Protect parents’ right to know
All updates to this webpage will cease at midnight on March 7. No further updates will occur until after the election in November.
For many years, parents have been increasingly excluded from the review and selection of curriculum taught in public schools. The Legislature has had more influence over what local school districts teach the kids across Washington than parents and local school boards. Some of the information being taught is value-based or may be considered age-inappropriate for some age groups. But majority Democrats continue to push for less parental oversight and input, and more state-mandated curriculum taught without parental notification.
The argument we see time and again is that parents are often behind the times or operate based on outdated information or morally wrong values — that only the Legislature should be allowed to determine what children are taught.
More than 400,000 people from both sides of the political aisle disagreed with that argument when they signed Initiative 2081. They think the Legislature is overstepping its bounds. They want to raise their children their way. And they wan to contribute to the discussion around what is being taught in Washington’s public schools.
On March 4, 2024, I-2081 passed in the Legislature and will become law 90 days from the May 7 adjournment. Republicans strongly supported it.
Watch senator comments in committee
I-2081 was passed out of the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee on March 1, 2024. Watch comments made in committee by Republican Senators Brad Hawkins, Perry Dozier and Jim McCune.
Watch the full hearing
I-2081 was heard in a special joint Senate and House meeting of the K-12 education committtees on Feb. 28. The hearing lasted for one hour and included testimony from parents and educators. More than 6,900 concerned citizens signed in to testify on the bill, 89% of whom signed in PRO.
Watch additional testimony:
Victory on I-2081!
I-2081 passed unanimously in the Senate. In the House, it passed with a vote of 82-15. I-2081 passed with the strongest bipartisan support of the three initiatives to be approved by the Legislature. With all the mandated curriculum handed down from the Legislature to Washington’s public schools, it’s encouraging to see an affirmation of parents’ right to know.
Watch Sen. Perry Dozier’s floor speech on final passage of I-2081.
Quotable
Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, says there’s still time to give the remaining three initiatives a hearing. Read the full statement.
“Some opponents of the initiatives have testified that the Legislature has better things to do than hold these hearings. I couldn’t disagree more – upholding our state constitution should never be characterized as a waste of time. It’s been a tough fight to get Democrats to perform their constitutional duty by prioritizing the initiatives over everything except bills that involve appropriations, but I see no reason why the majority can’t find three more hours in the next week to listen to the people on the three remaining measures. The fight isn’t over. We’ll continue to call upon them to do the right thing and listen to the people.”
Learn more about I-2081
Quotable
“The constitutional language that puts priority on initiatives should be enough to get I-2081 a hearing. Also, this initiative also stands out from the others before us in that it would not repeal an unpopular tax or an unworkable public-safety policy. Instead, it is broadly about a more open approach to operating our public schools, and helping parents gain access to important information that is either inconvenient or seems impossible to get.”