Washington State Special Education Coalition (WSSEC)

WSSEC is a coalition of parents and representatives from professional and advocacy organizations dedicated to sharing information on legislative issues, advocating, and lobbying legislators with a unified voice for the needs of students with special education needs. While the Coalition’s primary focus is on special education, the group has also supports proposed legislation around broader issues including funding of basic education, early intervention (0-3 services), children’s social and health services, and disability rights.

The Coalition includes a broad cross section of representatives: Washington State PTA, Washington Education Association, Association of WA School Principals, Department of Early Learning, WA Speech and Language Association, WA School Psychologists, WA School Nurses, Public School Employees of WA, Autism Society, Learning Disabilities Association, Washington PAVE, Washington ARC, Disability Rights, and Governor’s Committee on Disability Rights and Employment, and many more.

The strength of the Coalition is that the political advocacy and lobbying is all done by volunteers whose voice reflects the best interest of the public. The Coalition serves on the executive committee of Network for Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS) which successfully won litigation to fund basic education adequately and on the advisory committee of the Special Education Support Center, a OSPI funded grant project. More Coalition information can be found at wswec.org.
 

Committee Members