Democrats in WA Legislature shift approach to parental and students’ rights bills

Lawmakers are now considering parental and student rights in separate bills following changes to HB 1296. — Washington State Capitol Building. Photo courtesy Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero/Washington State Standard

The two related sets of issues are now on track to be dealt with separately

Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero
Washington State Standard

A tense debate over the rights of public school students and their parents took another twist in the Washington Legislature on Thursday.

Democrats on a Senate committee stripped a House bill of provisions dealing with parental rights, while leaving parts covering students’ rights. A Senate-approved bill on parental rights is still pending in the House, setting up a situation where the two related sets of issues are on track to be handled with separate pieces of legislation.

The Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee passed the amended version of House Bill 1296 on a party-line vote.

Sen. Claire Wilson, D-Auburn, put forward the amendment that removed the language about parental rights, and said it was part of a strategy to keep the bills moving forward to address some of the issues involved before the session ends on April 27.

“It’s keeping all doors open and all windows open so we can make sure something ends on the other side,” Wilson said.

Rep. Monica Stonier, D-Vancouver, sponsor of the House bill, said that she would have rather not seen this language removed from the bill, but that the end goal is still the same: to have policies covering students’ rights and parental rights.

“There’s nothing in my mind that doesn’t allow for students’ rights to exist concurrently with parental rights, I don’t see any conflict there,” Stonier said.

Examples of students’ rights included in HB 1296 include the right to learn in a safe, supportive learning environment, free from harassment, intimidation, or bullying; to receive copies of all school policies and procedures related to students; and to access academic courses and instructional materials with historically and scientifically accurate information.

Wilson’s rewrite also added language from another bill she sponsored, Senate Bill 5179, which is about reporting complaints to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction when certain policies are not followed by schools.

The parental and students’ rights legislation now under discussion is tied to a citizen initiative lawmakers approved last year.

That measure, Initiative 2081, called for public school materials, such as textbooks, curriculum and a child’s medical records, to be easily available for review by parents. It also sought to clear the way for parents to opt their child out of assignments and other activities involving questions about the student’s sexual experiences or their family’s religious beliefs.

Democrats said when Initiative 2081 was approved, they would likely need to clean up some of the language to align with other state and federal laws.

But Republicans argue that Democrats are now trying to roll back rights granted to parents in the initiative. Mixed into the debate are arguments over gender and transgender issues in schools.

“This bill continues the war against parents’ rights and puts girls at risk at schools,” said Sen. Jim McCune, R-Graham.

Senate Bill 5181, the Senate bill on parental rights, is scheduled for a possible committee vote on March 31 in the House Education Committee. Stonier, sponsor of the House bill, is among the committee’s members.

This report was first published by the Washington State Standard.

The two related sets of issues are now on track to be dealt with separately

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