Author: ccrowe

“We look at the same stars and see such different things.” – George R.R. Martin

Welcome to the new Stargazing with Stand newsletter! Stargazing can ease minds and rejuvenate, so periodically we’ll take a moment to pause, visiting the highlights and stories that give us hope. It also lets us view things from a different perspective. At Stand for Children, we value and appreciate the ways youth across Washington are unique. We work so all young Washingtonians receive meaningful access to a high quality, relevant education.

This newsletter will also be led by our newest colleague Ciarra Crowe, our new Marketing and Communications Manager. She joins us from Northern Virginia, where she was born and raised, and is a proud HBCU alumnus of North Carolina A&T State University, where she received her degree in Journalism & Mass Communication. Ciarra is a communications strategist who uses her skillset to tell stories, shift narratives, and uplift communities. Read her full bio.

Without further ado, let’s share updates from this month:

Teacher Appreciation!

May is the time we celebrate teachers for all that they do for our students, schools, and communities. We know that the past few years have been incredibly challenging for all of us, and teachers continue to provide adaptive leadership, stability, and warm & welcome classrooms across Washington State. We see you, we appreciate you, and we celebrate you! If there are any teachers you would love to appreciate and share how they made a positive impact on you, you can do so here. 

Bill Signing

On Monday, HB 1169 was signed into law to eliminate all youth fines and fees! Thank you so much to Civil Survival, the Center for Children & Youth Justice, the Berkeley Law Policy Advocacy Clinic, the DFYJWA Coalition, and Gov. Inslee!

Building Bridges to Dual Credit Equity

At the end of the month we will wrap up our 2nd annual series of dual credit equity virtual convenings with schools and school districts. Launched on April 21st, these have been critical conversations with educators about how to ensure students can equitably access the courses they need in order to transition to life beyond high school. 

Videos from the April 21st event are available on YouTube and more resources on dual credit equity are on our website. We’re excited to be building a powerful movement of educators committed to equity and access!

Mental Health Action Day

Did you know that today is Mental Health Action Day? The goal of this day is to shift the culture of mental health from awareness to action. We know one key way to take action is by passing legislation that supports the mental health of students or stopping legislation that will harm students. See below how we’ve done this in recent years: 

In 2021, our community helped pass SB 5030, a bill that ensures that at least 80% of counselors’ time is spent providing services to students. It also created a definition for comprehensive school counseling that included mental health and social/emotional support in addition to academic guidance. We also supported a bill to allow students to take mental health days as excused absences from school. 

In 2022, we supported critical legislation to increase funding and staff allocations for school support roles such as school counselors, social workers, psychologists and nurses. This additional funding will level the playing field for districts that otherwise wouldn’t have these much-needed resources. 

However, there’s still much to be done to ensure all students are safe and supported at school. As Kia Franklin, Stand’s WA Executive Director, puts it: 

“Students are whole, complex people. They do not leave their home lives and community lives behind when they walk on campus; nor do the complexities of navigating school cease to impact them at the final bell each day. Stand aims to be a unique catalyst for education equity in Washington State, and to do that we must continue to center, identify and address the unique mental health needs of students statewide.” 

The cherry blossoms are out in Olympia. Legislators and lobbyists alike are sneaking into the sun for a few enjoyable minutes after weeks on the floor and in meeting rooms, debating and hashing out important policy decisions. But we’re just two days away from “sine die” – the official term for the last day of legislative session – on April 23.

We know a lot about how things are shaping up for our policy priorities, but one area that’s coming down to the wire is the Ninth Grade Success program funding. As you know, dedicated funding wasn’t included in either budget proposal earlier this year. The proposals actually repurposed the federal funding schools were relying on – effectively eliminating the program. 

We expect a final, negotiated budget to be released Saturday at noon, and we’ll know more then about the fate of the Ninth Grade Success funding. One thing is certain – this community did everything possible to elevate this to lawmakers. We are so grateful to all of you who signed our petition, called your legislators, and shared information about this proven and transformative program to raise high school graduation rates and support students to thrive in a pivotal year. Regardless of the outcome of this session, we are very appreciative of  your advocacy. 

On the policy front, we’re excited to share that a number of our priority bills are heading to the Governor’s office for signature with bipartisan support!

• HB 1169 eliminates mandatory legal financial obligations for youth and adults, and also eliminates the remaining discretionary court fees for juveniles as well as making prior non-restitution debt for young people uncollectible. This is a big victory, salvaged from the defeat of SB 5474 earlier this session. 
• Two dual credit bills are also headed to the Governor: SB 5048 eliminates fees for participating in College in the High School, paving the way for more students to earn college credits that will help them transition to college. HB 1316 makes summer Running Start an option throughout the state, and ensures that students who have graduated high school can participate the summer after their senior year to help them complete their AA degree. 
• SB 5243 directs OSPI to identify a common online platform for the High School and Beyond plan, and to engage students, families, and communities in the process. This is a step towards more consistent and robust planning for postsecondary opportunities throughout a high school experience. 

We’ll share another update next week with a breakdown of the final budget, and in a few weeks we’ll offer a more comprehensive reflection on this legislative session. 

We’re so grateful to each of you for sticking with us through this long session until the bitter end!

We are in the final weeks of session. Lawmakers are tired, and there are significant differences between the House and the Senate budget proposals to work out. This year, there are also new budget dynamics as federal pandemic relief funds will expire next year and must be allocated and spent before they do. 

Amidst this, our big headline is: Ninth Grade Success Funding is not included in either budget proposal. Worse, the budget proposals are set to use funds that the state Office of Public Instruction had already allocated for Ninth Grade Success and other programs, to fund other priorities. This would result in devastating cuts to programs that are working, and that are already in place to help students and families around the state. 

What’s next? The House & Senate will need to reconcile their two budget proposals through a conference committee, where lead budget writers for both chambers will negotiate the contents of the final budget. We are keeping the pressure on to include Ninth Grade Success funding – without this action, 12,000 students will lose access to this proven program. 

In a bright spot, our juvenile legal financial obligations work got a second life through a combination of bills and budget provisos! HB 1169 was amended to include elimination of all non-restitution court fees and costs. Additionally, two budget provisos were included in the budget proposals to fund additional data and community engagement work on this important topic. HB 1169 will need to be voted off the Senate floor by April 12, and the provisos, one in each budget, will need to both be included in the final budget proposal. 

The lesson of this session is, your continued advocacy makes a difference! Thanks to you, our fines & fees work lives to see another day, and I know that with your help we can get across the finish line for Ninth Grade Success. Take action today!

It’s day 75 of the legislative session and the pace just continues to accelerate, with 30 days remaining for lawmakers to pass crucial policies and make difficult budget decisions. Maybe the cherry blossoms and the sun coming out have provided added momentum, because as we spring toward the end of session, some of our key efforts that were once at risk of slowing down or stalling now seem to be getting a second wind. But we’ve got to keep pushing, so updates and action items are below!      

Although our two priority policies did not advance as bills, we are excited to share that the elimination of remaining juvenile legal fines and fees, originally part of SB 5474, has been included as an amendment to HB 1169, the Legal Financial Obligations bill that we’ve been watching and supporting. HB 1169 passed out of the Senate Law & Justice committee on Wednesday night and will now need to be heard and passed out of the Senate Ways and Means committee by April 4th.                      

Upon passage of the bill, this would in effect fully eliminate all juvenile fines and fees for young people adjudicated in juvenile court in Washington State! We’re grateful for and standing in solidarity with lawmakers and community members who saw the opportunity to get juvenile fines and fees off the books this session.             

Hope remains for Ninth Grade Success Teams as well, originally SB 5408. Right now we’re ramping up our advocacy, urging lawmakers to fund the Ninth Grade Success Teams approach in the upcoming biennium budget. Kia from Stand and Henterson from CHSS testified today at the Senate Budget Hearing, and we ask that you please consider joining in this effort as well by calling your Senator today!                                                           

For added context, the Senate budget proposal came out yesterday on the heels of an updated revenue forecast indicating lower-than-anticipated state revenues in the coming years. The forecast included a reduction in state general fund dollars by about $407 million in the next two years. This painted a rather dim picture for funding requests. Which is why your voice is going to be essential in amplifying and ensuring that the Ninth Grade Success Teams approach be included in the budget. 

To end on good news: Other education priorities we are tracking – including eliminating fees for college in the high school (SB 5048) and establishing a digital platform for high school and beyond plans (SB 5243) – continue to move through the process and received funding in the budget proposal!         

Next up: We’ll see the House budget proposal on Monday, and lawmakers in both chambers will then spend the rest of session working through the budget differences and developing a final budget proposal. We’ll be sure to keep you posted along the way.                                                                                         

Thank you for your advocacy and for staying in community with us this session! Happy Spring!