Tag Archives: SB 5147

Senate budget committee passes Hawkins-Wellman education bill

A bill prime-sponsored by 12th District Sen. Brad Hawkins aimed at learning recovery due to impacts of the COVID pandemic, including a pilot project to help districts voluntarily reform their school calendars, was approved today by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

As amended and passed by the committee, Hawkins’ bipartisan legislation, Senate Bill 5147, would help assist districts with “learning stabilization, recovery, and acceleration” in response to struggling academics resulting from less than ideal remote learning and significantly reduced in-person instruction.

Hawkins, the ranking Republican member on the Senate’s Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, has partnered on the bill with 41st District Sen. Lisa Wellman, who chairs the committee and is the lead co-sponsor of Senate Bill 5147. Prior to the committee’s passage of the bill, Hawkins and Wellman worked together on a sweeping amendment to the measure that would:

  • Fund three additional instructional days to all districts statewide in the 2021-22 school year.
  • Direct the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to create and administer a grant program to assist school districts in facilitating a weeklong “reengagement” program prior to the start of the 2021-22 school year for students to reconnect with peers and teachers through learning, physical activity, and social interaction.
  • Direct OSPI to administer a grant program to fund up to five days of additional education opportunities in preparation for the 2021-22 school year for lower-income districts.
  • Advance a “balanced school calendar” program to allow up to 20 school districts to explore using their 180 state-funded school days differently to implement an 11-month school calendar beginning in the 2022-23 school year.

“This bill took a significant step forward by being approved by the Ways and Means Committee today,” said Hawkins. “The substitute version that Senator Wellman and I developed broadens the bill to help school districts address learning stabilization and recovery, in both the short term and the longer term.”

Hawkins, who served for 10 years on the Eastmont School Board and North Central Educational Service District Board before being elected to the Legislature, says the state should be supporting districts to address learning recovery to try to catch students up to their prepandemic academic learning trajectory.

“Now is the time – as we prepare to move past this pandemic – to assist our school districts and their students with their growing academic and social challenges resulting from loss of instruction or less than ideal remote learning. We also need to think big about reforming the system and to get serious about exploring better opportunities for student learning in the years ahead. The ‘balanced calendar’ pilot remains as a section of the bill to help incentivize districts to change,” said Hawkins.

Senate Bill 5147 now goes to the Senate Rules Committee for further consideration.

To review the committee-approved amendments, click here and here.

To review a summary of the bill, click here.

Photo caption: Sen. Brad Hawkins (left) and Sen. Lisa Wellman worked together on changes to Senate Bill 5147 before it was passed by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Sen. Hawkins

Education committee approves Hawkins’ school calendar bill

Following a challenging school year for students, parents, and schools, and anticipating significant learning loss across Washington state, the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee has taken a step forward to address “learning loss” throughout the state.

The committee today approved 12th District state Sen. Brad Hawkins’ bipartisan legislation, Senate Bill 5147, aimed at addressing learning loss by exploring alternatives to current school calendars that leave students with nearly three months each year with no school instruction.

Hawkins, the ranking Republican member on the Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, is sponsoring the bill to explore alternative school calendars. His lead co-sponsor is 41st District Sen. Lisa Wellman, who chairs the committee and works closely with Hawkins on education policy. Other prominent Senate co-sponsors include Majority Leader Andy Billig, Ways and Means Committee Vice Chair David Frockt, Democratic Caucus Chair Bob Hasegawa, and Republican Caucus Chair Ann Rivers.

As passed by the committee, the bill would create opportunities for up to 30 school districts (15 from western Washington and 15 from eastern Washington) to voluntarily participate in year-round school. The bill includes a financial incentive in the school funding formula for districts seeking to spread their existing state-funded 180 days over a full calendar year. The bill would require instructional days in at least 11 months of the school year and breaks of no longer than four weeks.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction would select applicant districts based on the bill’s criteria to implement the program beginning in the 2022-23 school year and concluding after the 2025-26 school year and then report back to the Legislature regarding its findings. If this program works well, the Legislature could consider expansion to all schools in future years.

Hawkins, who served for 10 years on the Eastmont School Board and North Central Educational Service District Board before being elected to the Legislature, says now is the time for the state to encourage willing school districts to reform their school calendars.

“Now is the time – as we’ll pull out of this pandemic – to think big about reforming the system and to get serious about addressing student learning loss,” said Hawkins. “Long summer breaks, requiring significant reteaching in the fall, are the last thing our kids need in the years ahead. I hope for a program that encourages lawmakers and districts to consider transformational reforms to meet students’ academic needs. They deserve that,” says Hawkins.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal has listed reforms to the school calendar as one of his agency’s 10 “strategic changes.” In a Jan. 8, 2021, letter to Gov. Jay Inslee and members of the Legislature, Reykdal cited “Substantially shrink summer learning loss in the long term, and learning loss due to the pandemic in the short term, by balancing the school calendar” as a policy step for increasing learning for students in an effort “to become the highest performing public education system in the nation.”

Reykdal appreciates the bipartisan effort and positive dialogue around SB 5147, saying, “I am grateful for Senator Hawkins’ deep dive into this critical work. We have known for a very long time that our agrarian school calendars contribute to summer learning loss and a lack of supports for students who need us the most. By rebalancing calendars, we can improve student achievement and student supports, and we can sustain the teaching profession for our educators who are cramming 1,700+ work hours into a compressed calendar.”

The Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee has referred the bill to the Senate Ways and Means Committee for further consideration.

Hawkins sponsors bill to address learning loss

Following a challenging school year for students, parents, and schools and anticipating significant learning loss across Washington state, 12th District State Sen. Brad Hawkins has introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at reforming “outdated” school year calendars that leave students with nearly three months each year with no school instruction.

Hawkins, the ranking Republican member on the Senate’s Early Learning and K-12 Committee, is sponsoring Senate Bill 5147 to explore alternative school calendars. His lead co-sponsor is 41st District Sen. Lisa Wellman, who chairs the committee and works closely with Hawkins on education policy.

As proposed, the bill would create opportunities for up to 50 school districts (30 from western Washington and 20 from eastern Washington) to voluntarily participate in year-round school. In Hawkins’ bill, school districts selected to participate in implementing alternative school calendars would receive an additional 30 days of funding beyond the 180 days that the state currently provides. The bill also includes financial incentives for districts seeking to spread their existing 180 days over a 12-month school calendar. If this program works well, the Legislature could consider expansion to all schools in future years.

Hawkins says reforming the school calendar is long overdue. “The school calendar that most districts use is rooted in an agrarian economy where families needed children to take long breaks in the summer to assist with farming. That no longer makes sense, and a change is long overdue,” says Hawkins.

“Now is the time – following this pandemic – to think big about reforming the system and to get serious about addressing the learning loss of our students. Long summer breaks, requiring significant reteaching in the fall, is the last thing our kids need in the years ahead. I hope a program that encourages lawmakers and districts to consider transformational reforms will be thoughtfully discussed and debated,” says Hawkins. “Our students deserve that.”

“Through no fault of the educators, students, or parents, there has been learning loss this year and often during summer breaks for many students. This is the perfect time to explore options about how we can recover from learning loss. We need to keep all our options on the table to give our students all that they need,” says Wellman.

The bill will be referred to the Early Learning and K-12 Committee, where it is expected to receive a hearing early in the session. Hawkins and Wellman look forward to receiving testimony and public input. The 2021 legislative session began Jan. 11 and is scheduled to last 105 days.

(CAPTION: Ranking Republican member Brad Hawkins (12th District) and Chair Lisa Wellman (41st District) of the Senate’s Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee are teaming up to address student “learning loss” by exploring alternative school calendars in Senate Bill 5147.)