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.