Public Education News in Washington State
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I would guess, as the Board has done in the recent past, that they will reach out to certain groups for input but those additional meetings will not be advertised nor open to all parents.
I see that Bob Ferguson is now Governor Bob Ferguson. In talking to the Seattle Times, he said that he "opposes a wealth tax floated by outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee and wants to boost K-12 school funding while calling for 6% cuts to most state agencies."
In his budget priorities document for 2025-2027, he says that Washington State is facing down the largest budget deficit in the state's history, about $12B. He said that cuts to department for savings and efficiencies "will not impact basic education. In fact, I intend to increase the percentage of the budget going to support our K-12 students.
I will not contemplate additional revenue options until we have exhausted efforts to improve efficiency.
He is also supporting new housing to help families in every region of the state.
He also supports universal school lunches for K-12 students.
He does not support Jay Inslee's outgoing budget, saying "The final budget must invest a higher percentage of the total budget toward K-12 schools."
The Times had another story, Washington Parents Launch a 'Billion Dollar Bake Sale' for K-12 Funding.
Advocates argue that the state has not fulfilled its constitutional duty to “amply” fund K-12 schools, which has forced districts to rely on local levies to close the gap. The groups want to increase funding in three areas: special education, transportation and a category called materials, supplies and operations.
The coalition behind The Billion Dollar Bake Sale isn’t really banking on selling cookies, cakes and pastries to solve the problem.
“Families can’t bake-sale their way to closing a $4 billion gap in education funding,” said Alex Wakeman Rouse, the co-chair of All Together for Seattle Schools, one of the five organizations behind the campaign. The statewide teachers union, the Washington Education Association, is also supporting the initiative.
“Parents directly see the impacts of schools on their kids,” said Larry Delaney, president of the Washington Education Association. “They hear the stories of buildings that have buckets collecting water because there are leaks in the roofs. They see the impact when music programs and the arts are cut because they are looked at as extras.”
The group borrowed the concept from a similar campaign in Michigan last year. It’s also making it easier to contact lawmakers, with ready-made postcards and letters, which are also posted on its website. The coalition is also planning a Jan. 30 advocacy day in Olympia, hoping students will attend.
The group has garnered support outside of Seattle, with backing from parents in the Yelm and Bellingham school districts. Some of those parents have fought school closures and have seen their district cut programs and staff.
The Times also had this article on school funding, Why it could be a big year for education in the WA Legislature.
- Wellman said legislators could also put off regulations that cost schools money. For example, there’s a financial penalty for schools if they don’t comply with green buildings legislation, but the Legislature could act this year not to penalize schools for that and save them some money.
- Legislators could also act to make it easier for school districts to raise money locally. Right now, the state constitution requires that 60% of voters back local measures to approve bonds for school districts in order for them to pass. Some lawmakers have proposed lowering that threshold.
- Rep. Gerry Pollet, D-Seattle, is proposing a bill that would remove the 16% cap. It would also reduce the minimum amount of spending per student that allows a “safety net” reimbursement — right now that threshold is $39,000 — and would increase the multiplier.
Pollet says local spending on special education is a big driver of district budget deficits. A state audit found that in the 2022-23 school year, districts spent about $590 million in local levy money on special education.
House Republicans will support increases to special ed funding, Stokesbary said, but they also want to see increasing literacy and graduation rates and test scores.
- House Republican Leader Drew Stokesbary, of Auburn, told reporters last week that while he supported “amply” funding schools, he also wanted to hold the K-12 system accountable. Washington’s constitution says that funding education is the state’s “paramount duty.”
“The entire point of the state’s paramount duty clause is not just to give money to schools for the sake of giving money to schools,” Stokesbary said. “The point is to improve outcomes for students and their families, to make every kid, regardless of ZIP code, ready for college or career.”
- Lawmakers have proposed a slew of policies that could affect students and schools, including measures to restrict cellphone use in schools, a measure to require financial education before graduation and a measure that would let parents record IEP meetings.
I also note that there is a bill in the Legislature to tell districts they must have a policy on student use of cellphones at school. It's another good story from the Times.
Principal Zachary Stowell surveyed the cafeteria at Seattle’s Robert Eagle Staff Middle School — and he liked what he saw.
While music blasted over the loudspeaker, middle schoolers bobbed up and down and flailed their arms side to side dancing. Students made eye contact and small talk at lunch tables. Many had their arms over each other’s shoulders, and some held hands. A few students in the corner pulled out books to read.
There wasn’t a phone in sight.
The middle school, which has about 700 students, bought neoprene gray bags called Yondr pouches for students this year to help implement a new ‘away for the day’ cellphone policy.
“This wouldn’t happen without the pouches,” Stowell said. “It turns back the clock. It allows kids to be kids.
The school uses "Yonder" pouches that lock phones away safely. The article says that Hamilton Middle School also uses them and that Aki Kurose will start next year.
Aberdeen SD did use them but relaxed that policy, telling students to do it on the honor system. Meaning, keep the phones in backpacks during classes. If they don't, then that phone goes into a Yondr pouch.
A district in Oregon is using them as well in all high schools, middle schools and charter schools.
Ryan Richardson, associate director of the district’s secondary and high school programs, reports fewer discipline incidents, including less vaping and alcohol use, because students can’t coordinate meetup spots on their phones during the school day. Robert Eagle Middle School and Mercer Island High School have seen a similar decrease in discipline incidents.
Yes, kids are no dummies and some put a burner phone in the pouch, not their regular phone.
About 4,000 schools worldwide use Yondr pouches, which cost about $25 to $30 per student, including training and unlocking stations for the school.
Here's where it gets tricky. What is happening at RESMS is a very good thing - kids need to know how to interact socially. But who is paying for this? I'll ask but I'd bet it's the district. Is this an expense the district can afford right now?
A quote from a Mercer Island High School senior:
“The reason people aren’t using their phone isn’t because of the pouch necessarily. It is because of the policy that now you go to detention if you get caught,” he said.
From KING 5, apparently school districts "came out in forceful opposition to a proposal by the state school superintendent requiring at least 20 minutes of “seated time” for lunch periods."
In November, the KING 5 Investigators series the School Lunch Crunch revealed that most of the 31 school districts surveyed had lunch periods of 20 minutes or less, and that includes time to stand in line and get food and clean-up afterward.
OSPI did not say how long it will take the superintendent to make a decision on the proposed rule. It would take effect no earlier than the 2025-26 school year.
Researchers and the federal government say kids are more likely to clear their trays, and not throw away nutritious food, when they have 20 minutes or more to eat.
“We’re doing our best to create a space where students can eat a healthy meal. Just leave us alone to run our space. ... [and] be more respectful of the professionals you hire,” said Gerry Grubbs, superintendent of the Grapeview School District.
Administrators said lengthening their lunch periods to 25 to 30 minutes, to accommodate 20 minutes of seated time, would require extra costs for space, staffing and scheduling conflicts.
“In Edmonds, we estimate the cost of implementing the 20-minute seated lunch would be annually $525,000,” said Superintendent Rebecca Miner.
Twenty minutes to stand in line, get the food, eat and then clean up? That is not good public health for children. I'd love to see all building administrators do this for a week.
One of three parents to speak was Megan Lim, whose three children attend a Seattle elementary school. She said her children have long complained they don’t have time to eat during their 20-minute lunch periods. She complained to the district and got no response.
Lim said she checked the labor contract of Seattle teachers and found that they are guaranteed to 30-minute, uninterrupted lunch.
“To me, it's inexplicable that children are not afforded the same rights teachers are supposed to be getting,” Lim testified.
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