NPI's Cascadia Advocate

Offering commentary and analysis from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's uplifting perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Category Archives: Education

Expansion of access to Working Connections Child Care will help Washington families

Excerpt: In this guest post for NPI's Cascadia Advocate, Senator Claire Wilson explains how Senate Bill 5225 will help reduce the cost of childcare for many families and support Washington's youngest learners.
Written by:Claire Wilson
Other Categories:Guest Posts, Legislative Advocacy, Policy Topics
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Voters say Legislature has a responsibility to act to prevent school closures, staff layoffs

Excerpt: 55% of 874 voters interviewed from March 7th-8th, 2023 said they agreed that Washington's public schools are underfunded and we need to raise state revenue to fully fund them, while 35% disagreed and 10% were not sure. 59% of those surveyed subsequently said they agreed that the Legislature has an obligation to respond to the fiscal crises districts are facing by substantially increasing school funding.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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64% of Washington voters want legislators to fund universal, no-cost school meals for kids

Excerpt: 64% of 874 likely 2024 voters interviewed March 7th and 8th by Public Policy Polling for NPI said they strongly or somewhat supported universal no-cost school meals, while a total 33% said they were strongly or somewhat opposed.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Healthcare, Policy Topics
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Gem State win: School privatization schemes fail in Idaho’s Republican-run Legislature

Excerpt: A right wing effort to authorize the diversion of public tax dollars into privately run schools has collapsed in the Republican-dominated Idaho State Legislature, in a significant victory for public education and progressive organizations working to protect and strengthen the commons of the Gem State.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Marysville School District debates parental consent policy for clubs that opponents say would violate students’ rights

Excerpt: Right wing groups and conservative parents in the Marysville School District have been urging its school board to require parental consent for students to join clubs. The proposal is fiercely opposed by many students, student advocates, and progressive organizations.
Written by:Medhya Goel
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Most Washington voters back permanently forgiving all federal student loan debt

Excerpt: 52% of 700 likely 2022 Washington State voters surveyed by Public Policy Polling for NPI back in February 2022 favor debt forgiveness for all student loan borrowers, while 44% are opposed. 4% of respondents said they were not sure. 
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Walla Walla students challenge book bans by reading the material some want to censor

Excerpt: Let’s not shy away from difficult discussions and sensitive topics. This is America, and in America, we acknowledge our blemishes and weaknesses as well as our strengths. 
Written by:Erin Jones
Categories:Education
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VICTORY! School seismic safety grant bill clears state House; heads to Governor Inslee

Excerpt: Senate Bill 5933, one of NPI's top legislative priorities for 2022, received a unanimous vote of support in the House of Representatives on March 3rd, 2022, a few weeks after getting a unanimous vote in the Washington State Senate.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Washingtonians want state legislators to make big investments in K‑12 public schools

Excerpt: More than three-fifths of voters in Washington State surveyed in mid-February 2022 support adding at least $2 billion more to the state's education budget to help K-12 public schools address needs stemming from the pandemic.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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February is Black History Month. It’s a good time to ask: What are you doing to make your community a better place for Black people?

Excerpt: In our fear, may we find purpose. May we leverage our collective pain and struggle to make ourselves and our communities better, Erin Jones writes.
Written by:Erin Jones
Other Categories:Civil Liberties, Guest Posts, Holidays, Policy Topics
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Washington State Senate unanimously passes much needed school seismic safety grant bill

Excerpt: All forty-nine Washington State senators have voted to pass a bill that would establish a grant program to upgrade seismically vulnerable school buildings in Washington State, providing sorely needed funds to ensure our kids have safe facilities to learn in.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:National Defense, Policy Topics
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School seismic safety bill passes out of Senate Ways & Means with bonding plan removed

Excerpt: The purpose of the legislation is to protect schoolchildren, faculty, volunteers, and community members from geologic hazards by modernizing decrepit, dangerous old school buildings that are vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis, and lahars.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Legislative Advocacy, Policy Topics, Public Planning
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Most Washington voters think upgrading our seismically vulnerable school buildings is a state responsibility, NPI poll finds

Excerpt: The finding, unveiled by NPI at a public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means Committee, affirms that voters see the Legislature as principally responsible for upholding the state's paramount duty to "make ample provision" for the education of all of the state's children, as the Framers of the Constitution intended when they wrote Washington's plan of government.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Legislative Advocacy, Policy Topics, Public Planning
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Big news! Meaningful school seismic safety bills have been introduced in the Legislature

Excerpt: The bills (HB 2095 and SB 5933) would create a school seismic safety grant program, backed by general obligation bonds that would need to be voter-approved in a special statewide vote to be held in November of 2022.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:National Defense, Policy Topics, Public Planning
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