OLYMPIA…Serving his first year
on the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee,
state Sen. Dale Brandland, R-Whatcom County, will speak
tomorrow before the committee on three bills he is
prime-sponsoring.
“I spent a lot of time meeting with
local schools, and it became clear to me what their top
concerns and priorities are,” Brandland said. “The bills
we’ll be hearing in committee take on these priorities to
help schools here and across the state deal with the
pressing needs of special education, high-poverty school
districts, and bilingual/minority students.”
Tomorrow’s Senate Early Learning and
K-12 Education Committee hearing will be dedicated to
Brandland’s three bills, Senate bills 5942, 5943, and 6115.
Senate Bill 6115, which would increase funds to the special
education safety net, has already received bipartisan
support from 20 senators.
“I’m very passionate about the issue of
special education funding,” Brandland said. “The state
created a special education safety net, but it’s a
complicated and inconsistent process to receive the funds.
What I am proposing to do is add more money into the fund,
and also simplify the process.”
To assist school districts with a
disproportionately high number of low-income students,
Brandland introduced SB 5943.
“One of the things that jumped out at me serving on this
committee is the correlation between poverty and low test
scores,” Brandland said. “Under SB 5943, the state would
make targeted investments in school districts that have a
higher percentage of students receiving free lunch than the
statewide average.”
Specifically, the bill would make funds
available to school districts with more than 29 percent (the
statewide average) of the students receiving free lunch.
School districts would decide how best to use the funds,
including offering tutoring or summer school programs.
Brandland’s third education bill, SB
5942, would offer salary bonuses for bilingual instructional
staff.
“This is a relevant issue throughout
the state,” Brandland said. “In east Whatcom County, we
have a large number of Ukrainian and Russian families. We
also have students throughout the state who predominantly
speak Spanish. If a teacher takes it upon themselves to
learn a second language and use it in the classroom to help
these students, I believe they should be compensated.”
Brandland said he hopes that all three
bills continue to move forward and are voted out of
committee on the same day. Feb. 28 is the Legislature’s
first cutoff deadline and the last chance for committees to
hear policy bills originating in the Senate.
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Sen. Brandland is Republican caucus
whip and represents Washington’s 42nd District,
which includes Bellingham, Lynden and Blaine.
For more information contact
Catherine Trinh (360) 786-7503 or
trinh.catherine@leg.wa.gov