This week saw some late night floor action, the start of “opposite chamber” policy committee hearings, and SB 5974 passed out of the House Human Services, Youth, & Early Learning committee this morning (9-2)!

Also exciting: the House and Senate budget proposals will be released Sunday and Monday. Monday is the last opportunity for the public to weigh in on the budget during the Appropriations and Ways & Means hearings on the proposals. Interested in testifying?

What we’ll be looking for in the budget:

  • Full funding for Ninth Grade Success Initiative – $2.9 million 
  • Funding for the Administrative Office of the Courts to continue analyzing legal financial obligations – $165,000
  • Funding to expand the juvenile justice block grant – $4 million 
  • Funding for Rally for College – $5 million 
  • Funding to fully implement HB 2214 and SB 5904 to remove barriers to financial aid access for low income students, and HB 2025 to expand access to the state work study program for community based organizations.

Actions you can take today:

  • If you haven’t yet emailed your lawmaker to express your support for $2.9m for Ninth Grade Student Success, click here!
  • Sign in pro on SB 5850, to address chronic absenteeism.

What’s next:

The next few weeks will continue to be a whirlwind as bill deadlines and budget negotiations come on fast and furious. Legislators (and their staff) will be working long hours to get bills through committees to a floor vote and to the Governor’s desk. Here are the remaining deadlines for bills: 

  • February 21 – Policy Committee – Opposite House Cutoff
  • February 26 – Fiscal Committee – Opposite House Cutoff
  • March 1 – Floor Cutoff except for bills that are necessary to implement the budget 
  • March 7 – Sine Die/Last day of Session

In advocacy, 

Liz Trautman
Government Affairs Director

Today marks day 33 of session, meaning we are more than halfway through this short, 60-day session. 

Right now, legislators are “on the floor” debating bills in the full House and full Senate. All bills must be passed out of their chamber of origin (i.e. Senate bills must be voted out of the Senate, and House bills must be voted out of the Senate) by next Tuesday, February 13 at 5pm. We also anticipate the House & Senate to release their budget proposals within the next two weeks.  

Successful Day of Action

Thank you to everyone who joined us to take action in support of Ninth Grade Success! While the bills we were supporting (HB 2053 and SB 5408) died this week, we have been focused on securing a budget proviso. Your action yesterday to contact your lawmaker came at a perfect time to influence the budget proposals (if you haven’t emailed your lawmaker yet, there’s still time!) Liz & Kia were in Olympia with our lobbyist, amplifying your voices and messages to lawmakers. 

Bill Updates

  • SB 5974 to eliminate uncollectible juvenile court debt passed the Senate last week, and has a House hearing next week. Click here to sign in pro by Feb 14 at 12:30pm.
  • Among the priorities for our High School Success Coalition, several are moving forward:
    • HB 2025 to expand college work study options to support postsecondary access is waiting for a vote in the House.  
    • HB 2214 which would automatically qualify SNAP recipients for the Washington College Grant is awaiting a vote in the House. Its companion bill, SB 6300 did not advance past Senate Ways & Means. 
    • SB 5904 which would align timelines for state financial aid programs with federal aid programs is scheduled for a vote in the Senate today! 
    • Unfortunately, SB 6254, which would have created a financial aid certification program and expanded navigation support at high schools and colleges did not advance out of Senate Ways & Means and is dead for the session. 
  • Among the juvenile justice priorities we are tracking:
    • HB 2217 would make some technical changes to ensure that most youth who commit offenses while under 18 are charged in juvenile court. It’s a commonsense and broadly supported bill that removes loopholes keeping youth from a more developmentally appropriate case resolution. It is awaiting a vote on the House floor. 
    • SB 6063 which would remove juvenile strikes from 3 strikes is still awaiting a vote on the Senate floor. 

Thank you for your continued advocacy, and for standing for students across Washington State!

In advocacy, 

Liz Trautman
Government Affairs Director

This week marked the first major deadline of legislative session – all bills had to receive a vote in the policy committee by Wednesday 1/31. We are now racing towards the second major cutoff – all bills that have a projected cost greater than $50,000 must receive a hearing and vote in a fiscal committee by Monday 2/5. The fiscal committees are meeting all day Saturday and Monday to try and move through as many bills as possible. 

Stand WA Priority Bills: 

  • HB 2053 (Ninth Grade Success Initiative) has received a hearing in a fiscal committee but has not yet been scheduled for a vote. If it doesn’t receive a vote by Monday the bill won’t advance, but we can still advocate for funding in the budget. 
  • SB 5974 (eliminating uncollectible juvenile court debt) was voted out of the Senate this week with a strong bipartisan vote. This is great news and means the bill is moving well ahead of schedule! It now needs to move through the process in the House of Representatives.

Other important priorities: 

  • Stand WA convenes the High School Success Coalition, which is prioritizing bills that support high school students to access post-secondary opportunities this session.
    • HB 2214 would ensure those receiving food benefits (such as SNAP) are automatically qualified for the Washington College Grant. This bill was heard in House appropriations yesterday and is scheduled for a vote on Saturday. 
    • HB 2025 would expand the number of students participating in the state work study program working in college access programs. It is scheduled for a hearing in House Appropriations on Saturday and for a vote on Monday. Sign in Pro here!
    • SB 5904 would align timeframes for state financial aid programs with federal financial aid programs, reducing confusion for students and removing barriers to completing their degree. It received a hearing in Senate Ways & Means but has not yet been scheduled for a vote. 
    • SB 6254 would expand college navigation and financial aid counseling for students. It has a hearing scheduled on Saturday in Senate Ways & Means, but has not yet been scheduled for a vote. Sign in “pro” here

Tune into tvw.org to watch the Appropriations and Ways & Means committees live this weekend and Monday, and we will provide an update on bill status next week. 

In advocacy, 

Liz Trautman
Government Affairs Director

As we end Week 3, we’re just a few days away from the first major cutoff of legislative session. All bills must have a hearing and receive a vote by Wednesday, January 31 in a policy committee or they will not move forward this session (there are exceptions for budget-related bills).

Deadlines are also approaching for legislators to submit their budget requests to begin building budget proposals. We’re seeing the legislature begin to prioritize some bills and budget items over others, which will only increase over the coming weeks. 
We’ve learned that the Ninth Grade Success Initiative bills (HB 2053 and SB 5408) are unlikely to move forward this session, so we’re focusing on securing budget investments via our House and Senate champions. It is essential our champions and budget leaders hear about the impact of this work in communities across Washington. Please join our virtual Day of Action on Feb. 8 as one way to commit to contacting your lawmaker. 

Other highlights from this week

  • SB 5974, to remove unenforceable juvenile court debt that can follow people for a lifetime, moved out of the Senate Rules committee. The next step is a vote by the full Senate by Feb 13. 
  • SB 6254 was heard on Wed.; this bill from Sen. Nobles would expand student navigational supports to increase postsecondary enrollment, with a particular emphasis on helping students with the financial aid process. 
  • Two important bills regarding resentencing individuals received hearings this week and are scheduled for votes early next week.
    • HB 2065 would allow resentencing for people who are serving very long sentences because years were added to their sentence while they were children.
    • HB 2001 is a pathway for individuals with very long sentences who have shown rehabilitation while incarcerated to be resentenced.

Did you know: Both bills above have profound racial justice implications. Nearly 1 in 4 individuals serving very long prison sentences are Black, while Black people make up less than 5 percent of the Washington population. And Washington incarcerates Indigenous people at more than 6x the rate of white people. This over-policing and over-incarceration begins in childhood; we’re committed to preventing youth criminalization and supporting efforts to review lengthy sentences based on outdated practices.

We will need to keep the pressure on for all our priorities in order to keep them top of mind for lawmakers as they whittle down their priorities in the coming week. Stay tuned for action opportunities!

In advocacy, 


Liz Trautman
Government Affairs Director

Claim your free day of action sticker

Despite the frigid temperatures in Olympia and around the state, it was a week packed with hearings. Committees also started voting on bills (called “taking executive action”). There are only 12 days left for bills to receive a committee vote in order to advance in the legislative process. 

Great news! 

SB 5974, which would create an automatic process to remove uncollectible juvenile court debt, advanced out of committee! After a strong hearing in the Senate and House, this important legislation advanced out of Senate Human Services on Thursday. It goes next to the Rules Committee; it must be pulled from rules to the floor for a vote by February 13. 

A few other bills also moved forward out of committee: SB 6021 which would eliminate the cost of prison phone calls to better connect families with incarcerated loved ones; and SB 5981 which was written by currently incarcerated students. 

Ninth Grade Success Spotlight 

Rep Stonier’s bill HB 2053 had a fantastic hearing in the House Appropriations Committee, featuring student and administrator voices from around the state. The Daily Herald also highlighted the impact of Ninth Grade Success funding in Snohomish County in a recent article. Thank you to everyone who signed in pro for the bill!

Hearings to watch next week: 

  • SB 6082 (Nobles) – Increasing compensation for Washington paraeducators, hearing Monday 1/22 at 10:30am in Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education committee. Sign in Pro!
  • HB 2065 (Stearns) – Recalculating sentencing ranges for currently incarcerated individuals whose offender score was increased by juvenile convictions, hearing Monday 1/22 at 1:30pm in House Community Safety, Justice & Reentry committee. Sign in Pro!
  • HB 1228 (Ortiz-Self) – Building a multilingual, multiliterate Washington through dual and tribal language education, hearing Monday 1/22 at 1:30pm in House Education committee. Sign in Pro!

These are just a handful of important bills up for consideration; you can follow along with all the action at tvw.org and see the daily hearing schedule at leg.wa.org

In advocacy, 

Liz Trautman
Government Affairs Director

Today is the end of the first week of session, and with just 55 days remaining to consider hundreds of policy proposals and develop a supplemental budget, things are moving very quickly. Educators and administrators testified on the Governor’s budget Monday and Tuesday to urge lawmakers to include $2.9m in the final budget for the Ninth Grade Success Initiative. 

Stand’s top priority bills, and several supporting priorities, have key hearings next week. Read on for more info about how you can support!

KEY HEARINGS NEXT WEEK

  • Monday, January 15: What better way to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. than to advocate for bills to advance racial justice and undo the harms of our juvenile legal system?
    • Click here to sign in pro for SB 5974, which would require courts to waive uncollectible juvenile court debt from the record. This is old debt that courts may no longer collect, but it remains “on the books” and is holding back economic mobility for thousands of Washingtonians.
    • Please sign in PRO by 9:15am on Mon. 
  • Tuesday, January 19Click here to sign in pro for HB 2251, which is the House version of the bill to waive uncollectible court debt from the record. Please sign in PRO by 12:15pm on Tues.
  • Wednesday, January 17: Click here to sign in pro for HB 2053, which would establish the Ninth Grade Success Initiative in law, ensuring ongoing commitment to targeted supports for this pivotal transition year. Please sign in PRO by 2:45pm on Wed.

What is “signing in pro” anyway? 

You can let the committee know your position on a bill (pro, con, or “other”) from the comfort of your own home, without even testifying! By clicking the links above and filling out a simple online form, you can note your support of a bill formally for the legislative record. It helps lawmakers know how strongly the community feels about a bill. 

What else should I be watching next week? 

In addition to our priority bill hearings, there will be hearings on bills to remove barriers to financial aid and expand access to peer mentors for students considering their college and career options. There are also multiple juvenile justice bills being heard next week, including one written by currently incarcerated students. We urge your support! 

Is there anything else I should know?

All bills must have a hearing and a vote in a policy committee by January 31, or they will not be able to advance this session. Hearings are a critical step in the process! You can watch hearings live, or check out the recordings, at tvw.org.

Stay tuned for action alerts in support of our bills and our partner priorities next week! 

In advocacy, 

Liz Trautman
Government Affairs Director

—-

This session, Stand WA is continuing to advocate for evidence-based strategies to support student success. We need Washington state to invest in these supports, including investing crucial funds to sustain the Ninth Grade Success Initiative and support work in 53 schools serving more than 13,000 students in Washington. 

This is why our Executive Director Kia C. Franklin and Henterson Carlisle (NW Regional Director of CHSS) co-authored an Op-Ed in the Seattle Medium that underscores the need to focus on the success of 9th graders as the single greatest investment our state can make in increasing graduation rates and closing equity gaps, and in turn, in empowering students as they prepare for the future.

However, with funding in jeopardy many schools that are doing great work may have to scale back or stop the Ninth Grade Success Initiative work altogether. This impacts schools like Royal High School in Central Washington. In one year, Royal boosted their on-track rates by 32% and nearly eliminated the disparity between white and Latino students. This also means that Meridian High School in NW Washington may have to stop their Ninth Grade Success work, which is closing opportunity gaps for students receiving special education services (whose on-track rates jumped 17 points with the Ninth Grade Success Initiative).

Investing In Ninth Grade Success: A Crucial Step Towards Equitable Education sheds a light on the importance of funding this critical initiative and what’s at stake this legislative session.

“Another important result of this work is that students begin to feel they are in a place that genuinely cares about them as human beings. In many cases this could be the first time in a student’s educational career to experience a true sense of belonging.”

Read the full article here. To track progress on this effort, subscribe to our email list for updates!

Winter is setting in and as we look ahead to 2024, it’s clear that your community and partnership will be as important as ever before. Please enjoy our final newsletter of 2023, and have a happy holiday season! 

december highlights

NEW BRIEF: INCREASING ACCESS TO ADVANCED COURSEWORK IN WASHINGTON

In a new brief with EdTrust, we outline recommendations for ways to increase equitable enrollment in dual credit classes and increase the benefits of taking these classes, including saving students time and money by earning college credit. View the report! 

2023 ANNUAL REPORT

When we are united, our children prosper and our community thrives. Our team is incredibly grateful for this community and your contribution to the impact we’ve made in 2023. There’s true power in togetherness and we are better off for it.

This year alone we:

  • Advocated to keep critical funding investments for the Ninth Grade Success Initiative
  • Eliminated all remaining juvenile court fines and fees
  • Removed fees for College in the High School and expanded access to summer Running Start

We couldn’t have done any of it without you:

  • 13,480 community members digitally engaged with us by taking action and staying updated
  • 547 community members signed our Ninth Grade Success petition
  • 21 people stepped up to testify on our legislative priorities — including 8 youth, young adults, and community members with direct lived experience of the court system

NINTH GRADE SUCCESS ACTION NEEDED

Disappointing news: Gov. Inslee’s budget proposal released last week failed to invest crucial funds to sustain the Ninth Grade Success Initiative. Luckily – the legislature will convene in January to consider the proposal, so now is the time to take action so they know this is a community priority! 

Help us send a loud and clear message before the legislative session starts that we need to support the work in 53 schools, serving more than 13,000 students in Washington.

ICYMI

  1. Our advocacy training recording is live
  2. Missed a previous edition of Stargazing with Stand? We’ve got you covered! They’re all available on our website. Here are a few items for your holiday reading list:
    1. Perspectives: The state of Washington dual credit courses today
    2. ACLU WA Blog: Diversion in the Juvenile Justice System
    3. Treehouse Report: Ending the Foster Care-to-Prison Pipeline 
    4. Washington Roundtable Report: Projected Decline in Credential Attainment Demands Bold Action 

Do you know any 9th graders? We want to hear from you! 

Help us end 2023 strong by making a tax-deductible donation before the year ends. Every dollar counts!

MESSAGE FROM KIA FRANKLIN

It’s been almost a month since I returned to work from maternity leave, and I’m still quite sleep-deprived and missing the long stretches of time with the baby. That said, alongside copious amounts of coffee, I’ve received daily energizers from Stand’s community of changemakers who are committed to building more equitable and affirming systems for children and youth statewide.

While current events have brought on a sense of heaviness and grief for so many of us, I count joy in the dedicated leadership and service orientation of the Stand WA team (pictured below during our November strategy meeting). I’m humbled and emboldened by the dynamic and brilliant youth advocates we collaborated with this month at CHOOSE 180, LYAC, and the NAACP Youth Council. And I’m filled with gratitude for fierce education leaders like Doug Judge and Natasha Fecteau Minger, whose commitment to serving students is unrelenting and inspiring. These folks, and many more, give us a renewed sense of community, connection, and collective purpose to carry ahead as we prepare for a busy legislative session in just over a month.

Last but absolutely not least, this generous community affirmed our efforts last week by participating in Giving Tuesday. Thank you for the collective act of generosity! It is a gift that will lead to collective impact for children and youth across our state. 

Stay Stargazing! 
Kia    

NOVEMBER highlights

RECAP: COMMUNITY TOWN HALL

Last week’s Community Town Hall was incredibly honest and inspiring! Hearing from the panelists and community members who shared their sincere concerns for Washington’s youth gave us a renewed sense of community, connection, and collective purpose. Even though 2023 is coming to a close in a month, this is only a starting point for the work we’ll do together. 

UPCOMING EVENT: ADVOCACY TRAINING

Would you like to learn about becoming an advocate who can influence legislators and push for change? The advocacy training THIS Wednesday, December 6 at 4pm will teach you everything you need to know! Can’t attend? We encourage you to register so you’ll be able to receive a recording of the training and receive upcoming advocacy opportunities.

What We’ve Been Reading: 

Do you know any 9th graders? We want to hear from you! 

The November 29th Community Town Hall was incredibly honest and inspiring! Hearing from the panelists and community members who shared their sincere concerns for Washington’s youth gave us a renewed sense of community, connection, and collective purpose. Even though 2023 is coming to a close in a month, this is only a starting point for the work we’ll do together. 

We encourage you to stay connected with our team and you can do it a few ways:

Resources

These resources were shared during the event from Stand for Children Washington Staff or panelists.

PANELISTS

  • Eros Nelson, NAACP Youth Leader
  • Ashlye Triebs, Legislative Youth Advisory Council (LYAC) Member
  • Natasha Fecteau Minger, Parent Ambassador & 2023 candidate for North Kitsap School Board
  • Doug Judge, Washington Coach, Center for High School Success

PANELIST BIOS

Hello everyone! My name is Ashlye Triebs! I am a fellow for Fuse Washington on Clark College’s Campus. I am a junior at Columbia River High School and a full-time running start student at Clark College. I am 16 years old and working towards my Associate in Arts degree emphasizing Political Science. Civic engagement has always been a valuable part of my identity and life. My gateway towards civic involvement in my youth all started by canvassing for congresswoman Marie Glusenkamp Perez in the most recent election when I was 15. Being young and involved is just a step ahead in my future. Exercising and protecting one’s civic rights is something I will always advocate for. As of August 2023, I have committed to my position as a member of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council in Olympia, where we work to amplify and accommodate the needs of youth across the state by advocating for bills with our legislature. Being one person on this council has been a thrilling and life-changing experience in my life! In my future, I want to accomplish a master’s in Public Policy and a bachelor’s in Political Science with a minor in history. Down the road in my career, I would like to pursue a career in lobbying and take some form of office in D.C. A career with UNICEF and FEMA is also a fun thought!

I am Eros Nelson, a senior at the center school and member of the NAACP youth council. I also run my school’s RJA (racial Justice alliance) and am a member of my school’s BSU (black student union). I am a active member of my community and avid fighter against the injustices me and my peoples face.

Natasha Fecteau Minger is an Alaska Native Aleut living on the Kitsap Peninsula with her husband Jeff and her son N’khelai. The only high school graduate in her family of origin, she has fought hard for every educational opportunity for her own son, who has a spectrum diagnosis. She is committed to a public education system that meets students where they are and values the role of families more than the bureaucracy of public education. As a Washington State Parent Ambassador, she has worked towards increasing the quality of early learning in our state for more than a decade and dreams of innovative educational environments that inspire educators and develops the intrinsic rewards in students of learning and meeting challenges. She recently ran for school board and gained valuable insight for her own journey as she fights for educational equity in our state.

Doug Judge is a 9th Grade Success Coach, working with incredible schools and districts in NW Washington state. Doug was drawn to 9th grade success work at CHSS based on its strong evidence of effectiveness in addressing systemic inequities across very diverse districts, states, and regions. Doug finds this work refreshing in its creativity and its centering of student voices to guide change efforts.  

Doug has worked in a variety of roles in foster care, juvenile justice, and public and institutional school settings, most recently as a high school administrator and a district SEL director. His Ph.D. is in special education, and his research and teaching interests include SEL, alternatives to exclusionary discipline, and addressing mental health, trauma, and resilience in schools through MTSS. Doug and his wife Kelly live in West Seattle, where their 4 magical daughters keep them filled with wonder. In 9th grade, Doug was working on a small farm, playing sports, and starting to fall in love with books. 


Upcoming Training:

Can’t make it on Nov. 29th, but want to learn more about advocacy? Join our Advocacy Training on Dec. 6th!