As legislators, it’s our responsibility to invest in students and ensure everyone has access to an education that sets them up for the future. From early learning programs to higher education, students across the board need their basic needs met to achieve success. Legislative Democrats pass policies and make investments that increase opportunities for students across Washington. We know college is a powerful pathway to opportunity, but it’s not the only path — that’s why we made significant investments in apprenticeships to ensure everyone can find a good-paying career.
Every student deserves access to a healthy, supportive learning environment. Over the last two years, I’ve been proud to support several policies to make our K-12 public schools and higher education institutions better and more accessible for everyone, including:
- Providing school districts with an additional $750 million through 2029 to better support students with disabilities (SB 5263).
- Providing school districts with an additional $213 million through 2029 for materials, supplies, and operating costs (SB 5192).
- Providing every public school student with free breakfast and lunch, starting in 2029 (SB 6346).
- Increasing local levy limits, which allows communities to vote to provide extra funding for enrichment activities that they want available in their public schools (HB 2049).
- Requiring high schools to provide special education and related services for students with disabilities through the entire school year in which they turn 22 years old or graduate (SB 5253).
- Helping school districts adopt bell-to-bell cellphone policies that meet their communities’ needs by 2030 (SB 5346).
- Providing additional resources and protections for students in higher-education institutions who have experienced sexual or gender-based violence (SB 5355).
- Expanding access to the College Bound Scholarship to non-traditional students, including those with a high school equivalency credential like a GED (SB 5543).
- Allowing community and technical colleges to waive tuition costs for students of all ages who want to earn the equivalent of a high school diploma (HB 1556).
- Creating the PreK Promise account for the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, Washington’s state-funded preschool program, which will add 10,000 new slots for eligible children (SB 5872).
- Making it easier for children of military families to enroll in school to reduce the disruption of relocating (HB 2534).
- Allowing schools to keep a supply of asthma inhalers on site for students to use if they experience an asthma attack without access to their personal inhaler (HB 2360).
- Ensuring that homeless children and youths have the same access to public education as their peers (HB 2594).
- Helping former foster youth and unaccompanied homeless youth access the Washington College Grant program (SB 5963).
- Requiring state-registered building and construction apprenticeship programs to provide apprentices with at least two hours of behavioral health and wellness training, as well as allowing electricians and plumbers to count up to four hours of behavioral health and wellness training toward their continuing education requirements for certification renewals (HB 2492).