Legislative and Policy Advocacy
We work with legislators and policy makers to ensure that legislation in Olympia affecting schools and education is crafted with the particular needs of private and independent schools in mind.WFIS Legislative and Policy Updates
House Bill 1139 Lead Screening in Public and Private Schools
HB 1139 is scheduled for an executive session in the House Education Committee on Friday, February 12 at 10:00am. WFIS is seeking to strike private schools from this bill.
Private schools care about the health and safety of students. However, this bill mandates the same expectation for private schools as public schools without access to the infrastructure or funding to support the requirements.
Two School Choice Bills make it to the Washington State Legislature 2021
Families around the country have expressed immense increase in school choice due to the limitations of the public school systems to provide in person learning during Covid. The following bills in WA State are related to advancing school choice:
Congress Passes Aid for Private Schools
The bill is written such that a public agency will maintain control of funds in much the same way as occurs with existing equitable services programs. This should in theory insulate private schools from becoming recipients of federal financial assistance.
The Chasm Spanning Public and Private Schools Continues in a COVID-19 Era
The gulf separating public and private school COVID-19 responses center on one distinct factor — private schools view their school families as valuable customers, as opposed to public schools, the majority of which strongly prioritize teacher preferences over student needs.
Early Ed advocacy for programs in our private schools
WFIS is partnering with many early learning advocates to ensure our school’s programs are also supported. The information below is from Erica Hallock on behalf of Start Early WA, a non-profit that works with public and private partners to promote comprehensive...
Schumacher directs state agencies to identify operating budget savings options
Michael Goldberg for the WA State Wire May 15, 2020 David Schumacher, Director of the Washington Office of Financial Management (OFM) sent a memo to state agency directors this week asking that they identify options for savings from their FY 2021 operating budget...
OSPI provides updated guidelines on ‘Use of School Buildings’
Per the Governor’s school year closure directive on April 6, OSPI has set guidelines for school use of facilities.
CARES Act: emergency COVID-19 relief package and critical aid to WA state
The CARES Act is aimed at reducing the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by authorizing $2.1 trillion in aid to support various sectors of the economy. It is huge and therefore will take expert examination in the coming weeks to interpret the fine print details. For now, here are a few key things included that directly relate to our State:
SAT Future Testing Opportunities
There is a lot of anxiety about how the Covid-19 crisis will affect the college application process. The College Board has conveyed the following:
Urgent: Senate CARES Act relevant to private schools
WFIS Educators and Families - your advocacy effort is needed at this time! The big “Phase 3” Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) is at a critical stage of consideration in Congress right now. Currently there is a provision allowing for...
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