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Advocacy & Legislation
AWSP provides a strong and respected voice on state and nationwide issues affecting K–12 schools and principals. We vigilantly monitor and research trends impacting our members’ profession, reputation, and practice. We value our members who travel to Olympia and Washington, D.C. to provide the principal’s perspective.
We offer several ways to help you keep pace with the legislative arena, including Legislative Update (our a weekly e-newsletter during session), how to find your state legislator, how to track the status of bills and find out how your lawmaker voted, and practical tips for talking with legislators.
We focus our governmental relations efforts and legislative platform through a statewide, grassroots Legislation Committee. This collaboration identifies and prioritizes issues critical to our members, so we can work smarter on your behalf in Olympia and around the state.
Every voice matters, and it’s important for all of us to stay informed and connected.
2025 Legislative Platform
“It is difficult to envision a higher return on investment in K-12 education than the cultivation of high-quality school leadership.” ~ Wallace Foundation, 2021
The 2025 AWSP Legislative Platform focuses on leadership development, fully funding basic education, and increasing student support to ensure all students succeed, with priorities for principals and school staff.
Connecting with our legislators at both the local and national level is critical to ensure our legislators recognize the importance of supporting educators in their efforts to keep students safe and reach every student in their classrooms and buildings.
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Erika Burden, 2020 NASSP Advocacy Champion of the Year
Get Involved
Advocacy Advisory Council
The Advocacy Advisory Council serves as both liaison and resource to the AWSP Board on legislative matters. Members communicate with principals and assistant principals around the state on issues of concern, monitor legislative action, and assist with testimony as appropriate. Advisory Council members also identify and prioritize the association’s yearly Legislative Platform(PDF) for approval by the AWSP Board.
Our Advocacy & Action Center provides all the updates, tracking, resources, and action plans you need to stay informed and make your voice heard. Use it to stay informed and take action on the issues you care about. Legislators need to hear from you. Not sure where to begin? Already got a meeting scheduled? Our tip sheet will show you some of the best ways to communicate with lawmakers and their staffs.
The Principal for a Day program pairs a legislator with a principal in their district. The goal is for the legislator to try shadow a principal for a full day so they can understand the challenges of being an instructional leader while managing and supporting students, staff, and community when the inevitable disruptions, chaos, or events happen. Interested in hosting a legislator? Email Roz.
The Principal Partners Program pairs a legislator with a principal in their district for that principal or AP to be the legislator's "go-to" resource when they need to know what's actually happening inside schools and classrooms. Your voice is powerful. Make sure your elected officials know what's happening, whether that's the good, the bad, and the ugly, in their district. Email Roz to learn more or get paired up.
It was budget week in the Legislature as both House and Senate Democrats released their supplemental operating budgets. Both budget bills had hearings within hours of their release on Monday, and both were amended within days of these hearings. Budget negotiators from both chambers will now seek to reconcile differences and come to a final budget before “sine die” (the last day of the session), scheduled for March 10.
Advocacy in Both Washingtons This Week
This week, Scott and I traveled with eight principals from Washington state to the “other” Washington to advocate for education issues on behalf of the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and the National Association
of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
A huge thank you to these amazing school leaders who attended the national advocacy conferences on behalf of AWSP. We appreciate the time and effort you made to advocate for school principals and the staff and students they represent! Our delegation:
Chris Visserman, Central Kitsap, AWSP President
Cameron Grow, Pullman, AWSP Past President
Lauri Landerholm, LaCenter, NASSP Middle Level Federal Relations
Cari Trowbridge, Mead, NAESP Elementary Federal Relations
Raquel Martinez, Pasco, NASSP Board of Directors
Eric Anderson, Wenatchee, AWSP High School Leadership Committee Chair
Dave Riddle, Mt. Vernon, AWSP Middle Level Leadership Committee Chair
We met (mostly in-person) with eight members of Congress and had three additional meetings with staff members who represented their members of Congress. We focused on a few key points: the educator workforce shortage, student and staff mental health,
school infrastructure, and urging members to finally pass the 2022 appropriations bill, which would increase federal education funding. Another important priority for our group was to establish relationships with our federal delegation and to share
specific stories about how this school year has gone, how students and staff are faring, and how federal ESSER funding has been used (or how it potentially may be used in the next few years).
Back here in Olympia, the Legislature continued with some very long days and nights working on getting bills from the opposite house passed off the House and Senate floors by today’s cut-off. Today is the final significant deadline before Sine Die
(the last day of the session) scheduled for next Thursday, March 10. The next few days will be spent reconciling different versions of bills and dealing with bills that are related to budgets.
Budget
Here is a look at how the amended budget bills stand at this point. Legislators will be working over the next few days to reach a final compromise budget that is traditionally the last bill passed before they adjourn.
Both budgets do these things, although with some differences:
provide enrollment stability (Senate: $346.5 million/House: $314.7 million)
provide a commitment to fund additional support positions such as nurses, counselors, social workers, and psychologists through an update to the prototypical funding model (Senate: $173.8/House: $107.9 million)
increase salaries/benefits due to inflation (IPD, or implicit price deflator, Senate: 4.7% House: 5.5%)
support Outdoor School for All (Senate: $10.0 million/House: $20.0 million)
Many other education-related budget items are being considered. OSPI and education advocates continue to work with legislators and their staff to shape the best outcomes for school districts. Superintendent Chris Reykdal sent a letter to budget writers
urging them to “quickly phase-in support staff, focus on dual credit (lift the cap to 1.6 FTE for running start), stabilize LAP funding, support transitional kindergarten programs, fund seismic improvements, and suspend work not related to recovery”.
Bills
My bill tracking list is getting a little smaller as the days go by. For example, you might notice HB 1162 (performance exhibition pathway for graduation)
is no longer on the list. Interestingly, funding for the State Board of Education to implement this bill was amended into the budget bill, so HB 1162 is now considered “necessary to implement the budget” so it may survive after all. You
never know until the very end.
If you want to share your thoughts about any of these budget items or bills, please send your legislators an email. You can also invite them to meet with you via video conference or at your school so you can advocate on behalf of the principalship and
your school’s needs.
As usual, please reach out to me with any questions. Thank you!
Legislative Update E-Newsletter
Want updates on what's going on? Trying to understand the process and learn how to make an impact? Follow us on social media, check out our blog or this page for the latest legislative news page, and read our Legislative Update email newsletter every Friday during session.
School leaders in Washington state can take an active role in the political process by joining AWSP’s political action committee or PAC, the Washington School Principals Legislative Effectiveness Association.
AWSP-WSPLEA supports AWSP’s governmental relations efforts at both the state and national levels. It also raises and spends money to support candidates and issues that are important to the principalship and to K–12 education. Make a difference — join the PAC today!
The School Funding Coalition represents the voices of nearly 8,000 school district leaders from our state’s 295 school districts. We bring a front-line understanding of school district financing and the education funding issues the Legislature continues
to grapple with—especially as state budget decisions are contemplated in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Coalition includes AEA, AESD, AWSP, WASA, WASBO, WSPA, and WSSDA. We believe that each and every student needs stable support, safety,
access to learning, and well-equipped staff. Learn more in our Immediate Student Needs document below.
