 Washington State PTA just hosted its first Virtual Legislative Assembly! Throughout the last few weeks, panels and classes were held over Zoom to help educate our Washington State PTA leaders. The 42nd Assembly then wrapped up October 24-25 with the general sessions and voting on issues and resolutions. This year's theme was PTA: Now More Than Ever. During the legislative assembly Washington State PTA and its local PTAs, councils, and members work together to develop short-term legislative issues and long-term PTA resolutions. The issues and resolutions can be used to advocate not only at state level with our elected representatives, but also within schools and districts to help support all children.  WSPTA Top 5 Legislative Issues: 1. Increase Access to Nursing, Mental Health, and Social Emotional Learning Staff 2. Support Students and Preserve Education Funding 3. Increasing Educational Equity by Closing the Digital Divide 4. Supports and Funding for Students with Disabilities and Their Families 5. Prevent and Reduce Gun Violence and Suicide Also Supported Issues: ♦ Equitable Identification and Services for Highly Capable Students ♦ Mitigating the Adverse Impacts of Climate Change ♦ Safe School Plans and Emergency Preparedness New and Updated Resolutions:
New Principle under the category of Safe and Nurturing Environments for Children and Youth: Washington State PTA shall identify and initiate education and action on public policy that provides safe and supportive settings and climates for children and youth. The association shall support:
Information and details about Washington State PTA’s full legislative platform can be found on their website: https://www.wastatepta.org/focus-areas/advocacy/  Our Washington State PTA leaders did a great job leading us through a legislative process that held true to the PTA spirit of consensus. Northshore PTSA council would like to thank our Washington State PTA Board of Directors, especially our president, Janice Kutzera, for the amazing amount of work they did to make this brand new virtual process not only flow smoothly, but also still allow delegates to use their voices to promote, defend, and oppose legislative proposals. We like to also thank Heidi Bennet, our Region 6 Advocacy Chair, who helped council and PTA presidents by developing a member survey that was sent out to PTA members in our region and informed voting delegates of the priorities of local members. Finally, thank you to our local presidents and advocacy chairs that shared out this survey! This is an exciting time in PTA to time to get your members involved. We know the state legislature will have a budget deficit and that school districts are facing added expenses due to the pandemic. We also know that children and their families are feeling frustrated and isolated. The PTA can help with education advocacy at a state level and with advocacy at a local level by forming personal connections to our members. It is time to PTA: NOW MORE THAN EVER.  How can you get involved in PTA advocacy? 1. Make sure you are signed up for advocacy information and action alerts through the Washington State PTA's Action Network! 2. Come to a Northshore Council general meeting or roundtable discussion! Our next General Meeting is November 16th at 7pm. See the full calendar on the Northshore PTSA website. 3. Mark your calendar for FOCUS DAY: January 18th, 2021 which is our opportunity to directly speak to legislators!  Comments are closed.
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