51������

A collective “ugh” was felt by the education community this week at the Capitol as the House and Senate released their supplemental budgets. Education advocates remain concerned by inadequate funding and we are using several talking points from OSPI to help explain why districts are facing shortages.

Both the Senate and the House have been busy with committee hearings as the Feb. 21st deadline for policy bills to be released from committees and the Feb. 26th deadline for fiscal bills approaches. There has been little floor action. Next week debate and floor passage will begin anew and at a rapid pace given the March 1 deadline for bills to clear their respective houses. Little has changed since last week’s report. An up-to-date summary will come next week after the deadline dust has settled.

Members at all levels across the state continue to report that responding to student behavior is the number one issue impacting their own mental health, well-being, job satisfaction, and frankly, willingness to stay in the profession. Living in a constant reactive state to the unknown behaviors that surface daily is draining both emotionally and physically. It’s a pace that is not sustainable or realistic. Something must be done.

Since covering pension/retirement/health insurance issues on behalf of WASA and 51������, there are a few important points we have learned. This is just a brief summary of selected retirement related topics. However, the importance of advance planning cannot be overstated. These are not issues to put off until the last month of either one’s impending retirement or approaching Medicare eligible age. It’s best to complete your retirement application 30–90 days before you plan to retire.

Legislators grinded through some long hours to meet their deadline of February 13 when bills had to pass off the floor of the House or the Senate to stay alive. Some bills that made it all the way to the floor calendars for a vote died because legislators ran out of time or the bills weren’t prioritized. Now the bills that passed move to the other side and the process repeats. The next cut-off date is February 21 when bills must pass out of policy committees to keep moving.