Early bird parent registration of $100 ends October 1^st. If you are interested in the $50 scholarship from Academic Booster Club, please call the QUEST office 841-8751.

The Legislative session has finally come to an end. In virtually last minute votes, the Legislature approved a budget (E2SHB 1087) which is “kind” to gifted programs; enacted the new “minimum instructional program of basic education” and the HCP funding formula in ESSB 5919, effective September 2011; and failed to enact the Recommendations of the Highly Capable Program Technical Working Group (bills 1443 and 2111).

It will take us awhile to sort out the details of what this all means and where it leaves gifted programs for the next school year, but here are some preliminary remarks.

• The budget has two parts. Another supplemental for the current year was part of 1087. It made no changes to HCP funding, beyond what was done in the 5th supplemental (HB 1086).

• In the biennial budget for 2011-2013, enhanced funding is provided under the new formula for HCP. It is both good news and bad. Depending on what base line you use, the funding for districts took a cut of between $200,000 and $250,000. Harder hit were our associated programs. Centrum took a 50% cut in its funding and Future Problem Solving/Destination ImagiNation took a 100% cut in funding.

• ESSB 5919 authorizes the implementation of education reform measures  (the “minimum instructional program of basic education”) beginning September 2011. Among its provisions is the new formula for calculating HCP enhanced funds. See Sec. 2(10)( c ) of the bill. This means that HCP services will be a mandated part of basic education. Nothing in either this bill nor the budget requires districts to offer any particular program or service, only that appropriate services must be provided. Districts remain free to determine what level of services are needed within the district. Districts will need to apply to OSPI for the enhanced funds, as they have for the categorical funds in the past. and submit their plan for approval.

While becoming a mandated part of basic education with an adequate funding appropriation is fulfillment of a long time Coalition goal, in view of the draconian cuts to education and social services, we aren’t celebrating too loudly.

What we do say loudly is a big vote of THANKS to all the advocates in the state whose efforts made this possible. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Below is section 511 of the biennial budget

NEW SECTION. Sec. 511. FOR PROGRAMS FOR HIGHLY CAPABLE STUDENTS

General Fund–State Appropriation (FY 2012) . . . .$8,741,000
General Fund–State Appropriation (FY 2013) . . .  $8,794,000
TOTAL APPROPRIATION…………….   $17,535,000

The appropriations in this section are subject to the following conditions and limitations

(1) Each general fund fiscal year appropriation includes such funds as are necessary to complete the school year ending in the fiscal year and for prior fiscal year adjustments.

(2)(a) For the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years, the superintendent shall allocate funding to school district programs for highly capable students as provided in RCW 28A.150.260(10)(c). In calculating the allocations, the superintendent shall assume the following: (i) Additional instruction of 2.1590 hours per week per funded highly capable program student; (ii) fifteen highly capable program students per teacher; (iii) 36 instructional weeks per year; (iv) 900 instructional hours per teacher; and (v) the district’s average staff mix and compensation rates as provided in sections 503 and 504 of this act.
(b) From July 1, 2011, to August 31, 2011, the superintendent shall allocate funding to school districts programs for highly capable students as provided in section 511, chapter 564, Laws of 2009, as amended through section 1409 of this act.

(3) $85,000 of the general fund–state appropriation for fiscal year 2012 and $85,000 of the general fund–state appropriation for fiscal year 2013 are provided solely for the centrum program at Fort Worden state park.

We were disappointed to see that Centrum and Destination ImagiNation, two progams that had previously been funded alongside highly capable programming in the State budget, were not funded in the 2011 – 2013 proposal.
 
No alternative proposals have yet been released in either the House or the Senate.  A House Republican proposal may be released on Wednesday, but House Democrats are confident they have the votes necessary to pass their proposal as presented.  There is not yet a date scheduled for a vote on the House Democratic Budget proposal, and we don’t yet know when any budget proposals from the Senate may be released.  While this is just the beginning of what could be a long process, this puts highly capable programs in a stronger position than has been seen in recent years.
 
Additional legislation that would provide for an improved definition of highly capable learners and establish improved identification criteria (E2SHB 1443) has also passed key votes in both the House and Senate Chambers.  Puyallup Rep. Dammeier is a sponsor of HB 1443.  ABC President David Berg, some members of the State Highly Capable Program Technical Working Group, and members of the Washington Coalition for Gifted Education testified before the House Education Committee in favor of the bill and worked with the Committee on some amendments specific to highly capable programming that we were very pleased to see were adopted.

We will continue to work with the Washington Coalition for Gifted Education to monitor events in Olympia and will update you as the situation changes.

While we don’t know for certain what the legislature will decide, or when they will ultimately decide it, the leadership of the Puyallup School District can’t wait and has been hard at work writing their own budget proposal for next year.  The District expects to need to make about $6.5 million in cuts for the 2011 – 2012 school year.  In deciding where those cuts would come from, the District used the Governor’s proposed budget as a starting point.  As the Governor’s proposal contained no funding for highly capable, the District assumed that they would not receive the approximately $195,000 next year that they received from the state this year.    To reflect that reduction, the District’s 2011 – 2012 budget contains a $10,000 cut to highly capable programming.  While we would obviously prefer the QUEST and PAGE programs not be cut, and in a better financial situation would seek for the expansion of highly capable services, we understand that difficult choices have to be made.  ABC will continue to work with the Washington Coalition for Gifted Education and other local parent organizations to try to protect state funding for our students.  We don’t know at this time if a better outcome at the state level may result in the restoration of the $10,000 District cut.

OUR FOCUS FOR GIFTED EDUCATION DAY AND BEYOND

The Supplemental Budget has passed both the Senate and the House but in different versions which will need to be reconciled. Since both versions provide nearly the same amount for highly capable programming (HCP) as in the original budget for the current school year, it appears that the first hurdle of this legislative session has been successfully – well – hurdled.

The Biennial Budget and SB 5475 lie ahead of us. The fate of SB 5475, introduced on behalf of the Governor, will be basic to the budget.

The Legislature has some important decisions as outlined below.

• Proceed with the scheduled implementation of Education Reform (ESHB 2261 and SHB 2776) and they will write one budget.

• Follow the Governor’s proposal to delay implementation of parts of Education Reform and this requires a different budget.

- Delay implementation to 2013 and the biennial budget needs to contain approximately $18 million in categorical funding for HCP at at least maintenance level. This funding is not a sure thing.

- The Governor’s proposals assume delayed implementation (SB 5475) and $0 in funding in her budget.

The Coalition Position

SB 5475

We request that the words “Beginning with the 2013-14 school year” be removed from Sec. 2 (2)(g), Section 3(10)(c), Sec. 5, and Section 6(1) of SB 5475 as these would delay inclusion of HCP in basic education until 2013.

Other sections of this bill move forward with the 2011 inclusion of the Learning Assistance Program (LAP), and the Transitional Bilingual Program (TBL) into basic education and implement the prototypical school funding formula, MSOC (materials, supplies, and operating costs) allocations and the new transportation formula. The Quality Education Council (QEC) has linked HCP with LAP and TBL as programs that close the opportunity gap; this bill removes that linkage.

Educational reform was designed as a whole. Delaying some parts of it will upset the design and make planning difficult. It will be disruptive to districts and students. Local districts have limited funds to continue programs in a delayed implementation. It will be more expensive to reintroduce them than it would be to implement them now.

We understand that implementation cost is high and that funding in full is not likely. Better an underfunded reform than no reform. For HCP, better an underfunded mandate than no mandate. Funding can be adjusted upward as the fiscal situation improves.

Your contacts with Legislators, until further notice, should request that implementation of the new definition of basic education not be delayed beyond the scheduled date of September 2011.

Since the bill is currently in the Senate, contact with your Senators should take place first but both Senators and Representatives will need to be contacted.

The Budget for 2012-2013

If inclusion of HCP is implemented in full in 2011 we hope that some amount of Section 708 funds will be appropriated along with MSOC but have not taken a position on how much this should be. We need to see what is in the budget proposed by the Legislature. (Information on these categories of funds is in the attachment.)

If implementation is delayed (SB 5475), it is our position that we will advocate to obtain as much funding for the current categorical program (which will still exist) as we can. Again, we will signal we are willing to accept a cut but it must be proportional. The budget proposed by the Governor provides no funds for HCP (as a categorical program based on her request to delay implementation of HCP inclusion). This is not proportional.

More Information.

If you are relatively new to gifted advocacy or you just like to dig into the details, please see the (long) attached pdf file which has all the appropriate references and citations.

To hear the perspective of the head of the highly capable program in the Seattle School District, we have attached Dr. Robert Vaughan’s statement to the Senate Ways & Means Committee on January 31 regarding SB 5475. 

I have a project that I am hoping all of you will embrace. I think you will because you’ve all been amazing at calling and emailing your Representatives with great creative messages!

I would like to show our elected officials the bright shining faces of Hi-Cap kids (teachers, family members!).

So what I am asking is for you to make a sign with a message from you or your child (see attached photo for my daughters!) and also include somewhere on the sign “Support Hi-Cap” so that we will have a consistent message. Please make sure that you can read the sign.

Also many parents have asked about having their child write hand written notes. If you or your child would like to do this you can fax them to me at 1-866-276-1565 and I will create a PDF with them and add them to the photos. (NO LAST NAMES PLEASE) The fax number is an efax – the faxes goes right into my email.

Upload your pictures to our Flickr group — http://www.flickr.com/groups/hicap. You can upload high quality photos to this site which will be good if I need to print them! You can share them through the Washington Coalition for Gifted Education’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/wagifted). Or e-mail them to me with the email title “Hi-Cap Picture” I am hoping to get at the very least 100 pictures! Can’t wait to see how creative you are!

Help spread the word and forward this email to other parents/teachers or students involved with Highly Capable or gifted programs in Washington State!

Please get your pictures to me by February 14th! It is my hope to print out the final product in a book form that I can give to the Governor.

Brooke Valentine
Parent of 3rd and 4th Grade Hi-Cap Students in the Kent School District.

“Failure to help the gifted child is a societal tragedy, the extent of which is difficult to measure….They are the difference between what we are and what we could be as a society.” — Dr. James J. Gallagher, University of North Carolina

The Governor has proposed to eliminate all state highly capable program funding for the next two years.  This is the third time for this proposal.  The last attempt was rebuffed by the legislature in the recent special session.

Highly capable programming is not an extra to be funded when times are good.  The legislature declared in ESHB 2261 in 2009, “for highly capable students, access to accelerated learning and enhanced instruction is access to a basic education.” The Academic Booster Club will work with families of highly capable students and advocates for highly capable programming across the state to reverse the decision.  The first step will be to write letters to the editors of our local newspapers protesting this action and sharing the important role highly capable programming has had in the education of our students

You can submit a letter to the editor to The News Tribune through their website http://blog.thenewstribune.com/letters/submit/ or to the Puyallup Herald by e-mail at editor@puyallupherald.com.   The Secretary of State also maintains a listing of newspaper websites at http://www.sos.wa.gov/library/wa_newspapers.aspx.  Most papers will provide contact information on an “About Us” or “Contact Us” page.  Many will accept letters to the editor submitted via email, while others will provide a mailing address. 

If you have never written to a paper before, the National Association for Gifted Children’s advocacy web site at http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=3148 has some excellent suggestions and examples.  Adapt your letter to reflect your personal experiences and the issues facing highly capable programming in Washington State.

Some key issues in Washington are:

• Full funding of Highly Capable Programs in the 2011 – 2013 biennial budget.
• Full implementation of the education reforms promised in ESHB 2261 beginning in September 2011.  Under ESHB 2261, highly capable program services will become a mandated part of basic education. This places them within the protections of basic education regarding funding.  It is vital that implementation proceed as scheduled. The Governor’s budget proposes to not fund a program that will be a protected part of basic education.
• Highly Capable Programs are an essential part of securing Washington’s economic future. This is a high-tech state and gifted programs are the place where STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) talents are best nurtured. Funding highly capable programming is an investment in our state’s future.

This is the first step in our campaign for highly capable programming.   Thank you for your continuing advocacy for our Highly Capable Learners!

The state Legislature has passed the second supplemental budget bill and it restores highly capable funding to the level in ESSB 6444 – $18,377,000 for two years, including $170,000 per year for Centrum and $90,000 per year for Future Problem Solving/Destination ImagiNation. That is, the 6.287% across-the-board-cut ordered by the Governor this fall is rescinded.

This bill plugs only half of the budget hole so there will have to be either another supplemental when the next legislative session starts on January 10, or another round of across the board cuts. For those interested in the details, you can get the bill and the explanation here. Click on Summary.

The Governor’s budget proposal for the 2011-2013 biennium is due out no later than Wednesday, December 15th. When we see what is in it for highly capable funding, we will have a better idea of what advocates will need to do.

This was just an opening skirmish in what is likely to be a bruising contest for limited funds. Your outstanding efforts in contacting Legislators have brought us this far. We will need additional efforts in the coming weeks and months. If you have a newly elected Legislator(s), make every effort to contact him/her to begin their education about gifted. Newly elected Legislators will not have Olympia email addresses or phone numbers until they are sworn in on January 10. Many campaign web sites are still active and contain contact local information.

And do make plans to be in Olympia for Gifted Education Day on February 11, 2011. Your presence is vital to our efforts.

You can follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/wagifted or on our blog at http://wcge.wordpress.com

ABC hopes to have a strong presence in Olympia on Gifted Education Day. We’re fortunate to have legislators in Olympia who have strong ties to our school district, and look forward to working with each them in the coming session.  If you are interested in becoming more involved in our advocacy efforts, please contact president@questabc.org.