 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!   Find out what is important to your members before your delegates vote at the 2020 Legislative Assembly! WA State PTA has made it easy for PTA leaders to survey your members with this e-survey. Just send the link out to your members and WSPTA will send you the results for your school before legislative assembly starts to see your members’ responses. Your delegates can use these results to guide their votes along with the education and caucusing sessions available for all topics. This survey will provide great input to help your delegates represent your PTA. Looking for help on how to communicate this e-survey with your members? Check out the wording from WSPTA's Communication Kit for local PTAs below that includes longer messaging for articles and shorter messaging for social media posts. The e-survey closes on October 9th, so make sure to start sharing it today! Short Messaging to Promote the E-Survey What issues are most important to you? Hurry - the e-survey closes on 10/9! Your voice matters -- please take a few minutes and complete our [insert your PTA or council name) PTA e-survey. There’s a wide range of topics and we need your input when we vote at the upcoming Washington State PTA Legislative Assembly. The survey is just titles only, so take a few moments to review the WSPTA Voters’ Guide. But don’t delay, the e-survey closes on 10/9. Longer Messaging to Promote the E-Survey (Option A) What issues are most important to you? Hurry - the e-survey closes on 10/9! Your voice matters -- please take a few minutes and complete our [insert your PTA or council name) PTA e-survey. There’s a wide range of advocacy issues and we need your voice to help our PTA delegates vote on the Top 5 issues that are most important to us. The survey also includes other proposed positions that delegates will vote on to develop the WSPTA platform. The issues all support the health, education, and welfare of children and youth -- from increasing access to mental health to preventing gun violence and suicide to closing the digital divide. Resolutions range from access to recess and unstructured play to improving outcomes in special education to dismantling institutional and systemic racism. Plus, one new principle against racism, discrimination, and oppression. The survey is just titles only, so take a few moments to review the WSPTA Voters’ Guide. But don’t delay, the e-survey closes on October 10/9. Longer Messaging to Promote the E-Survey (Option B) What issues are most important to you? Hurry - the e-survey closes on 10/9! Member voice matters — please take a few minutes and complete our [insert your PTA name) PTA e-survey. There’s a wide range of advocacy issues and we need your voice to help our PTA delegates vote on the Top 5 issues that are most important to us. The survey also includes other proposed positions that delegates will vote on to develop the WSPTA platform. The issues all support the health, education, and welfare of children and youth but the proposed platform covers a wide spectrum of advocacy positions and legislative policies from increasing access to mental health to preventing gun violence and suicide to closing the digital divide. There are also eight resolutions with topics ranging from access to recess and unstructured play to improving outcomes in special education to dismantling institutional and systemic racism. Plus one new principle against racism, discrimination, and oppression. Take the e-survey and let us know what’s important to you. There’s also a WSPTA Voters’ Guide to give you more information on all the issues as the survey just has the titles. Take a few moments to review that information as you take the e-survey. Your replies will help guide our PTA’s delegates when they vote at the upcoming WSPTA Legislative Assembly in late October where the new 2020-2021 Platform will be set. Take a few moments to learn more about the proposed positions and share your priorities with us with the e-survey But don’t delay the e-survey closes on October 9.  Registration is now open for the 42nd Annual WSPTA Legislative Assembly!
PTA delegates from across the state will come together to update the WSPTA legislative platform. At legislative assembly, discover the power PTA has to advocate for the success of every child – the whole child. In PTA every member has an equal voice, and your input matters a great deal to the success of PTA's grassroots member-driven platform. PTA is needed more than ever right now, and you can help! Key Things to Note:
The Washington State PTA legislative platform is a two-year platform to mirror the Washington state legislative cycle. This year, as with every even-numbered year, the new platform will be voted on by members during the legislative assembly. Learn about WSPTA's current legislative priorities and other supported issues by clicking here. 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. Check out the Legislative Assembly web page to learn more about this year's event.   What is advocacy? Advocacy for the PTA is supporting and speaking up for children, families, and schools!
All of these actions and many others are Advocacy! This year, Council will have lots of opportunities for your PTA/PTSA to advocate for children! Check out our Advocacy Page for more information. Looking to get started now? Try to black out our Advocacy Bingo board!
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