Legislative Assembly 2019 Wrap-up

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!

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A Focus on Mental Health

A central focus of the event was on the mental health needs of students and began with a moving and inspiring legislator panel. State Sen. Manka Dhingra, Sen. Judy Warnick, Rep. Carolyn Eslick and Rep. Noel Frame spoke passionately about why they focus their legislative work on mental health and shared personal stories of mental health struggles in their families. Past WSPTA and National PTA and current Region 1 Advocacy Chair Laura Bay moderated the panel, asking questions about the new law which facilitates Parent-Initiated Care for their adolescent children. Here is a one-page handout on the important things parents need to know about the changes to the law (HB 1874): 

hb1874_handout.pdf
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One-page handout about the changes to the Adolescent Behavioral Health Care Access Act

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
  

Updates to the WSPTA Legislative Platform

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!).

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. Come to the Northshore Council general meeting when we'll be offering a training session on How to Use WSPTA Positions for Local Advocacy on November 18 at 7pm at the NSD Administration Building, 3330 Monte Villa Parkway, Bothell.
3. Mark your calendar now for Focus Day: January 20, 2020, a day of advocacy in Olympia. Need a ride? Let us know that you want to join Northshore Council’s Focus Day Transportation.