Compromise budget includes $50 million for MSOC, $2 million for timber districts

House and Senate budget negotiators gathered at 12:30 today to sign the compromise supplemental operating budget, which:

• includes $50 million in additional MSOC;
• shifts the $97 million from 1,080 instructional hours to begin a phase in of a  24-credit diploma; and 
• restores $2 million to school districts with 57% poverty in counties that receive federal timber payments. 

All three issues support positions adopted by the 2013 Legislative Assembly. 

Additional funding for MSOC will help the Legislature be better prepared for the 2015-17 biennial budget and the phase in of the McCleary decision and ESHB 2261 (2009). Over the interim, school districts identified issues with the funding for 1,080 hours and several bills were introduced to make sure the funding was spent in a meaningful way. The federal timber payment issue has been on the WSSDA positions list for years.

Budget being printed, Senate action signals it's done

While the Twitter world is going crazy, sharing that the budget has been agreed to and is at the printer's, the Senate just sent up a flare by putting the bill on the next order of Senate business.

ESSB 6002 is expected to receive a "Do Not Concur" vote in the Senate, which will send the budget as it passed the House back to the House.  This procedural action is necessary because the Senate can't amend its own bill at this point. The House will then take up the supplemental operating budget again with the agreed upon spending plan, the House will pass it to the Senate, and the Senate will concur.

If all goes as planned, activity should be complete by tomorrow, which is the end of the 60-day regular session. Lawmakers can go until midnight and still meet the deadline, although folks are feeling a bit more confident it will all be over earlier.

Things we'll be watching for include funding to implement the McCleary decision (specifically MSOC), as well as $2 million in restored basic education apportionment payments for districts that receive federal timber payments.

Budget and 24-credit agreement reached - I think

After a marathon negotiating session that ended around 3 a.m. but continued until about 5:30 a.m., it would appear there is a budget agreement on the big pieces. Negotiators are meeting now to discuss the various provisos, which could include the federal forest funding which is referenced in SB 6002 Section 502. In a good sign, however, HB 2207 was pulled from the House Rules committee and is ready for a vote.

Also appearing to have reached agreement among the four corners is SB 6552 which, among many objectives, would authorize a 24-credit diploma starting with the graduating class of 2019 but offer a waiver of up to two years for districts that need more implementation time.

The "Hunt" amendment is available for review and includes the following - all of which are supported by WSSDA:

1. Authorize the 24 credit diploma for the graduating class of 2019, but allow districts to complete an application to the State Board of Education to move implementation to 2020 or 2021. The SBE would be required to grant the waiver from 2019 at the next SBE meeting.

2. Require school districts to grant a CTE course equivalency for at least one math or science class.

3. Allow school district boards of directors to adopt a policy that would allow a two-credit waiver of the 24 credits for individual students under exceptional circumstances. WSSDA would be required to develop a model policy by June 30, 2015.

4. Direct the Office of the Education Ombuds to convene a task force to review barriers to the 24-credit diploma for students with special needs.

5. Make the culminating project voluntary.

All of the changes listed above have been advocated by WSSDA and the Washington CTE association the past week and past few days. The Washington PTA also has been working with us on all except the amendment related to making the culminating project voluntary.This morning LEV agreed to the changes and has been actively supporting the Hunt amendment.

Stay tuned!

Hurry up and wait

Last Friday was the deadline for bills to pass out of the opposite chamber but few education bills were left hanging. For the most part, bills that passed out of the policy or budget committee also passed off the floor.

One casualty was the Breakfast After the Bell bill, which failed to make it out of the Senate budget committee. A bill that would have required school districts to begin identifying students of military families died on the Senate 2nd Reading calendar.

Bills on expanded learning opportunities, identifying homeless students, preserving the economy and efficiency waiver, and recognizing graduating seniors with a seal of biliteracy all passed the House and are securing the necessary signatures to reach the Governor's desk for signature.

The past two days have seen a flurry of activity by teachers opposing any effort to change the teacher and principal evaluation system by requiring the use of student test scores as one of multiple measures for teachers in grades and subjects that have reading, writing, and math assessments. At risk is the state's waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law, which requires schools to set aside 20 percent of its Title I funding for private vendors. House Democrats "caucused" on the bill last week, but neither HB 2800 (Inslee and Dorn) or SSB 5880 have seen action.

In addition, one of the other big issues is E2SSB 6552 - particularly the components related to implementation of 24 credits. Last Friday the number of amendments stood at 20 to the bill; since then another three have been added. Fear not, some amendments are to the House Appropriations Committee version while others are to a different version offered by Rep. Monica Stonier.

WSSDA has framed the conversation as one of: funding, fairness and flexibility. The House plan earlier today was to caucus on the various amendments, count how many votes support which amendments, and then pass the bill. It's nearly 3 p.m. and they are still in caucus, so we'll see what happens.