by Cindy Honcoop, president, Washington Eagle Forum
What would bring over two thousand parents to rally at our state capitol? The answer is Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE).
After solidifying control in both the House and Senate in the 2018 election, Democrats had the votes they needed to pushed a very controversial Comprehensive Sex Education bill in the 2019 legislative session in the state of Washington.
What legislators did not count on was how enraged and engaged parents would become over this issue.
The bill requires “each public school, by September 1, 2020, to provide comprehensive sexual health education as an integral part of the curriculum that is evidence-informed, medically and scientifically accurate, age-appropriate, and inclusive for all students regardless of their protected class status under the state civil rights act, and includes information and skills-based instruction”.
Those words sent alarms off with parents across Washington state.
Even legislators were alarmed at the scope of the bill. Rep. Vicki Kraft stated “This bill goes way too far beyond what many parents are comfortable with their children learning.”
Parents began to mobilize and put great efforts into calling and e-mailing their legislators, and then on April 1, 2019 held a significant rally in Olympia opposing CSE. Over two thousand concerned citizens were in attendance making it very clear that there is strong opposition to comprehensive sex education.
Two days after the rally the bill actually died in the House Education Committee.
The same CSE bill was quickly resurrected on the very first day of the 2020 legislative session, and this time they are on a fast track to pass it with hearings and votes during the first week of session.
The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction should be concerned. A recent statewide survey conducted by OSPI showed 58 percent of respondents said they do NOT want Comprehensive Sex Education.
The vague language in the bill, questions of content, and the structure for developing the content as outlined in the bill is most concerning to parents.
According to the bill, standards for CSE will be written by an independent work group of unelected officials selected by OSPI. This work group would have no accountability to the local community and that lack of accountability undermines local control and community standards.
The work group will be the entity empowered to make the important decisions regarding sensitive moral standards, and it is doubtful those standards will work for all school districts.
The bill mandates that CSE be integrated into ALL subjects, which makes it impossible for parents to opt out their children. No child will be safe from the chatter and gossip among students with information from the classes.
Senator Lynda Wilson sides with parents: “I believe the curriculum is not appropriate. I also believe in parental rights and that it should be your choice to teach your children the way you see fit.”