Empowering Students through Enhanced Financial Literacy

by Arik Korman

By Natalie So
Guest Blogger

 

Natalie, a current student at the International School in Bellevue, reflects on the impact financial literacy courses in school would have on her and her community.

Growing up, I often witnessed how a lack of financial knowledge could negatively impact people’s lives. This understanding deepened when I began volunteering with the Korean Adoptee Family Foundation (KORAFF), an organization dedicated to empowering Korean adoptee communities through education and advocacy. It was during my term serving as president of KORAFF that I truly grasped the transformative power of advocacy, no matter what age you are. I once believed that change could only be made from positions of power, but as I helped adoptees grow and flourish, I saw the significant impact that grassroots advocacy can have on making influential changes within society.
 

These experiences fueled my passion for addressing other systemic issues, such as the educational inequities within my school, where children with disabilities were often neglected due to a lack of funding and resources. Witnessing these challenges led me to passionately support House Bill 1915, which aims to make financial literacy education a mandatory part of the school curriculum. Read More

Podcast – Journalist Ebony Reed on the Black-White Wealth Gap

by Arik Korman

In our Putting Students First podcast, we interview students, policymakers, partners, and thought leaders to spotlight education policies, research, and practices so that together we can create learning environments where every Washington student feels safe, supported, and a positive sense of belonging.

Black-White wealth gapIn this episode, League of Education Voters CEO Arik Korman interviews Yale School of Management professor Ebony Reed, a seasoned journalist who is also the Chief Strategy Officer at The Marshall Project, a news outlet focused on the justice system, who discusses the intersection of race and money, how the current Black/white wealth gap compares to the gap after the Civil War, and how we should talk to our kids about wealth. Ebony’s new book, co-authored with Louise Story, is Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap.

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New Report on Education Funding in Washington state

by Arik Korman

We are weeks away from the start of a new school year. Educators are busy preparing for their new students, students are enjoying the last weeks of the summer break, and families are looking forward to leaving the childcare challenges of the summer behind. However, there is an undercurrent of concern from many as the upcoming school year will look different for students, families, and educators in many districts as they have had to make some difficult decisions in response to the budget crises that have been amplified by the drying up of one-time federal stimulus funding.

In anticipation of this challenging time for districts, League of Education Voters undertook a research project during the 2023-2024 school year to better understand district budget challenges. We wanted to understand how our current resourcing approach wasn’t meeting district needs, how student needs have evolved in recent years, and how districts are responding to this challenging time. In Underfunded and Unsustainable, we share findings from in-depth interviews with district superintendents from 28 Washington state school districts and a look at district staffing and spending data to help inform how we can respond and ensure that students are centered as we look to how we can emerge from this challenging time with a system that is more responsive to student needs.

You can read the executive summary and full report here. Read More

Podcast – Bill Dussault on Special Education Law and Next Steps

by Arik Korman

In our Putting Students First podcast, we interview students, policymakers, partners, and thought leaders to spotlight education policies, research, and practices so that together we can create learning environments where every Washington student feels safe, supported, and a positive sense of belonging.

In this episode, League of Education Voters CEO Arik Korman interviews game-changing disability rights attorney Bill Dussault, who discusses how Washington state’s special education law came to be, how Washington’s law impacted federal policy and the creation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, what needs to happen next with Washington’s special education system, and what we in the community can do to help make the necessary changes happen.

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Podcast – Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah on the Power of Student Voice

by Arik Korman

In our Putting Students First podcast, we interview students, policymakers, partners, and thought leaders to spotlight education policies, research, and practices so that together we can create learning environments where every Washington student feels safe, supported, and a positive sense of belonging.

In this episode, League of Education Voters CEO Arik Korman interviews Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, New York Times bestselling author and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University, who discusses whether you can be a fan of consumer sports like the NFL and still criticize them, how we can disrupt America’s systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and why it’s important to value and respect the leadership of our youth.

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2024 Supplemental Budget Summary

by Arik Korman

By League of Education Voters Policy Team

 

The 2024 supplemental budget makes adjustments to the 2023-25 biennial budget and impacts funding for the remainder of the biennium, which ends in June of 2025. The amounts below are in addition to funds that have already been appropriated in the 2023-25 budget. In the final budget agreement, all amounts are per biennium unless noted.

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2024 Supplemental Budget Proposal Side-By-Side

by Arik Korman

By League of Education Voters Policy Team

The Washington state House and Senate have released their 2024 supplemental budget proposals. The 2024 supplemental budget makes adjustments to the 2023-25 biennial budget and impacts funding for the remainder of the biennium, which ends in June of 2025. The amounts below are in addition to funds that have already been appropriated in the 2023-25 budget. Read More

A Look at Proposals for Education Funding in 2024

by Arik Korman

By League of Education Voters Policy Team

 

Students from South Shore PreK-8

School districts across the state are in the midst of some of the most challenging budget decisions they have had to make in years. Districts are still adjusting to the long-term impacts of the pandemic and how it has affected what students need to be well and thrive at school. Districts have responded to these budget challenges in a number of ways, including by reducing staff, delaying the adoption of updated curriculum, or reducing extracurricular offerings. No one has been immune – districts big and small, higher-income and lower-income, urban and rural, and everything in between are facing serious challenges resourcing everything their students need.

So how has the legislature responded? At this point in the 2024 Legislative Session, there are two main education funding bills that attempt to address some of these challenges. And while there is no one right way to envision and create equity across a system, we at LEV believe that as we take steps – whether they are incremental or foundation-shifting – we must keep students at the center. We stand by the idea that funding equity boils down to a straightforward principle: all students should get what they need, when they need it. Read More

Podcast – The Alliance of Innovative Educational Redesign (AIER)

by Arik Korman

In our Putting Students First podcast, we interview policymakers, partners, and thought leaders to spotlight education policies, research, and practices so that together we can create a brighter future for every Washington student.

In this episode, League of Education Voters Spokane Regional Field Director Kenji Linane-Booey interviews Mike Poutiatine, Charlie Wolff, and Eric Jurasin of the Alliance of Innovative Educational Redesign (AIER) about the importance of choice school programs in the Spokane region and the School Choice Fair AIER is hosting on January 18th at The Hive.

 

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Podcast – Blaire Penry, 2024 Washington state Teacher of the Year

by Arik Korman

Blaire Penry, the 2024 Washington state Teacher of the YearIn our Putting Students First podcast, we interview policymakers, partners, and thought leaders to spotlight education policies, research, and practices so that together we can create a brighter future for every Washington student.

In this episode, League of Education Voters Interim Co-CEO / Communications Director Arik Korman interviews Blaire Penry, the 2024 Washington state Teacher of the Year, about how career technical education and fine arts can be taught in an equitable way, how her students lead their learning, how to create culturally responsive practices at the school district level, and how she would change Washington state’s education system if she were in charge and there were no budgetary constraints.

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