Ed Advocate eNews, December 2013 | League of Education Voters

Welcome

As I reflect on 2013, I want to thank you, our supporters and partners, for working and advocating with us. We made good progress this year in working toward an equitable public education system, and much of that is thanks to you.

In this newsletter, I invite you to preview our priorities for the 2014 legislative session. Want to keep up to date on the 2014 session? Sign up for my Weekly Roundup, which will start January 17.

This month, I am pleased to highlight the work of our Activist of the Month, Karen Albers, who has advocated for our kids for over 20 years.

You may also be interested to read Money Matters, our blog series about how school districts are using new state funding to close the opportunity and achievement gaps and prepare each student to graduate college- and career-ready.

I invite you to join me at Access, Equity, & Excellence, our activist training, taking place January 25 in the Puget Sound and February 8 in Yakima. Learn more on our website.

Thanks for all you do for kids. We couldn't do it without you.
Chris Korsmo signature

Chris Korsmo

2014 Legislative Priorities

The 2014 legislative session starts January 13, 2014. It is a "short" session and is scheduled for 60 days. During short sessions, budget work is typically minor, so most effort is in the policy arena.

LEV will continue to work to prepare our earliest learners to enter the K–12 system ready to learn; build an accountable, responsive K–12 system; support policy and programs that close the gaps; establish the requirement for a meaningful high school diploma; and support progams that ensure students' ability to succeed in technical, 2-year, or 4-year colleges. Read our 2014 legislative agenda

LEV's Activist of the Month

At the League of Education Voters, we recognize all of the hard work that you do toward improving public education across Washington state. We are pleased to announce our Activist of the Month for December: Karen Albers.

Karen Albers has been advocating for our kids since she moved to Richland, WA, in 1993. Karen got her start in advocacy after joining the PTA. Read more

Money Matters. But so does how it's spent.

We launched this blog series in December about education funding and kicked it off with an op-ed by Chris Korsmo that ran in Crosscut. For this five-part series, we invited leaders from across the state to share their school district's story on how they are using the new state funding to close the opportunity and achievement gaps and prepare each student to graduate college- and career-ready. The series is running through this Friday. Read more

Race: Are We So Different?

Staff and board members from the League of Education Voters recently attended the Pacific Science Center exhibit, Race: Are We So Different?. By deconstructing historical, scientific, and social ideas of race, the exhibit helps guests understand what race is and, more importantly, what race is not. We had an engaging, thoughtful, facilitated conversation and left the exhibit with a renewed commitment to reducing the opportunity and achievement gaps. The exhibit runs until January 5, 2014. If you have the opportunity, we encourage you to attend the exhibit with your friends and family. Learn more

Get Involved

SAVE THE DATE

January 18, 2014 | Finding Your Voice Training, Richland

January 25, 2014 | Access, Equity, and Excellence Activist Training, Puget Sound

February 8, 2014 | Access, Equity, and Excellence Activist Training, Yakima

March 11, 2014 | LEV Foundation Annual Breakfast, The Sheraton Hotel, Seattle

LUNCHTIME LEVINARS

December 19 | Best practices: Using teacher evaluations to improve student achievement

January 2014 | Weekly webinars on the 2014 legislative session. Details coming soon!

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