Friends,
My final installment of this series of end-of-session updates will talk about my vote to remove high-stakes standardized testing from high school graduation requirements and a bill I sponsored to help college students graduate sooner and with less debt.
High-stakes testing
I’m pleased to report that the legislature voted to remove high-stakes testing from high school graduation requirements. Standardized tests were designed to measure the effectiveness of the education system as a whole, not to measure individual student academic achievement. This mandate is a barrier to graduation for thousands of students and costs our state millions of dollars. The policy of requiring high-stakes standardized assessments for graduation was a deeply flawed policy that needed to end immediately. I’m proud we ended the practice with House Bill 1599.
I recorded a video about this bill during the last week of floor debate.
Making College Affordable
College in the High School and Running Start are two great programs that help high school students graduate with college credits. This means they graduate from college more quickly and with less student debt.
Unfortunately, these programs are still cost-prohibitive for some students from lower-income families. I sponsored House Bill 1973 to establish a pilot program for financial aid to help lower-income students participate in dual enrollment classes. It is a creative and cost-effective way to help students graduate faster and with less debt.
Although this is the last installment of these end-of-session updates, I will continue to update you about various legislative activities and priorities throughout the interim. You can get those updates through these emails, by going to my Facebook page at facebook.com/repdavepaul, or by stopping by my official website at housedemocrats.wa.gov/paul. You can contact me at dave.paul@leg.wa.gov or (360) 786-7914. I look forward to hearing from you.
Until then,
Rep. Dave Paul