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Attend the Annual Washington state PTA Convention this weekend

Posted by League of Education Voters on May 1, 2013

LEV State Field Director Kelly Munn, State Field Coordinator Maggie Wilkens, and Community Organizer Brooke Valentine, will all be presenting at the 100^th Annual Washington state PTA Convention this weekend at the Bellevue Hyatt Hotel. This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about education while interacting with hundreds of education advocates from across the state.

Kicking things off on Saturday at 3:15 p.m., Kelly will be hosting an hour long parent- to- parent class. The class will be divided in to six modules, allowing parents to give ten minute presentations focusing on an aspect of education funding.

The following day, Brooke and Maggie will be doing a joint presentation on discipline. During the class, attendees will learn about the failures of zero tolerance policies and their ill- prescribed punishments as well as solutions like Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and culture competence awareness training. The pair will also discuss the importance of good, accessible, and disaggregated data and how it can help transform school discipline. The presentation is from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.

Registration information for the convention can be found here.

Tags: discipline, funding, parents

Posted in: Blog

Finding your voice

Posted by League of Education Voters on March 11, 2013

This post was written by LEV Organizer Brooke Valentine.

For the past six years Washington state has had a unique office of government supporting families with school age children, the Office of the Education Ombudsman. Founded during the 2006 legislative session, their mission is to promote equity in education and support the ability of public school students to fully participate and benefit from public education. This past year in a bold, proactive move, the OEO has decided to take their show on the road, and engage district staff, community organizations, and families in the communities they live and work in. It seems the OEO had a vision of families and schools working together in a stronger partnership in order to support student success. In order to support this vision, they created the Finding your Voice Parent Institute.

Last November I was able to attend the Finding Your Voice training hosted in the Yakima Valley. For two days I studied alongside school district staff and community leaders as we learned about the value of engaged parents and families. We learned how to strengthen families by providing ground level information on topics from discipline to bullying all while creating a basic understanding of Washington’s public school system. The presentations were rooted deeply in creating trusting and respectful relationships, emphasizing solid communication between communities, schools, and home. A huge piece of respecting families is valuing the family culture, their language, and heritage. We have to value, understand, and respect what each family can bring to the table.

The Finding Your Voice training really comes full circle on the third day, the trainer-led parent summit. At the summit, everyone who attended the two day training gets to practice what they have learned. The format and curriculum of the entire three day training is right on target. The OEO creates a space where success means effectively communicating with families and community members. It also gives the presenters the tools to teach families the system, and learn with them how to be better communicators.

Tags: parents

Posted in: Blog

“Is it worth giving up a Saturday in my busy life to attend an education-advocacy training?”

Posted by League of Education Voters on December 20, 2012

This post was written by LEV’s State Field Director, Kelly Munn.

What: Access, Equity and Excellence: LEV’s 3^rd Annual Advocacy Training
Where: Highline Community College
When: January 12^th, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Register here.

You’re extremely busy and we know how valuable your time is. You know how we know? We’re busy too. We think it’s completely fair to ask:

“Is it worth giving up a Saturday in my busy life to attend an education-advocacy training?”

League of Education Voters might hold the answer to this very question. You should attend our January 12^th training if….

You want to meet people who think like you, but who also might challenge your assumptions
You want to hear stories from school districts who have stepped up to the plate and are improving outcomes for kids
You want to learn about the likely bills facing the legislature this session
You want to be surrounded by friends who also want to improve education and are not afraid to ask tough questions
You want a few answers, even if you may not like them
You have heard about DFER, College Success Foundation, The Roadmap Project, Childrens Alliance, Office of the Education Ombudsman, TeamChild, Equity in Education and many more organizations, but haven’t had a chance to talk with someone from the organization
You need a little hope and truth to kick off the new year!

If you answered YES to any of these questions, you should seriously consider giving up your Saturday on January 12^th to come to the training.

Workshops include:

The NEWS on McCleary

Three D’s: Discipline, Data Collection and Disproportionality

Why All Day-K Matters

Leveraging our Voice in the Collective Bargaining Process

The Ins and Outs of Teacher Evaluations in Washington

Community Strategies for Closing the Opportunity Gap

Learning from the rest of the Nation: How to Do Charters Right

Show Me the Money: Education Funding and Revenue in the 2013 Legislative Session

Parent Power! A Training with OEO

Reclaiming Students: The Educational and Economic Costs of Exclusionary Discipline

Prepare to be inspired by a keynote from LEV CEO Chris Korsmo, as well as a science-fair style learning event. We’ll wrap the day with a wine reception and student performances.

The all-day event only costs $25 and includes lunch. This is a sweet deal. LEV is not making money on this training, funds go towards paying the cost of facility rentals and food. If you can’t afford the $25 fee, please contact Maggie Wilkens at Maggie@educationvoters.org and she will give you a fee waiver, no questions asked. However, if you CAN afford the fee, and would like to sponsor someone else, it would be MUCH appreciated.

Tags: achievement gap, charter schools, discipline, early learning, funding, parents, take action, teachers

Posted in: Blog