Hello Whittier Families,
As we head into break, I'm writing to share a timely advocacy opportunity from SCPTSA President, Samantha Fogg. See below for information on how to pressure the legislature to adequately fund Special Education.
Thank you and have a wonderful break,
Megan Wildenradt, PTA Advocacy Chair
If you want to pressure the legislature to address their failure to fund Special Education please send an email to the members of the Appropriations Committee (emails are below).
Most effective - send a short personal email that says that the substitute bill on 1436 is not enough and that includes why this bill matters to you. You can also include the talking points below.
· The substitute bill is not enough. Please pass the original 1436.
· Democrats have repeatedly stated that funding Special Education is a priority, but the amount allocated in the substitute doesn’t fund like special education is a priority.
· Special Education is basic education and right now, our funding structure is set up so that our legislature fails to fund a basic education for some students solely on the basis of their disability.
· Statewide, OSPI has found that districts are spending over $400 million in local dollars for students with disabilities to have access basic education. We need funding that addresses this.
· The multiplier in the substitute bill is too low.
· Our legislators have the opportunity to make a better choice this session. We ask that they pass 1436 as originally written.
· Inclusion is best practice for every student, and in order for Washington to move to best practice, we need an investment in professional development and support to make the shift. IPP has been incredibly successful and it needs to continue.
· The cap tells our students that there is only so much room for disabled children in our schools and that is not accurate.
· Budgets are moral documents.
No time to write your own email? Copy and paste this and send to Appropriations Committee:
Chair Ormsby and Members of the Appropriations Committee,
The substitute put forward for HB1436 is not adequate and does not demonstrate that Special Education is a priority. The original HB1436 was excellent. All students in Washington, regardless of disability status, need to be able to access basic education, and our state has an obligation to fund that access. We are asking you to eliminate the arbitrary cap, fix the multiplier so that it addresses the documented gap in funding, fund inclusion - this is best practice for all students, and make sure that there is language access support for multilingual families who need access to special education.
For the future of Washington, we need all our children in our schools to have access to education, and we need our state to fund that access.
Please pass the original HB1436. The substitute does not meet the needs of Washington's students.
Thank you,
Name, Legislative District
address
Email addresses for House Appropriations Committee 2023
timm.ormsby@leg.wa.gov; steve.