Dear friends and neighbors,

With four kids in Seattle Public Schools, I know our public schools are underfunded:  we must increase support for the state’s 1.1 million K-12 students. My top priority every year is to provide each student with access to a safe, inclusive, and supportive learning environment that prepares them for success in life. As the Legislature faced another large budget shortfall this year, we worked to avoid any funding cuts that would affect students in the classroom. Districts across the state are now implementing a significant new investment of $1.4 billion made in last year’s budget for special education services and to help districts cover materials, supplies, and operating costs (commonly referred to as MSOC).

I also sponsored and passed the Millionaires Tax this session to ensure schools here in Seattle and across the state will have the resources they need to continue our state’s commitment to education. That bill provides an immediate end to school districts having to pay sales tax on services such as temporary staffing in special education classroom.  And by asking roughly 20,000 of the wealthiest households in the state to pay more, we can fulfill our state’s paramount duty of providing a world-class education to the next generation. You can watch my remarks during passage of the Millionaires Tax here or by clicking on the image below.

Here are several other bills we passed this session that will help improve outcomes for our students, teachers, and parents:

Early learning

  • SB 5872 allows the state to engage in a public/private match program to expand access to the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) dramatically throughout the state. The Ballmer Group has already committed to providing funding for up to 10,000 new school day slots per year for the next 10 years.
  • HB 2317 helps streamline child care licensing requirements in a way that maintains quality and is more equitable for all types of providers.
  • HB 2219 helps remove burdens to expanding care by providing additional flexibility to child care providers without compromising child safety.

Supporting student learning

  • SB 5346 moves Washington toward phone-free schools by helping districts make informed decisions as they develop policies that meet their schools’ needs. The bill requires the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to make research available to districts on the effects of cellphone use on students and best practice strategies for teaching students how to use cellphones and requires OSPI to report to the Legislature a summary of district cellphone policies in Washington, implementation barriers that districts have faced, and recommendations.
  • HB 1295 aims to improve literacy outcomes for students by requiring school districts, starting in 2027, to ensure any new literacy curricula they adopt for kindergarten through fourth grade meet certain minimum criteria and are implemented consistently with the developer’s guidance.
  • SB 6278 ensures Washington’s educator preparation programs are meeting the needs of today’s classrooms by requiring the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) to incorporate additional criteria, including input from teachers and administrators, into its ongoing review of approved programs.
  • SB 6268 increases parents’ access to special education community complaint decisions, giving them more equitable and consistent information as they support their students with disabilities.
  • HB 2557 ensures parents of students with disabilities can participate in a more meaningful, collaborative, and informed way in establishing their child’s educational needs.
  • HB 2594 ensures unhoused students have full access to educational opportunities by ensuring predictability for students.

Giving districts financial flexibility

  • SB 5922 gives school districts additional budgeting flexibility as they determine the best use of their resources, especially when enrollment declines.
  • SB 6065 gives school districts in financial distress an additional tool as they build back to financial solvency. Last session, we passed SB 5412 authorizing interfund loans from districts’ capital projects fund under certain conditions. This year’s bill simply allows school districts to take a similar temporary interfund loan from their transportation vehicle fund under the same conditions.

Improving student health and safety

  • SB 5272 increases safety at official extracurricular school events by making it a misdemeanor to interfere with or intimidate officials like referees or other volunteers who are working at them.
  • HB 1795 gives educators a better understanding of their options for maintaining healthy, safe learning environments while also protecting students from unsafe, harmful isolation and restraint practices.

I’m proud of what we accomplished this session, but I know we must do more to meet our constitutional duty to fund education amply. I am already making plans for the 2027 legislative session.

This will be my final newsletter this year. Due to election-year ethics restrictions, I will not be updating my website until the results are certified. The work will continue, and my office remains open to assist you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.

If you missed my newsletters on the Millionaires Tax, affordable housing, efforts to protect Washington from the Trump administration, LGBTQ+ rights, community investments, or health care, they are available on my website. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions at Jamie.Pedersen@leg.wa.gov.

Best wishes,

Jamie