WSPTA members can send a strong message by showing up in Olympia on Focus Day, January 20, 2020, for a day of talking to legislators. Members should consult with their local PTA, council or region legislative/advocacy chair for assistance in making legislator appointments for Focus Day.

The Focus Day program will begin at First Christian Church (701 Franklin St SE, Olympia, WA 98501) starting at 9:30 am with an introduction to the day and information focused on the 2020 legislative session. WSPTA has reserved the church until 3 pm so that members can eat lunch or use it as a base between meetings.

Let WSPTA know you are planning to attend by registering for the event. You will also have the option to pre-purchase a convenient boxed lunch.

The most important tip for those leaders is to make appointments with the legislators as far in advance as possible! Input addresses here to get the names of the Representatives and Senator(s) for your school district and their contact information.

Want to ride in style and comfort for free? Let us know that you want to join Northshore Council’s Focus Day Transportation.

Once again this year, WSPTA will also be will be asking members to take action from home or your phone throughout an entire week. Each day will have a new prewritten message for members to send to their legislators regarding WSPTA legislative priorities. To participate, subscribe to the WSPTA Action Network to stay informed. Further details of this 2020 event, including the exact week, will be available soon!

Here are three things you can do to stay engaged in PTA advocacy:

1. Make sure you are signed up for advocacy information and action alerts through the WSPTA Action Network Group.

2. Familiarize yourself with Washington State PTA's updated legislative platform:

• Washington State PTA Advocacy - short-term Issues offer focus to our state-wide advocacy work for the upcoming legislative session.
  
• Washington State PTA Resolutions - long-term Resolutions guide our ongoing advocacy work from the local to the state level across a variety of areas.
  
• Washington State PTA's 2019-2020 Legislative Priorities (pdf) - check out our current Top 5 issues as well as also-supported issues.
  

3. Mark your calendar now for Focus Day: January 20, 2020, a day of advocacy in Olympia. Join fellow PTA/PTSA advocates in Olympia to meet with legislators, tour the capitol, and demonstrate advocacy in action. Want to ride in style and comfort for free? Let us know that you want to join Northshore Council’s Focus Day Transportation.

Questions? Do you want some help on figuring out how to approach an advocacy issue in your PTA's community or beyond? Contact our co-Advocacy VPs, Nancy Chamberlain and Charla Griffy Brown.

Washington State PTA held its 41st Annual Legislative Assembly October 26-27th at Bellevue College. The theme was “Superheroes of Advocacy”, and Northshore advocacy heroes made up more than 10% of the total attendees statewide!

Additional workshops, panels and classes to help legislative assembly attendees become better superhero advocates included:

• Interacting with Legislators, at which legislators and former school board members gave tips for better testimony (Sen. Kruderer, Sen. Stanford, Rep. Callan, Rep. Thai, and Rep. Ybarra)
• Arm Yourself with Data from the Healthy Youth Survey
• Families of Students with Disabilities Overcoming Barriers, a presentation by OSPI and the Office of Education Ombuds    
• Mental Health Education – Risk Factors and Tools for Community Solutions
• High School and Beyond – Graduation Requirement Changes Unpacked, a presentation by the State Board of Education
• Advocating and Legislative Basics
• Advocating for Change – Beyond the Basics
• The Power of Resolutions for Making Change
• Understanding the Legislative Process in Olympia
  

New this year was a student track of classes and workshops:

• Student Advocacy Basics, with Sen. Wellman, Sen Wilson and Rep. Kloba
• Defining Your Hero Voice – Taking Steps to Advocate for Yourself as a Student
  

The “work” of legislative assembly is to adopt new public policy positions for WSPTA and its local PTAs, councils and members to advocate on. These include both short-term legislative issues, which are actionable in Olympia, and long-term positions which can be used at any level of decision-making: school, school district, city, county, state and nationally.

Since the WSPTA Legislative Platform runs on a two-year cycle, this year delegates only had one new issue to adopt for the 2020 platform: Equitable Identification of Highly Capable Students. Delegates also amended the top 5 issue Prevent Gun Violence. The new and revised issues can be found on the 2020 WSPTA Legislative Platform (be on the lookout for new and updated one-pagers for each of the issues coming soon).

Delegates also adopted a new permanent legislative principle on Family and Community Engagement, and four new permanent resolutions. Three of the new resolutions are fundamental to how PTAs should address their mission, outlook on membership, and fundraising. The titles of the new resolutions are:

• Vital Impact of Membership on PTA’s Sustainability
• Mission-Focused Fundraising
• Equitable Education Opportunities to Close Gaps Across the Achievement Spectrum

Delegates also adopted a new resolution on Gun Violence Prevention and Safety – Students and School Staff.

In addition, delegates also amended fifteen existing resolutions with updates to ensure their continued relevance for ongoing advocacy work.

The list of all WSPTA resolutions can be found on the WSPTA Resolutions webpage (updated text for all of the new and updated resolutions will be available soon!).

Registration is now open for this year's WSPTA Legislative Assembly on October 26-27, 2019 at Bellevue College, Bellevue, WA!

PTA delegates from across the state will come together to update our WSPTA legislative platform in support of our vision of "Making every child's potential a reality." Delegates will have the opportunity to debate, amend, and vote on long-term resolutions and principles as well as new and amended short-term platform issues that will guide WSPTA's advocacy efforts in the upcoming legislative session.

The WSPTA Legislative Assembly 2019 Voter's Guide, contains information needed to familiarize yourself with these proposals. This year's delegates will be voting on one new legislative principle and one amended legislative principle,  one new legislative issue and one amended legislative issue, four new resolutions and 15 amendments to existing resolutions.

As a complement to the Voter's Guide, there is also a downloadable survey available that PTAs can use to gather input from the members of your local PTA or council that can help inform your delegates voting on the proposed issues, resolutions and principles.

Be a part of the process and help direct the course for WSPTA advocacy by serving as a delegate for your PTA!  If you are interested in attending Legislative Assembly as a delegate for your local PTA, contact your local PTA president.

Get all the details for this year's Legislative Assembly on the WSPTA website:

The membership of Northshore Council PTSA adopted a Furniture Tip-Over Prevention Resolution at its membership meeting on September 16, 2019. The full resolution is available for download below:

The idea to make this a PTA resolution comes from Moorlands PTA member (and librarian) Crystal Ellis. Crystal lost her two-year old son to a tragic accident involving an unsafe dresser. She has turned her grief into action, founding Parents Against Tip-Overs and advocating with members of Congress for legislation that would lead to safer furniture. She has even testified before Congress for passage of a law to improve and make mandatory regulations to prevent furniture tip-overs.

The bill, the STURDY act, has now passed the US House of Representatives with bipartisan support:
https://www.congress.gov/116/crec/2019/09/17/CREC-2019-09-17-pt1-PgH7720-3.pdf

Northshore Council PTSA will now submit the Furniture Tip-Over Resolution for adoption at the National PTA Convention in 2020.

In addition, WSPTA's Legislative Consultant, Marie Sullivan, has written some articles that also provide great insight into some of the new legislation. Check out her analyses:

Join Washington State PTA for Focus Day on Monday, February 11th and meet with our legislators in Olympia! Let's join together to show lawmakers that parents and students support excellence in education!

This year we will begin at The United Churches of Olympia located at 110 Eleventh Ave SE (the corner of Capitol Way and 11th, across the street from the Capitol grounds).

The Focus Day program will begin at 9:00 am with a presentation designed to help you better understand WSPTA priorities, the legislative process, and tips for talking to legislators. The program should end around 10:30 am.

Register for Focus Day here: www.eventbrite.com/e/wspta-focus-day-2019-tickets-55040539736

Don't want to drive??? Once again, Northshore Council PTSA will be offering a "bus" for members who wish to attend Focus Day in Olympia on Monday, February 11th. We'll be leaving from the NSD Admin building at 7:30am with a planned return time of 3:30pm.

Email FocusDay@northshorecouncilptsa.org to save your seat on the bus!

There is a wealth of information about Focus Day available via Washington State PTA. Resources include:

• Invitation to PTA Members to Attend Focus Day (YouTube)
  
• Focus Day/Advocacy Week Event Page
• Advocacy in Olympia: Show Up to Speak Up on Focus Day February 11, 2019
• Focus Day Postcard (pdf)
• Washington State PTA's 2019 Legislative Platform (pdf)
  

Join us as we meet with our Northshore legislators in Olympia to show that parents and students support excellence in education! Once again, Northshore Council PTSA will be offering a "bus" for members who wish to attend Focus Day in Olympia on Monday, February 11th. We'll be leaving from the NSD Admin building at 7:30am with a planned return time later that day of 3:30pm.

Email FocusDay@northshorecouncilptsa.org to save your seat on the bus!

Are you interested in making your voice heard???

During the Washington State Legislative Sessions, Washington State PTA will send action alerts and informational broadcasts to WSPTA members who have subscribed to WSPTA's Action Network Group. These action alerts are quick, easy ways to communicate with our legislators on topics they are actively working on that relate to WSPTA's legislative platform.


You can sign up here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/subscribe-to-wsptas-action-network-group.

At Washington State PTA's 40th annual Legislative Assembly, October 20-21 at Green River College in Auburn, WA, PTA delegates from around the state gathered together for presentations, education, debate and decision-making surrounding advocacy and building the new WSPTA legislative platform. Many thanks to all of the delegates from Northshore PTAs/PTSAs who participated in the process, as well as Northshore Council delegates Carrie McKenzie, Robin McKenzie, and Marcilla Proudfit.

Delegates approved three new legislative principles, four new resolutions as well as one amended resolution. In addition, a new two-year legislative platform was approved and the top five issues decided:

Be on the lookout for more details and supporting handouts on these issues in the coming weeks. For more information on these issues and to find out how you can get involved and support WSPTA advocacy efforts, visit the WSPTA Advocacy page. 

During the Washington State Legislative Sessions, WSPTA will send action alerts and informational broadcasts to WSPTA members who have subscribed to WSPTA's Action Network Group. These action alerts are quick, easy ways to communicate with our legislators on topics they are actively working on that relate to WSPTA's legislative platform. You can sign up here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/subscribe-to-wsptas-action-network-group.

If you are interested in learning more about how you and/or your PTA can use these platform issues to advocate at a local level, you can also reach out to Northshore Council's Advocacy VPs, Nancy Chamberlain and Charla Griffy Brown.