On March 10 the final gavel fell on Washington State 2022 Legislative session. For details on which PTA sponsored/supported bills passed, please click the link.
Until 2023!
Cortney Eldridge
Issaquah Council 2.6 Advocacy/Legislative Chair
Advocating & Supporting Our Schools
On March 10 the final gavel fell on Washington State 2022 Legislative session. For details on which PTA sponsored/supported bills passed, please click the link.
Until 2023!
Cortney Eldridge
Issaquah Council 2.6 Advocacy/Legislative Chair
The Class of 2021 Graduates next week!
You can watch the live-stream on the Issaquah School District’s YouTube page:
THURSDAY, JUNE 10th
Gibson Ek High School – 1:00pm
FRIDAY, JUNE 11th
Issaquah High School – 4:30pm
Liberty High School – 8:00pm
Skyline High School – 1:00pm
Keep this award in mind and submit in March!
The purpose of this award is to promote advocacy at local PTAs, community PTAs, and councils by recognizing programs, projects, and activities/events that increase awareness of and participation in advocacy issues at the school, local community, council, region, state, and national level. What does advocacy mean to your local PTA or council?
For more information, see the 2020-21 Application Information and Judging Form.
Complete the online submittal form and review the details for this year’s submittal process.
May 5th, 2021
The 2020-2021 Issaquah PTSA Council Nominating Committee hereby places the following names into nomination for the 2021-2022 school year:
For the Officer of Treasurer: Pauline Tamblyn
For the Officer of Secretary: Tracie Jones
For the Officer of VP of Elementary South: Carla Geraci
For the Officer of VP of Elementary North: Erin Eaton
For the Officer of VP of Elementary Central: Nicole Morgan
For the Officer of VP of Secondary Schools: Wendy Cummins
For the Officer of President: Lauren Bartholomew
The nominating committee has confirmed that all nominees have been a member of a PTA for at least 30 days prior to the election, and meet other requirements as stated in the WSPTA Uniform Bylaws.
Respectfully submitted,
Cortney Eldridge
Alicia Spinner
Lauren Bartholomew
Leading with Equity
This presentation will better help you sharpen your equity lens and develop a deeper understanding on inequities students and families may face. We will define some equity terms used by the district and review some key training components. There is much work to be done. The district is looking for partners. Come join the conversation in supporting our students with equitable outcomes.
Thursday, May 20th, 2021
9:30-11:30am
Questions? Contact our Issaquah PTSA Council Family and Community Engagement Coordinator, Alicia Spinner: face@issaquahptsa.org
Golden Acorn – Katie Moeller, Hannah Coblentz, Alicia Spinner
Outstanding Advocate – Betsy Grant
Outstanding Service Award – Erin Eaton
Honorary Lifetime Membership – Cindy Kelm
From: https://www.wastatepta.org/2021-national-pta-legcon-report/
Washington State PTA members embraced the 2021 virtual format for National PTA’s annual Legislative Conference (LegCon). The conference began March 9. Of the over 800 attendees, 58 were from local PTAs here in Washington state, including two students. For some, the event was their first experience with federal advocacy.
National PTA contracted with a professional consulting firm to manage all the Congress member or staff/constituent appointments matched by attendee zip code. So the first day included some advocacy training and the coordination of teams and the WSPTA teams were up to the task!
They shared relevant stories about:
For a complete picture of the policy asks, look here: https://www.pta.org/home/advocacy/federal-legislation/Public-Policy-Platform
Ten different congressional offices met with our attendees, asking thoughtful questions and sharing PTAs desire that every child’s potential become a reality. Wednesday, March 10 was “Hill Day” and began with a team that met with Rep. Derek Kilmer. Our whole group met with both senators, first a conference call where we were joined by Sen. Patty Murray for a portion. “PTA – you keep me going and work hard for all kids, thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said on the call. That was followed by a generous amount of time from Sen. Maria Cantwell’s legislative aide Amy Folkerts. That afternoon, we divided into teams for virtual meetings with staffers from Rep. Adam Smith, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, Rep. Richard Larsen, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, and Rep. Dan Newhouse’s offices. Rep. Suzan DelBene and Rep. Kim Schrier joined their meetings, listening to stories from parents and agreeing with the PTA asks for the day.
Classes and networking times rounded out the event. WSPTA advocacy committee member Susan Baird-Joshi shared an extremely popular class about climate change advocacy. After describing the effects to children and how current environmental and economic leaders are seeking solutions, she went through simple yet innovative steps for grassroots advocacy at every legislative level that can be replicated for any PTA leader that sees a “problem” facing their community. She will be sharing this class at our WSPTA convention, so make sure to bookmark it in your program.
Although the classes and training were virtual, the speakers delivered information that brought parents together through both common experiences and some different from their own. Thanks to all who attended, it was a positive, unscary way to dip one’s toe into advocacy, and hopefully, some will dive in during the upcoming year. Some of our teams are continuing their conversations with the congressional education staffers. Contact Sherry Rudolph, the Federal Legislative Chair if federal advocacy is something you would like to continue as a monthly touchpoint ptaadvocacydir@wastatepta.org.
Report provided by Sherry Rudolph, WSPTA Advocacy Director and National PTA Federal Legislative Chair
from: https://www.wastatepta.org/2021-focus-on-advocacy-march-22-report/
Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org
As anticipated, the March 17 revenue forecast presented by state chief economist Steve Lerch was positive – for the 2019-21 biennium, the forecast was increased by $1.34 billion and for the 2021-23 biennium it increased by nearly $1.95 billion. This is a dramatic turnaround from the June 2020 forecast, which projected a $9 billion deficit for fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023.
According to Lerch, the positives include two stimulus bills passed; faster than expected vaccine distribution; stronger than expected retail sales; and a super-hot housing market. To the negative, however, Lerch shared that employment growth has been slower than expected; business remains weak for restaurants, bars, arts and entertainment, and travel-related businesses; and rising oil and gas prices may hamper growth.
Keep up with the bills and committee hearings related to WSPTA member-generated legislative priorities and long-term positions by utilizing the bill status and upcoming events report.
Washington State PTA members embraced the 2021 virtual format for National PTA’s annual Legislative Conference (LegCon). The conference began March 9. Of the over 800 attendees, 58 were from local PTAs here in Washington state, including two students. For some, the event was their first experience with federal advocacy.
Webinar #4 (recorded on 3/9/2021) focuses on these questions –
You can find it on the Special Education Page.
From: https://www.wastatepta.org/2021-focus-on-advocacy-march-15-report/
Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org
Perhaps the most interesting thing that happened this past week was Governor Jay Inslee’s announcement Friday, March 12, that through an emergency proclamation to be issued this coming week, all schools in Washington must offer the opportunity for in-person learning to students who choose that option. The announcement came with direction that all Department of Health and other safety protocols (including the six-feet distance between students) also must be maintained, and that the order did not mean all students would be returned to buildings 100% of the time.
Keep up with the bills and committee hearings related to WSPTA member-generated legislative priorities and long-term positions by utilizing the bill status and upcoming events report.
State Board of Education Adopts Emergency Waiver Program, Allowing Waiver of Certain High School Graduation Requirements For the Class of 2021 Due to COVID-19Emergency rules were adopted Thursday, March 11 that allow flexibility and local approval for the waiver of certain high school graduation requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At its March 11 meeting, the State Board of Education (SBE) adopted emergency rules that allow school districts to waive certain graduation requirements for individual students due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. These emergency rules apply immediately to the graduating Class of 2021.
Past Washington State PTA Advocacy Weekly Newsletters can be found here.