Jesse Salomon: How We've Worked to Support our Schools

As a parent of a child in public school, and as a legislator, I am deeply concerned to see our schools without adequate resources. 

In Olympia, it is our duty to support every one of the 1.1 million K-12 students in Washington state and the educators who prepare them for a happy and successful life. 

Despite our budget shortfall, we worked to avoid cuts to education funding that would affect students in the classroom. In fact, we made $1.4 billion available in last year’s budget for special education services and to help districts pay for materials, supplies, and operating costs (or, MSOC). 

This session, we also passed a sales tax exemption on services such as temporary staffing in special education classrooms along with several other bills to help improve outcomes for our schools, students, educators and families. 

Early learning

• SB 5872 allows the state to engage in a public/private match program to expand access to the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) dramatically throughout the state. The Ballmer Group has already committed to providing funding for up to 10,000 new school day slots per year for the next 10 years.
• HB 2317 helps streamline child care licensing requirements in a way that maintains quality and is more equitable for all types of providers.
• HB 2219 helps remove burdens to expanding care by providing additional flexibility to child care providers without compromising child safety.

Supporting student learning

• SB 5346 moves Washington toward phone-free schools by helping districts make informed decisions as they develop policies that meet their schools’ needs. The bill requires the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to make research available to districts on the effects of cellphone use on students and best practice strategies for teaching students how to use cellphones and requires OSPI to report to the Legislature a summary of district cellphone policies in Washington, implementation barriers that districts have faced, and recommendations.
• HB 1295 aims to improve literacy outcomes for students by requiring school districts, starting in 2027, to ensure any new literacy curricula they adopt for kindergarten through fourth grade meet certain minimum criteria and are implemented consistently with the developer’s guidance.
• SB 6278 ensures Washington’s educator preparation programs are meeting the needs of today’s classrooms by requiring the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) to incorporate additional criteria, including input from teachers and administrators, into its ongoing review of approved programs.
• SB 6268 increases parents’ access to special education community complaint decisions, giving them more equitable and consistent information as they support their students with disabilities.
• HB 2557 ensures parents of students with disabilities can participate in a more meaningful, collaborative, and informed way in establishing their child’s educational needs.
• HB 2594 ensures unhoused students have full access to educational opportunities by ensuring predictability for students. 

Giving districts financial flexibility

• SB 5922 gives school districts additional budgeting flexibility as they determine the best use of their resources, especially when enrollment declines.
• SB 6065 gives school districts in financial distress an additional tool as they build back to financial solvency. Last session, we passed SB 5412, authorizing interfund loans from districts’ capital projects fund under certain conditions. This year’s bill simply allows school districts to take a similar temporary interfund loan from their transportation vehicle fund under the same conditions.

Improving student health and safety

• SB 5272 increases safety at official extracurricular school events by making it a misdemeanor to interfere with or intimidate officials like referees or other volunteers who are working at them.
• HB 1795 gives educators a better understanding of their options for maintaining healthy, safe learning environments while also protecting students from unsafe, harmful isolation and restraint practices.

We should be proud of the progress we’ve made, but our work is not over. I know that many of our school districts still need help. I am committed to working alongside our communities to direct much-needed state resources towards our district and our state’s public education system. 

Stay in Touch

Due to election-year restrictions, this will be my final e-newsletter, and my website will not be updated until results are certified. However, my office remains open and ready to assist you. 

Please feel free to send me an email at Jesse.Salomon@leg.wa.gov or call 360-786-7662.