Podcast – Luma Mufleh on Her Fight for Educational Justice for Refugee Children

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 Communications Director Arik Korman interviews Luma Mufleh, the founder of Fugees Family whose TED Talk on educational justice for refugee families has been viewed more than 1.7 million times. Luma discusses what it’s like being dropped into a classroom when you don’t know English, what supports we should provide to students who are refugees, and how we can focus on the assets that refugees bring to our schools and our society. Luma’s new book is Learning America: One Woman’s Fight for Educational Justice for Refugee Children.

 

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Washington Game Changers Podcast – Nicky Wilks and Alex Craighead, founders of Journeymen

Nicky Wilks (L) and Alex Craighead

Washington Game Changers with Lauri Hennessey features leaders who give back to our community, drive innovative solutions, and inspire others in making our state more equitable and just. This podcast is a one-on-one conversation with these powerful leaders in a time when we need to hear about more good in the world.

In this episode, League of Education Voters CEO Lauri Hennessey talks with Nicky Wilks and Alex Craighead, founders of Journeymen. Journeymen cultivates transformational experiences for boys and men through nature-based rites of passage, mentorship, training, and community events. They discuss helping kids detox from social media, the challenges facing boys today, and what Journeymen does to give boys a connection through nature.

 

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Letter from the Every Student Counts Alliance to the City of Spokane

By Kenji Linane-Booey, Spokane Regional Field Director

 

On March 11th, Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl sent a letter to Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Adam Swinyard stating that he believes teachers across the district are not serving in their roles as mandatory reporters. He then said that this violation can be charged as a gross misdemeanor. League of Education Voters (LEV) and their partner, the Every Student Counts Alliance (ESCA), believe this letter was written to sway the court of public opinion in order to decrease trust in the school district administration and to increase funding for the Spokane Police Department. Because LEV and ESCA believe in the work the school district is doing, we decided to respond to Chief Meidl’s letter directly. Read More

2022 Supplemental Budget Summary

By League of Education Voters Policy Team

 

The 2022 supplemental budget makes adjustments to the 2021-23 biennial budget and impacts funding for the remainder of the biennium, which ends in June of 2023. The amounts below are in addition to funds that have already been appropriated in the 2021-23 budget. In the final budget agreement, all amounts are per biennium unless noted.

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LEV Legislative Roundup for Week 9: The final state budget

By Jacob Vela, League of Education Voters Director of Policy and Research

 

During the late hours of Thursday, March 10th, after a long day filled with passing floor resolutions and saying good-bye to colleagues that are choosing to not return, the Legislature took their final votes ending the 2022 Session. Despite the barriers and complications caused by the virtual session format, legislators were able to negotiate and successfully pass a substantial Supplemental Operating Budget, a Transportation Budget, and a Capital Budget. Logging more than 100 hours a week leading up to sine die, fiscal staff had to be the most relieved to watch the members take their final votes. Despite the overwhelming number of policy bills introduced early in the session, relatively few made it through the process, leading the House to begin referring to the Senate as the “graveyard” during floor speeches. Big thanks to all of you who participated in our Action Alerts this session. Read More

Washington Game Changers Podcast – Regina Malveaux of the Washington State Women’s Commission

Washington Game Changers with Lauri Hennessey features leaders who give back to our community, drive innovative solutions, and inspire others in making our state more equitable and just. This podcast is a one-on-one conversation with these powerful leaders in a time when we need to hear about more good in the world.

In this episode, League of Education Voters CEO Lauri Hennessey talks with Regina Malveaux, Director of the Washington State Women’s Commission. Lauri and Regina discuss the Women’s Commission, childhood poverty, early learning for kids, and International Women’s Day on March 8th.

 

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2022 Supplemental Budget Proposal Side-By-Side

By League of Education Voters Policy Team

The Washington state House and Senate have released their 2022 supplemental budget proposals. The 2022 supplemental budget makes adjustments to the 2021-23 biennial budget and impacts funding for the remainder of the biennium, which ends in June of 2023. The amounts below are in addition to funds that have already been appropriated in the 2021-23 budget. Read More

LEV Legislative Roundup for Week 6: The budgets are coming

By Jacob Vela, League of Education Voters Director of Policy and Research

 

It is hard to believe how much has happened during the past week in the Legislature. With less than three weeks left, everyone involved is digging deep to find that last burst of energy to help get across the finish line. Tuesday was the cutoff for House of Origin floor activity. Bills had to be voted out before 5:00pm, meaning that legislators and staff were putting in long hours to get the necessary work done. The House worked through the night on Monday, not adjourning until nearly 6:30am Tuesday morning only to turn right back around and start working again at 11:00am.

 

Wednesday morning bright and early, policy committees began holding public hearings on the bills that were passed from the opposite chamber. Hearing agendas were packed, and committee chairs usually would begin with providing friendly advice, or maybe a warning, to individuals who were scheduled to testify that “short testimony will be appreciated and often rewarded.” Within a two-hour block of time, a committee often has to hear 5-6 bills, caucus on an equal number of bills in executive session, and then also take a vote on the various amendments and bills. It is a whirlwind as members, staff, and advocates spend their days logging on and off various Zoom meetings trying to keep up with it all. The pace is unavoidable as the final policy committee cutoff is Thursday 2/24. Read More

LEV Legislative Roundup for Week 5: Burning the midnight oil

By Jacob Vela, League of Education Voters Director of Policy and Research

 

This week the Legislature pivoted to full-time floor action, meaning that the focus will be on caucusing, debating, and passing their members’ priority bills. These days are long, and both the House of Representatives and the Senate worked this past weekend, with the House hearing bills into the early morning hours on Sunday, to get their work done before the February 15th House of Origin cutoff. It is funny how many emails legislators receive from constituents this time of session inquiring about if they are “really still working” when they stumble across TVW in the middle of the night and see their elected official speaking on a bill. The answer is “YES” – the legislators and staff put in long hours discussing possible amendments, strategizing, and finally debating bills on their respective chamber floors. Read More

LEV Legislative Roundup for Week 4: Supporting language access at the halfway point

By Jacob Vela, League of Education Voters Director of Policy and Research

 

We have reached the halfway point of the 2022 Legislative Session! The pace has been fast and furious, so making it to the first bill cut-off and being able to put a line through another day on the calendar getting us closer to March 10th is an opportunity for everyone to briefly sigh in relief. Today, Saturday, was a long day of public hearings and executive action sessions in the House Appropriations and Senate Ways & Means Committees. Concise testimony focusing on the fiscal implications of the various bills was appreciated by the legislators who sat on Zoom from the committee’s call to order at 9:00 am until past the dinner hour.

 

The final day to pass bills out of the House of Origin Fiscal Committees is Monday, February 7. Bill proponents either celebrated seeing their bill numbers on the agendas for today or are spending their weekend scrambling in an attempt to have it scheduled for a hearing and vote on Monday. The number of bills that are referred to fiscal committees from policy committees is significant. While some bills are intentionally not scheduled – they could be exempt from the cut-off or there might be another bill being used as the vehicle for the issue – some just get overlooked. It is rare, but it happens. Advocates are working to find out what category their bill falls into and then take the appropriate action. Read More