2018 legislative review
AWB hosted an Early Childhood Learning event this year. The state legislative panel,“ Making Early Childhood Learning a Priority,” featured Rep. Ruth Kagi, D-Seattle; Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane; Rep. Kristine Reeves, D-Federal Way; and Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake.
school districts, with support from OSPI, to adopt policies that promoted the recruitment and use of industry and trade expert volunteers. Incorporating industry expertise with practical experience to help students understand the application of the curriculum they are being taught is extremely important. AWB hopes to see this effort in the 2019 legislative session. early learning
SHB 2367 establishing a child care collaborative task force
Passed / AWB Supported
Investing in early childhood education makes sense for society and from a monetary perspective. The societal value of early childhood learning programs includes children better prepared to enter the K-12 system, ready for work upon completion of post-secondary training, and a healthier individual. Monetary values in an early childhood learning experience are realized through higher salaries, less reliance on social programs, and increased contribution to society through giving and volunteering. The 2018 Legislature provided over $ 6 million for early childhood learning, which included funding to increase home visitations and child care capacity for homeless families, expanded early childhood learning capacity by providing education opportunities for early childhood learning educators, and finally Substitute House Bill 2367, sponsored by Reps. Kristine Reeves, D-Federal Way; Vandana Slatter, D-Bellevue; Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness; June Robinson, D-Everett; Ruth Kagi, D-Seattle; Laurie Dolan, D-Olympia; Christine Kilduff, D-University Place; Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles; Beth Doglio, D-Olympia; Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane; and, Monica Stonier, D-Vancouver, developed the child care collaborative task force, an effort to engage the business community in early childhood learning. At its Early Childhood Learning Summit in April, AWB was encouraged with the amount of support for this issue area and looks forward to supporting efforts to work with this key sector in our state’ s education system. post-secondary education supplemental budget
AWB supported the following funding efforts for the state’ s post-secondary education programs.
There will be 740,000 job openings in the state of Washington in the next 5 years. The majority of these jobs require post-secondary education or training. While Washington state’ s high school graduation rate is increasing( 79.1 percent), only 31 percent of Washington state’ s high school graduates earn a postsecondary credential. This underscores the need to open access to postsecondary opportunities in our state.
Access to the post-secondary system received support through additional
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