advocacy groups will be reviewing the changes and providing comment when they are made public later this year. All indications are that progress is being made to bring the WAC into line with the RCW.
  • The McCleary funding decision recognized HCP as a part of basic education so we will be following the court’s continuing jurisdiction of legislative actions to be sure adequate funding is provided. We will be watching the new Joint Select Committee which will report to the court.
  • For successful  advocacy, we need the backing of the large Coalition membership state wide. This is why we need you to plan to be in Olympia for Gifted Education Day on February 8, 2013. With the November election we will have a new Governor and new legislators to educate about the needs of gifted students and the value of highly capable programs for both our individual students and for the economy of the state. Please make plans to join us there.

BY THE WAY…
Speaking of elections, both candidates for Governor have released their education platforms for the campaign. Attached are summaries from the League of Education Voters and the Partnership 4 Learning. They are provided as information only and do not constitute an endorsement of any candidate.
You can do your part by looking carefully at the education statements of the Legislative candidates in your district and asking them specifically about their position on Highly Capable Programs in candidate forums, town meetings, etc.

AND FINALLY
BE SURE TO CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS AND SAY THANK YOU FOR THEIR EFFORTS TOWARD FULL FUNDING OF K-12 EDUCATION. THEY DON’T HEAR A THANK YOU OFTEN ENOUGH.

2012 Washington State Gubernatorial Race Candidates’ Formal Positions on Education

Governor’s Education Plans: Side-by-Side Comparison

This message has been sent to you by The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education. Comments or questions can be sent to wagifted@earthlink.net or  grevewandi@gmail.com.

Message from The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education – March 30th, 2012

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Legislature still in special session…
During even-numbered years the Legislature adopts a supplemental budget, making changes to the biennial budget passed the year before. It has been a unique year as seven supplemental budget proposals have been introduced! Two budgets were still under consideration at the end of the regular session – one passed by the House, the other by the Senate. Time ran out so the regular session ended without passage of a supplemental budget and a solution to the budget deficit problem.  The Governor called the Legislature into special session anticipating that the differences would be ironed out quickly. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing there has been no budget agreement. The Governor is mediating daily sessions of the budget writers from both parties.

And that is where we stand – at an impasse. Most Legislators are at home working in their districts and will not return to Olympia this week. Negotiations continue but it is all behind closed doors. Our lobbyist Donna Christensen meets regularly with key supporters in the Legislature and has been advised that HCP funding is not in danger, though anything can happen.

There will probably be (undefined) changes to K-12 education in the final budget when it appears. When the impasse is broken legislators will return to Olympia to vote.  There will not be any opportunities to testify or propose any amendments. It is usually a take it or leave it situation.

Gifted Education Supporters – Please Contact Your U.S. Representative and Senators by Today, March 16th

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As you may recall, the Javits funds were discontinued last year. Losing this important national research funding will continue to create negative consequences across the country.

The National Association For Gifted Children is asking you to contact your US Representative and Senators TODAY (March 16) and urge them to support $7.5 million in funding for the Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act*.

Click here for Congressional contact information and a sample message.

*The Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act is the sole federal program dedicated to exploring strategies to identify and serve gifted and talented students, especially those who have been under-represented in gifted education programs. The program, which supported the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented as well as school-based research grants, was de-funded in fiscal year 2011. School districts and teachers across the country have used – and continue to use – the research results generated by the Javits program to support gifted students in the classroom and to develop and improve their gifted education services and programs. It’s critical to gifted and talented students, and those who have not been formally identified as gifted, that the Congress restores the research program so that we can continue developing and disseminating best practices in instruction and identification procedures.

More information: http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/nagc/members.pdf