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.

On Monday, October 1, 2018, Northshore Council PTSA sponsored a Candidates Forum featuring candidates vying for state legislative positions in the 1st, 45th and 46th districts.

Candidates introduced themselves and then the forum began with questions that were solicited from the community and pre-selected in advance. All candidates were asked the same question, but the order was evenly rotated so that candidates took turns being the first to answer a question. Each candidate was allowed one minute to respond. Then there was a "lightning round" wherein each candidate was allowed 20 seconds to respond to each question. The evening ended with questions from the forum audience.

Many thanks to the 14 candidates who participated in the forum, including Derek Stanford, Debra Blodgett, Shelley Kloba, Manka Dhingra, Dale Fonk, Michael Curtis, Roger Goodman, Amber Krabach, Larry Springer, Beth Daranciang, David Frockt, Gerry Pollet, and Javier Valdez, as well as to the community members who made time to attend the event.

For those who were unable to attend in person, we are excited to be able to offer a recording of the event:

If the above plug-in does not work, access the recording via YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F0_0vwm9L8

Gratitude to forum organizers Nancy Chamberlain and Charla Griffy Brown, as well as to all of the volunteers who helped make this a successful event:

• Michele Holowachuk and her son for set-up,
• Susie Krost for greeting,
  
• Carrie McKenzie for guidance with logistics,
  
• Robin McKenzie and his daughter for filming,
  
• Rachel Northquist for greeting,
• Marcilla Proudfit for timkeeping, and
• Robin Zaback for communications and helping with questions from audience

If you have looked at Council's 2018-19 calendar, you may have noticed that we have included information about awareness months throughout the year. We hope that these may be helpful for you as you think about advocacy, meeting or parent education topics and more!

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month, working to raise awareness about the learning disorder that involves difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters and other symbols. In Washington state, nearly 1 in 5 students, or about 20% of the population, is impacted by by language-based learning disorders such as dyslexia.

Last year, the Washington State Legislature passed SB 6162, defining dyslexia and mandating development and implementation of screening processes and appropriate interventions in schools over the next few years. 

Washington State PTA Resolution 18.32 supports early screening for signs and symptoms of language processing disorders including but not limited to dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, with parental notification; and supports legislation for funding to support training of parents, teachers and other school personnel in early identification of language processing disorders and use of evidence based programs that provide explicit instruction including Multi-sensory Structured Language Teaching, with appropriate accommodations to provide students with equitable access to the general education curriculum.

Additional resources:

• International Dyslexia Association (IDA)
• IDA, Washington State Branch
• OSPI: English Language Arts - About Dyslexia
• Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity
• Dyslexia Talk with Laura Rogan (presentation sponsored by NSD SEPAC/HiCap Parent Groups)
  
• Learning Ally
  

The 40th annual WSPTA Legislative Assembly will take place October 20-21, 2018 at Green River College, Auburn, WA. PTA delegates from across the state will come together to set a new platform of legislative priorities for the 2018-2020 legislative session 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 that were brought forth by the members through the grassroots submission process late last spring. In addition, the assembly will vote on new short-term platform issues that WSPTA will focus on in the upcoming legislative session.

The Guide to Proposed Legislative Principles, Legislative Issues and Resolutions, also known as the WSPTA Legislative Assembly Voter Guide, contains information needed to familiarize yourself with these proposals.

If you are interested in attending Legislative Assembly as a delegate for your local PTA, contact your local PTA president.

Registration for Legislative Assembly is now open! Get all the details: https://www.wastatepta.org/events-programs/legislative-assembly/.

Your voice matters! Please take a few moments to share what’s important to you and your family by taking our online survey to help your PTA delegates vote on the TOP 5 issues that are most important to your school. The issues supporting the “Health, Education & Welfare” of our students cover a wide spectrum of legislative policies from school meals and closing to the gaps to preschool, recess, SEL, teacher shortages, gun safety and more. Take the survey to find out what’s on the proposed agenda and share your priorities with your PTA.

Take the survey: www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=f9b7c938-406a-4c06-ba71-ca3815a50562

Survey closes at midnight, Friday, 10/5/2018.

Northshore Council PTSA invites the community to join us for a Candidates Forum on Monday, October 1st, at the Northshore School District Administration Building (3330 Monte Villa Parkway, Bothell, WA 98021).

Meet and hear from candidates vying for state legislative positions in the 1st, 45th, and 46th Districts. The evening will begin with a meet and greet with candidates at 6:30 p.m. followed by the Candidates Forum at 7:00 p.m.

Do you have questions for the candidates? Ask them here:
       https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5VMHBSY

Questions? Email: Nancy Chamberlain & Charla Griffy Brown