Brief Description: Creating a joint select committee on equitable opportunity for all.

Sponsors: Representatives McCoy and Santos.

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Early Learning, K-12 & Higher Education: 4/19/05 [DP, w/oRec].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EARLY LEARNING, K-12 & HIGHER EDUCATION

Majority Report: Do pass.Signed by Senators McAuliffe, Chair; Pridemore, Vice Chair; Weinstein, Vice Chair; Schmidt, Ranking Minority Member; Berkey, Kohl-Welles, Rasmussen, Rockefeller and Shin.

Minority Report: That it be referred without recommendation.Signed by Senator Schoesler.

Staff: Ingrid Mungia (786-7423)

Background: In 2000, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, through its community outreach office, coordinated the Multi-Ethnic Think Tank (Think Tank). The Think Tank represents an alliance of the African American, American Indian/Alaska Natives, Asian Pacific Islander American, Hispanic, and low socio-economic communities. The work of the Think Tank produced a set of recommended action steps aimed at raising the academic achievement of students in these populations.

Summary of Bill: The Joint Select Committee on Equitable Opportunity For All is established. The committee must determine what efforts currently exist to implement the following action steps:

• add a fifth Washington learning goal to ensure culturally competent education;
• infuse multicultural education goals into the existing four Washington state learning goals;
• integrate multicultural and technological learning objectives in the Washington state essential academic learning requirements;
• standardize the data collection, categorization, and reporting of all ethnic groups, including the disaggregation of data sets in to discrete ethnic populations that provide the most accurate information about student achievement;
• recruit and retain racial and ethnic minority staff and administration; and
• require that professional development is culturally and linguistically responsive for all staff, administration, and others.

In its review of implementation efforts, the committee will consult with stakeholders representing communities of color, special education, and others. The committee will report its findings to the Legislature by September 1, 2006, including a determination of the actions and resources necessary to complete the action steps and whether existing basic education money can be used or additional funding is needed. The implementation recommendations must be prioritized based on existing efforts and the resources necessary for full implementation.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Created: Yes.

Testimony For: This is a good resolution because the Multi-Ethnic Think Tank recommendations have not been acted on since they were released. The goal of the resolution is good because all children need the skills to succeed in school. This resolution addresses the issue of closing the achievement gap. We appreciate that all communities will be reached out to and asked to participate in the joint committee. It is also important to have educators involved in the joint committee.

Other: There is no need to change the learning goals but instead figure out how to help all students reach those goals. We suggest changing the emphasis of the resolution to identify what specific actions can be taken to: help students of color and low income students meet the goals before them; reduce racism; and add preschool opportunities during the school year. There can be changes within the existing goals to meet the resolution recommendations, for example, having culturally competent teachers.

Testimony Against: None.

Who Testified: PRO: Rep. McCoy, prime sponsor; Robert Butts, OSPI; Christie Perkins, Washington Special Education Coalition; Lucinda Young, WEA.