Kate Simkowiak

Advocacy

Washington State PTA – Eliminate barriers to K-12 highly capable programs

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On October 14 and 15, about 275 members from across the state gathered at Washington State PTA’s 33rd Annual Legislative Assembly to learn about timely issues and debate and vote on possible additions to our legislative agenda.

When the voting concluded, delegates approved proposals addressing the achievement gaps; early learning; highly capable programs; the juvenile justice system; public charter schools; and school zone signage.

2011 PROPOSED STATEMENT: HIGHLY CAPABLE

The Washington State PTA shall initiate and/or support legislation or policies that ensure highly capable children (K-12) receive an appropriate basic education, which includes access to highly capable programs (K-12).

The Washington State PTA recommends that the legislature and Quality Education Council build on the work of the Highly Capable Program Technical Work Group. This shall include, but not be limited to:

  • Advocating for a standard definition of highly capable and working to ensure students who are both highly capable and students of color, who are poor, or who have disabilities, have equitable access to the state’s highly capable program.
  • Further, Washington State PTA supports the recommendation that districts that do not currently offer highly capable programs refer to the guidelines set forth in the report of Highly Capable Program Technical Work Group.

Governor Gregoire Signed SB 5919 Which Implements A New Definition Of Basic Education

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Significant day for Highly Capable Programs in the state of Washington. Governor Gregoire signed SB 5919 that implements the new definition of basic education, effective September 1, 2011. This bill places Highly Capable Programs within the definition of basic education, which gives it the constitutional protections that accompany basic ed. It mandates that all districts must provide appropriate programs and services to identified highly capable students.

Post Gifted Education Day Message from the Coalition for Gifted Education

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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 If you wish to have your name deleted from our mailing list, send a notice to wagifted@earthlink.net.

Gifted Education Day Report
Friday, February 11th, was a magnificent day for gifted. We filled the Columbia Room to capacity and beyond with enthusiastic parents and children. More than 45 legislators were contacted. The lime green scarves announced that supporters of Highly Capable Programs were out in force. Thank you, Puyallup ABC.
The crowd was addressed by Rep. Pat Sullivan and Rep. Bruce Dammeier, two of our staunchest supporters in the House, and by Gayle Pauley, Director of HCP at OSPI. Kelly Munn of the League of Education Voters spoke on effective advocacy. Also dropping in were Rep. Norm Johnson whose district is west of Yakima, Rep. Terry Nealey, whose district includes Pasco and Walla Walla, and Rep. Reuven Carlyle of Seattle, who stopped by for information and to talk with advocates.
Thank you to everyone who came to Olympia on Friday. We had delegations from Wenatchee to Stevenson down on the Columbia River, and all points in-between. Ages ranged from 2 1/2 months to grandparents.
Many of those in Olympia took home the STEM Report by the National Science Board. It is a powerful statement about the value and need for gifted programs. Be sure to read it and pass it on to local school officials.
If you took pictures of your meeting with a legislator, consider sending him/her a copy as part of an electronic thank you. And please send copies to this address so we can use them too. Thanks.
Legislative issues update:
The Supplemental Budget (which continues funding for HCP through the end of this fiscal year) is due out of conference any day now.
Substitute HB 1443, Sections 208 and 209, as voted out of committee, gives us something to build on in the future. We will keep you informed of its progress as it moves through the House and Senate.
SB 5475 is scheduled for executive session in the Senate K-12 Committee on Monday afternoon. This is the bill which would delay the inclusion of HCP into basic education until Sept. 2013. There are many amendments to be voted on but their impact on HCP is unknown.
From the K-12 Committee the bill will go to the Senate Ways & Means where it is scheduled for a public hearing on Wednesday. We will testify; the message depends on what emerges on Monday from the K-12 Committee. This bill needs to make its way through the Senate and then repeat the process in the House.
Finally, there is the biennial budget. Experienced observers of the Legislature don’t expect it to appear until the very end of March or even early April.
Contacting Your Legislators
We are counting on your continued participation in our efforts to influence legislation and regulations for HCP.  Please focus your advocacy on behalf of education funding in general and HCP funding in particular. Our messages need to be positive and avoid comparison to other programs as each program is unique and funding sources are different. We need to make our case on our own merits, not in comparison to or competition with any other programs. Short, succinct messages are the most effective. We will post samples for your use.
Legislators continue to tell us that those who don’t make a concerted effort to contact them are not going to be heard or heeded.
According to Rep. Ross Hunter, chair of the House Ways & Means Committee, “We’re hearing from almost everyone but education about the budget cuts. It will be hard to protect even basic education dollars if we don’t start hearing about how these cuts will affect our kids’ education and how this will work at the local level.” Said another legislator, “You need to be heard, or even the staunchest education allies won’t be able to stop the cuts.”
We want to be heard!
Your correspondent will be off line for some R&R. During this time all the numbered messages you have been receiving by email will be posted to our social media sites on the internet. We urge you to sign up as a friend on our Facebook page so you will get immediate notice of new postings. If you prefer not to do this, please try to check the site at least daily for the latest information. Suggested short succinct messages will be posted there next week. Calls for action to contact Legislators will also be posted. Regular numbered email messages will resume in early March when I return.
Follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/wagifted

Senate Bill to Delay Inclusion of Highly Capable in Basic Education

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On Monday, January 31st, the Washington State Senate K-12 Education Committee will hold a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Senate Bill 5475, a recently submitted bill that includes a delay of inclusion of Highly Capable in the 2009 Education Reform Bill definition of basic education until 2013-2014. If SB5475 passes as currently written, highly capable programming would remain optional for districts to provide and vulnerable to funding cuts that basic education funds are not.

If it is possible for you to attend this meeting and make public comment on this bill, please follow these links for details on how and where to testify.

Committee Agenda and Meeting Location

How to Testify in Committee

Basic Information on Visiting the Legislature and List of Related Links

Are You Coming to Gifted Education Day 2011? Here’s How You Can Let Us Know!

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YOU ARE INVITED

Please plan now to attend Gifted Education Day in Olympia

We are all in this together! And we need you!

DATE: Friday, February 11th, 2011

TIME: 7:30 AM ~ leave Terrace Park School by carpool and/or caravan

Estimate 3:00 PM ~ leave Olympia ~ (optional, pizza dinner)

WHERE: State Capitol Building in Olympia, WA.

WHO: Parent(s), Child(ren), Teachers and Administrators of Edmonds School District Highly Capable Programs

PLEASE NOTE: If you attended the Thursday, January 6th meeting in the Commons and completed the sign-up sheets there, or have already turned in a form to the school, we have your information and you do NOT need to return this form, unless you wish to order more t-shirts. Thank you!

Please click on the Attendee form link below, print, complete, and return the form and any payment due for t-shirts to your child’s teacher or the CPA box in the Terrace Park Office by Monday, January 31st.

You may also email the requested information to challengeparents@gmail.com.

Attendee form

Alert – Message from the Coalition for Gifted Education

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This message has been sent to you by The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education. Comments or questions can be sent towagifted@earthlink.net or grevewandi@gmail.com If you wish to have your name deleted from our mailing list, send a notice towagifted@earthlink.net.

This is an urgent message deserving of your immediate attention.

Today the House Ways & Means committee heard proposed substitute house bill 1086 and has fast tracked it for executive session on Thursday, January 19, at 3:30 pm. This bill provides no funding to districts for Highly Capable Programs for the current school year, retroactive to September 2010.

We understand that there will need to be cuts to non-protected programs but a total elimination retroactive to September 2010 is neither proportional nor equitable.

When the House Ways & Means committee meets on Thursday, members can propose amendments to this inequitable provision. We urge you to write immediately to all members of the committee to ask that any cuts made to Highly Capable Programs be proportional to cuts to all other programs and that they not be retroactive. Retroactive cuts will be seriously disruptive to districts and the students they serve.

http://www.leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/WAYS/Pages/MembersStaff.aspx is a complete list of all members of the House Ways & Means committee. Each name constitutes a link to a legislator’s home page from which you can send an email.

If you write now, there is still time to amend this bill to provide some level of funding for Highly Capable Programs. It is easier to amend a bill in committee than when it gets to the floor so please WRITE IMMEDIATELY.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR THOSE WHO WANT MORE

1. The bill and the summary document are available at http://leap.leg.wa.gov/leap/default.asp

Click on Legislative Proposals with the yellow ‘new’ button. Then click again on Legislative Proposal with the yellow ‘new’ button on the next page.

2. Here is the summary in brief. This budget proposal suspends funds to districts  for Highly Capable Programs for the entire school year 2010-2011. The $ 2 million in the bill covers some payments made in 2010 for 2009 plus funding for Centrum and Future Problem Solving/Destination ImagiNation for 2010-2011. To repeat, there is no district funding for Highly Capable Programs for the current school year.

From the bill summary, page 49:

“The state allocation for highly capable students is suspended, effective at the beginning of the 2010-11 school year. The 2010 supplemental budget allocated a rate of $401.08 per funded student, up to a maximum of 2.314 percent of each district’s full-time equivalent basic education enrollment. The remaining funding in this budget reflects program costs from the prior school year, two months of which fall in FY 2011.”

3.Based on prior biennial and supplemental budgets for the current year, funds have already been sent to districts and these funds will be recaptured by the state through cuts in basic education appropriations for the remainder of the school year.

From a power point presentation by Supt. Randy Dorn on January 6, 2011:

“If adopted by Legislature, OSPI will adjust district apportionment payments to reflect cuts.

“OSPI will transfer Highly Capable program to General Apportionment in order to then make adjustments to district apportionment.”

Gifted Education Day Planning Meeting–Thursday, January 6th

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Please join the CPA board on Thursday, January 6th in the Terrace Park Commons at 6:30 for a planning and information session on Washington State Gifted Education Day.

Gifted Education Day is an annual event held at the Capitol in Olympia. Challenge program families have attended in large numbers for several years now. While annual attendance is important, this is an especially crucial year for us to show the legislature how important gifted education is for our children and our families.

CPA will provide light snacks and beverages for the meeting. We will also have handouts from the Coalition for Gifted Education and other organizations involved in the planning and preparations for Gifted Education Day.

Budget Update – Message from the Coalition

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There is a face-off going on down in Olympia. The Governor v. the Legislature. The Governor v. her own democrats. The democrats v. the republicans. The house v. the senate. And caught right in the middle is funding for Highly Capable Programs in the supplemental budget.
It appears there will be a special session beginning Friday to consider the supplemental budget, provided the five parties to the discussions get their act together. We can’t wait to see if they do. We need you to take action immediately to make known your wishes regarding Highly Capable funding for 2009-2010.
The governor made across-the-board cuts in November. That resulted in 6.3% cuts to Highly Capable Programs:  $561,000 from categorical funding to districts, $11,000 from Centrum and $6,000 from FPS/DI, totaling $578,000 and leaving an appropriation of $8,628,000 for the year.

Now the governor proposes to totally eliminate all highly capable funding retroactive to September 2010.