A start to the 2024 legislative session

AFER’s priorities this session include:

• ending the use of isolation and greatly restricting restraint of students in Washington schools

• increasing crucial staffing and supports in the school funding model, such as paraeducators

• increasing funding for special education (while we continue to urge the legislature to end the cap on special education funding, we support efforts this session to increase badly-needed funding)

• shifting the burden of proof from parents and caregivers to school districts

AFER board member Karen Pillar, director of Policy and Advocacy at TeamChild, testified in the House Education Committee’s hearing on January 11, 2024.

Read more about HB 1479 (restraint and isolation) and HB 1914 (with provision for shifting the burden of proof).

Watch Karen’s testimony:

AFER board members Andrea Kadlec, attorney for Disability Rights Washington, TeamChild’s Karen Pillar, and AFER board president Nicholle Mineiro testified in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Committee on January 15, 2024, on special education funding bills and the burden of proof in due process hearings.

AFER also sent a letter to Committee Chair Sen. Lisa Wellman and members to the committee on shifting the burden of proof.

Read more on SB 5883 (shifting burden of proof), SB 6014 (increasing funding cap for special education), and SB 5852 (streamlining safety net funding)
Watch testimony here: