Kate Simkowiak

wagifted

Message from The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education – Jan. 19th

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1.    A lot has been going on in Olympia. The state Legislature appears to have organized itself and committee assignments have been made. Because there are so many newly elected Legislators and so many moving from the house to the senate, the committee make up is quite different this session. For the first weeks, committees are going into learning mode – getting up to speed on basic background, recent reports on various studies they have authorized, etc. and very little actual legislating.

If you are interested in which Legislators sit on which committees, go to http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rosters/CommitteeMembersByCommittee.aspx and search by committee or to http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rosters/CommitteeMembersByMember.aspx and search by name.

2.    You might find state web sites in a state of flux as all the changes are made over the coming days so be patient.  www.governor.wa.gov now shows Jay Inslee. The “Find my Legislator” page now shows the current (new) districts.

3.    A report of great interest to gifted advocates has been submitted to the Legislature and is wending its way through hearings. Further action (including filing of specific bills to implement the recommendations) is not yet known. The Quality Education Council presented its Report to the Legislature on January 15th. The QEC is the body designated by the Legislature to organize the implementation of educational reform based on bills passed in recent sessions. This report is available at http://www.k12.wa.us/LegisGov/2013documents/QEC2013Report.pdf

The three state-wide gifted organizations have written to all legislators strongly supporting the QEC recommendations on the Highly Capable Program – pasted into the next paragraph – on page 14. We urge you to make this support the basis of your contacts with your Legislators in the coming months. We want to retain our status as a part of basic education and, if possible in this session, obtain a new funding formula. Input from advocates such as you can take us a long way toward achieving these goals.

Priority Area 3: Close the Opportunity Gap for Disadvantaged Students and Students of Color
5.    The Legislature should support the strengthening of the Highly Capable Program to ensure that all students have equal access to it, consistent with the recommendations of the Highly Capable Program Technical Working Group**:
a.    The Legislature should adopt a new and uniform definition of Highly Capable Program students, as provided in the Technical Working Group report to the Legislature; and
b.    The Legislature should direct OSPI to create a common and consistent identification process for Highly Capable Program students.
c.    The Legislature should direct OSPI to create rules that allow flexibility for small school districts to implement highly capable programs until the full funding recommendations* of the QEC can be adopted by the Legislature.

*“Full funding recommendations of the QEC” can be found on page 15 of the August 13, 2012 meeting materials, Past QEC recommendations http://www.k12.wa.us/QEC/PastMeetings/default.aspx

**The Highly Capable Workgroup report can be found online at: http://www.k12.wa.us/HighlyCapable/Workgroup/default.aspx in the right sidebar.

4.    I hope that lots and lots of you are making plans to be in Olympia on Gifted Education Day, March 19, 2013. We’ll be in the Columbia Room of the Legislative Building beginning at about 8:30. Program is scheduled for 9:00 to 10:30 and then you are free to attend to the most important business of the day, talking with your legislators and educating them on the unique educational needs of highly capable students and why such programs benefit not only the individual student but society as a whole.

We’ll be providing you with a lot of material you can use in formulating your message – it is just a bit late in getting sent out due to some unexpected (aren’t they always unexpected) health problems of your correspondent and her husband taking up a lot of time just now and the big project contacting every individual legislator (147) with the statement of support of the QEC recommendations. 147 personalized emails takes a lot of time and effort!

5.    This week the Coalition formally became a member of the Network For Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS) the lead appellant in the McCleary case. The decision in that case calls for ample (full) funding of basic education and since HCP is a part of basic education (and is not amply funded) it seemed a good match for us to be part of the appellant group.

P.S. We’re up to 645 supporters on Facebook. We need to reach 750 before GEDay so if you are a user of Facebook, please “like” us now!

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 – Jan. 30th, 2012

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It appears we have all survived the snow, ice, power outages and loss of internet connections. Despite all these problems, we were able to continue to organize last minute arrangements for Gifted Education Day on January 23 and more than 400 enthusiastic parents and students braved the icy highways to come to Olympia. The unofficial award for furthest distance traveled goes to the intrepid group from Stevenson-Carson School District, down on the Columbia River.

Our thanks to Charlotte Akin who drove up from Battle Ground to remind us why we care about our highly capable students and their unique needs.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn spoke to the group and took the time to answer questions from the audience.

Governor Christine Gregoire received an enthusiastic welcome and spoke to encourage all of us to continue to advocate for gifted students and the contributions they will make to our future.

Now that we were all revved up and ready to go, Kelly Munn of the League of Education Voters spoke to us about how best to interact with Legislators.

Our special thanks to Kelty Pierce from Puyallup who introduced Supt. Dorn and to Charlie Hannigan from Lake Stevens who introduced the Governor. We also thank all the students who made presentations to our honored guests or made remarks. Due to disrupted communications I do not have the names of all these students, but you know who you are and we say Thank You for participating.

We need to know which Legislators were visited and the results of those visits. Pasted in is a Contact Report. You have several options for reporting to us.

  • Fill it in right in this email and click the reply button. I’ll extract the information.
  • Highlight the text and copy it, paste it into a new email, complete it and send it to wagifted@earthlink.net.
  • Highlight the text and copy it and paste it into a word processing document, complete it and mail to WCFGE, 18149  147 Ave. SE, Renton WA  98058.

CONTACT REPORT FOR PERSONAL VISIT
Name and title of person contacted:
Type of contact (personal or group visit)  (email contact)  (letter)  (phone)
Issues discussed:
Is the Coalition expected to follow up with this contact?
Describe any follow-up needed:
Notes and comments; was contact supportive or enthusiastic about HCP:
Your name:
Group, if any:
Your email address or other contact information in case we need to check with you.