League of Education Voters Blog - Education in Washington State

Beth Richer: Advocate for the Underserved

April 4, 2014 by League of Education Voters

Beth Richer first worked with the League of Education Voters (LEV) as a consultant with the Youth & Families Initiative. She returned full-time in 2010 after managing Rep. Marcie Maxwell’s (successful) re-election campaign to help LEV grow and build relationships with Washington legislators. While at LEV, Beth’s work focused primarily on issues that directly correlate with closing the opportunity and achievement gaps for Washington’s students.

Beth recently left our organization to take a position as the Senior Advocate Engagement Manager at Health Advocacy Strategies, an organization that focuses on bringing in patients as advocates and emphasizing an authentic patient voice in biotechnology and pharmaceutical marketing. Read More

Transforming School Discipline: The Next Step

April 3, 2014 by League of Education Voters

Transforming School Discipline: The Next Step [image of children running] During the 2013 legislative session, many of you helped us pass a law (SB 5946) that makes school discipline data public and limits the number of days that students can be removed from class.

That was the first step in transforming school discipline policies. Now it’s time to take another.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is inviting public comment on its implementation of the new law.

There are a few ways you can get involved. Read More

Celebrating World Autism Day with an extraordinary accomplishment

April 2, 2014 by League of Education Voters

By Beth Sigall

Beth Sigall with her family. Clockwise from top left: Beth, Anthony, Jule, Thomas, and Joseph.

Today as we observe World Autism Day, there is much to celebrate in our 14-year-old son Anthony’s life. Our journey began in 2002 with an autism diagnosis a few days shy of his third birthday. Like many parents, we were filled with more questions than answers, lots of anxiety, but a singular determination that together, somehow, we would figure this out so that our son could live a meaningful, productive, and enriching life.

We’ve faced many challenges since then. Learning to communicate, to do basic living skills, attend school, be part of a family, and just be a kid—all these things required countless hours of work by and with Anthony. Today he is an energetic teenager who loves to play Minecraft, take long and rigorous hikes with anyone who can keep up with him, do comedy improv, play piano, and hang out with his brothers and cousins.

Just a few weeks ago Anthony learned to do something ordinary, but for him and for many people with autism, it was extraordinary: he learned how to take public transportation. Read More

The 2014 Legislative Session

March 21, 2014 by League of Education Voters

The 2014 legislative session may have been short, but there were significant policy accomplishments in improving public education in Washington state. These accomplishments expand access to financial aid for higher education for all Washington students, pave the way for all students to graduate from high school ready for college or career, and make steps toward reducing the opportunity and achievement gaps. Read More

A multifaceted approach yields a strong step forward in closing the opportunity and achievement gaps

March 14, 2014 by League of Education Voters

By Beth Richer, League of Education Voters Government Relations

Governor Jay Inslee signs the Dream Act (Real Hope Act). Photo by the Seattle PI. Governor Jay Inslee signs the Dream Act (Real Hope Act). Photo by the Seattle PI. — Governor Jay Inslee signs the Dream Act (Real Hope Act). Photo by the Seattle PI.

Within any given legislative session there are victories, defeats, and measures left in a state of limbo. The 2014 session was no different. But amidst those victories, defeats, and states of limbo, there was an underlying theme for much of the education legislation related to the opportunity gap. Legislators, advocacy organizations, teachers, parents, students, and business leaders alike all said loud and clear: “We must take action to close the gaps and address our most underserved students.” Read More

Activist of the Month: Paulina Zepeda

March 3, 2014 by League of Education Voters

At the League of Education Voters (LEV), 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 March: Paulina Zepeda. Read more about Paulina’s experience as an advocate and activist.

Paulina Zepeda (right) with LEV Community Organizer Micaela Razo

Paulina Zepeda is a high school student in the Grandview School District. That sounds pretty straightforward, until you learn that Paulina had to advocate to be allowed to attend school.

Paulina immigrated to Grandview from Colima, Mexico, two years ago. She was in high school in Colima, but because she was 18 years old when she arrived in Washington, she was told that she could not continue high school despite having transfer papers with class and grade information.

Paulina kept fighting to be able to attend school, and the school district eventually allowed her to attend but ignored her transcript from Colima and enrolled her in elective classes rather than core credits that would allow her to graduate. Read More

The LEV Annual Breakfast Panelists

February 27, 2014 by League of Education Voters

We hope you will join the League of Education Voters at our annual breakfast on March 11 at the Seattle Sheraton to learn how, through high-quality early learning, we not only change the beginning of the story, we change the WHOLE story.

Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist Meeghan Black will host our event and Washington First Lady Trudi Inslee will moderate a panel of early learning advocates and experts.

Panelists include: Seattle City Council President Tim Burgess, Seattle Children’s Hospital pediatrician Dr. Michelle Terry, South Shore PK–8 Principal Keisha Scarlett, and Trilogy International Partners Chair John Stanton. Read More

What a college and career ready high school diploma means

February 11, 2014 by League of Education Voters

The field of Human Centered Design & Engineering is growing, and more than 80% of the program’s graduates are employed within 6 months of graduation. But Stephanie White, an undergraduate advisor in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington, says that even though the undergraduate program has been flooded with applications, a lot of the students who want to study engineering in her department can’t—they simply don’t have the prerequisites to qualify. “Many students find out their junior year of high school that they don’t have the prerequisites to study STEM in college—by then it’s too late to take the courses they need.”

Sadly, Stephanie’s experience isn’t unusual. Only 4 in 10 graduating seniors meet the basic admissions requirements to get into a public university in Washington. And nearly 60% of students who attend community or technical college must take remediation classes to get to those basic 4-year college admissions requirements. In other words, many students must pay tuition to learn what they should have been taught in public high school. Help us to change this for Washington students by signing a petition in support of a college and career ready diploma.

Maggie Wilkens: Change Agent

February 4, 2014 by League of Education Voters

Maggie Wilkens joined the League of Education Voters (LEV) in 2009, initially as a part-time intern and ultimately as our State Field Coordinator. She recently left our organization to take a position at the Parents Union as their Director of Marketing, starting today.

In her time in LEV’s Field department, Maggie worked with diverse communities throughout Washington, including student populations and through online organizing. Maggie was instrumental in starting the conversation about race, equity, and disproportionality in school discipline at LEV. She believes that her experience growing up and attending school in Seattle Public Schools gave her a ground-level view of structural inequity.

Maggie is a basketball coach for Lakeside School in her spare time, and she credits her experience as a coach with teaching her a lot about community organizing. Her skills in organizing, combined with her commitment to racial and social justice, allowed Maggie to make a huge impact in both the organization’s direction and in the lives of those she worked with. Maggie was a key member of LEV’s current campaign on transforming school discipline policies, which led to the introduction of statewide legislation in 2013 to keep more kids in school and end the school-to-prison pipeline. According to LEV’s State Field Director Kelly Munn, “Maggie can do anything you ask her to do. Maggie is determined and thoughtful about her work and she does not allow roadblocks to deter her from her goal.”

Maggie had a huge impact on our organization, and we will all miss her greatly, but I am also thrilled that she has found an organization where she can continue working toward improving public education for all of our kids. Please join me in wishing Maggie the best in her next adventure at the Parents Union!

Activist of the Month: Betsy Cohen

February 3, 2014 by League of Education Voters

At the League of Education Voters (LEV), 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 February: Betsy Cohen. Read more about Betsy’s experience as an education activist.

Betsy Cohen testified in Olympia for the first time two weeks ago in favor of the college and career ready diploma (HB 2181). That might come as a surprise to those who know her, since Betsy has been involved in education advocacy for years—since moving to Washington state when her children were young.

Betsy joined her children’s elementary school PTA and, with her background as a law professor, was quickly appointed as their legislative representative. Over the years, she has organized dozens of trips to Olympia and helped others testify (but she never had the opportunity to testify herself). Read More