Friday, March 12, 2010

FINALLY...OUR KIDS MATTER! Lawmakers reach agreements on key education bills

Lawmakers reach agreements on key education bills Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Mike.

oly src="http://www.educationvoters.org/~/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/students-oly.jpg" width=300 height=207>Parents, educators and students have a lot to celebrate this morning. On the final day of the 2010 legislative session, lawmakers reached agreements on key education bills.

Thank you to legislators and especially parents and education advocates who worked so hard on behalf of kids this legislative session.
Basic education funding bill

Lawmakers took the next step in implementing last year’s historic education reform bill (House Bill 2261) by approving the Quality Education Council’s recommendations in House Bill 2776. The legislation:
•Establishes a new and more transparent school funding formula;
•Lowers class sizes in kindergarten through third grade and increases funding to cover maintenance and operations costs; and
•Revises how the state pays for pupil transportation costs.

Thank you to Rep. Pat Sullivan, Rep. Marcie Maxwell and Rep. Skip Priest for your hard work to begin fully funding basic education.

Race to the Top reforms Washington is in a better position to win a $250 million federal Race to the Top grant thanks to the passage of Senate Bill 6696. The bill will also improve Washington’s public schools by:
•Adopting the State Board of Education’s guidelines on turning around consistently low-performing schools;
•Revising teacher evaluations and creating new principal evaluation criteria; and
•Expanding teacher preparation and recruitment pathways.

Thank you to Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, Sen. Eric Oemig and Sen. Curtis King for your work on this bill.

Early childhood education
Our state’s youngest learners received tremendous support from Olympia in House Bill 2731 and Senate Bill 6759. The bills reaffirm the state’s commitment to ensuring kids start kindergarten ready to succeed. The bills:
•Expand pre-school programs for three- and four-year olds across the state;
•Protect funding for early learning by making it a new state entitlement program; and
•Consider the establishment of a program of early learning in basic education.

Thank you to Rep. Roger Goodman, Sen. Claudia Kauffman and Rep. Ruth Kagi for being champions for kids.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

kids...kids...kids...

sometimes they can just make your day with the simplest of things, like their laugh.

they can infuriate you when they don't obey.

they can help each other with projects or play together for hours, never arguing, and perfectly content.

they can make you so proud that the emotion brings tears to your eyes.

they can give you a running commentary on every event in real time.

they make you smile at a memory.

they can surprise you when they do something on their own.

they can be instinctive and give you a hug out of the blue, which you later realise is exactly what you needed.

they can remind you of the rules when you have a lapse.

there is nothing like them and our lives are richer with them in it.

Monday, March 8, 2010

A New Love


This year was Chloe's first experience playing basketball on a team. I don't really count playing with me and goofing around.

She found herself on a team where she didn't know any of the girls. She had hoped to get on her classmates team but there was a glitch in the registration and she didn't get on that team. The first practice she walked in a bit apprehensive but did what I suggested; walked up and introduced herself to the group and coaches. Never looking back at me for reassurance or with a 'what am I doing here Mommy' look.


Turned out that she had seen a few of the girls at track and cross country meets. So now she had names to go with the faces. After that first practice she was among friends. All of the girls where very nice and fun and supportive of one another.




Each game was so much fun to watch.

1. watching her skills develop


2. watching her have fun


3. watching her learn a team sport


4. watching her find something new that she really, really loves


5. great family time spent encouraging her in her new pursuit




She had great coaches who taught the girls in a manner that was fun yet they worked the girls like mad. (when you are having fun you don't notice how much work it is)


They went with only 1 loss all year. And that team ended up being the same team that they had to play for the championship. The other team was undefeated for 2 years.


That last game was so intense and close in scoring that I was a bit hoarse after it was over. Yes, I'm an obnoxious mom, thankfully I wasn't the only one on our team who was loud.


When the last minute was almost over and our team was up by one it was so exciting to see the girls pull off the hugest upset! They were so proud of themselves for winning and how hard they worked to keep the other team in check.


The parents from our team whooped and hollered after the buzzer buzzed! It was off to DQ after the game for the team party! And boy where the girls riled up and excited. Add on some sugar from ice cream and cup cakes and you get a team like this!!


Awesome to see Chloe try something, give it her all and have a positive experience that has pushed her to keep practicing and to attend the Seattle Storm training camp.


I'm very proud of my girl!!