The Washington State Legislature is moving toward passing a bill for “comprehensive” sex education, K-12. Senate Bill 5395 has passed the Senate, and the House is addressing its version of the bill (HB1407).
The Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW) has warned about the bill, which Republicans strongly opposed:
“SB 5395 requires that every school district and every school teach dangerous Comprehensive Sexual Education starting in Kindergarten. This bill requires that instruction and materials be inclusive of, and use language and strategies that recognize, all protected classes – that would include Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender ‘protected classes.’ Further, the Comprehensive Sexual Education must be an integral part of the school’s curriculum and be ‘skills-based.’
“In a skills-based curriculum, the teacher demonstrates the skill, the students practice the skill, and then the teacher assesses the students’ proficiency in the skill. While there are many good skills to learn, such as communication and relationship skills, there are other skills that many parents don’t want the school teaching – condom usage being the most obvious.
“Finally, SB5395 usurps the local control of School Boards and the voters. Such sensitive topics ought to be taught by parents and failing that, parents should have the final say as to what is taught in their local schools. The community cultures of Washington vary widely from West to East and North to South. SB5395 destroys the opportunity for local input and control on this most intimate topic.
The bill states, in part: By September 1, 2021, every public school must provide comprehensive sexual health education as an integral part of the curriculum that is evidence-informed, medically and scientifically 11 accurate, age-appropriate, and inclusive for all students regardless of their protected class status under chapter 49.60 RCW 14 and includes information and skills-based instruction… Read the final Senate bill here.)
Only one Democrat – Tim Sheldon – voted against the bill; otherwise, it went along Party lines – all Democrats voted for the bill; all Republicans voted against it. With a Democrat majority in both Houses and a Democrat governor, it appears that the bill will easily pass into law.
Several Senators tried to amend the bill as it made its way through the Senate. You can see those here. The only two amendments that passed were that charter schools would NOT be exempt; and to require school districts to grant a parent’s or legal guardian’s request to have his or her child excused from planned instruction in comprehensive sexual health education after the filing of a written request.
The curriculum would be taught starting in kindergarten. One would question why children this young would be robbed of their childhood innocence by learning about sexuality. The sex education program that exists currently has been covered in other articles.
In a State that comes in low in science, English and math scores (Washington State ranks 26th in the nation), one would think those basic subjects would be far more important toward “life skills” than sex education.
Planned Parenthood lauded Senator Wilson for bringing the bill to the Senate.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction must develop these comprehensive sexual health education instructional materials and make them available on the OSPI website by September 1, 2019. Public schools must then use curriculum that complies.
Parents/legal guardians can have their child(ren) excused from comprehensive sexual education by filing a written request to the principal or school board.
According to the Columbia Basin News, opponents state the decision to offer this type of education should lie with school boards and ultimately parents.
“This bill mandates values and may lead to a number of students leaving public schools. Comprehensive sexual health education can include graphic material and can teach students how to have sex,” individuals opposed to the legislation said.
“The curriculum can contain transgender promotion and confusion for young children. Parents should educate their children on these types of topics at home. The number of pregnancies and abortions are down, so the status quo is working.”
The bill will be heard on March 12, 2019, and those opposed are urging people to show up at the hearings, or write or call their representatives. (See information below)
Here are some links to watch, if you do not know about CSE – Comprehensive Sexual Education or the FLASH Curriculum.
https://www.comprehensivesexualityeducation.org/cse-facts/
https://c-fam.org/briefing_paper/seven-reasons-reject-comprehensive-sexuality-education/
https://www.heritage.org/education/report/what-do-parents-want-taught-sex-education-programs
https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/marriage-and-family/sexuality/the-failure-of-sex-education.html
Info on FLASH from our site can be found here:
http://www.fpiw.org/?s=%22Gender+Identity%22+OR+%22Gender+Expression%22
The videos from the GenderRevolution presentation are broken down into 15minute chunks on FPIW’s YouTube page.
Here is the action you can take:
Please mark your calendar and try to make the sacrifice of being in Olympia on Tuesday, March 12 for the 8:00 House Education Committee hearing. And until then, please email and call the Committee urging them to kill this dangerous bill. You can also call the Legislative Hotline to let your Representatives know how you feel – 800.562.6000.
| Representative | Room | Phone | |
| Santos, Sharon Tomiko (D) | 321 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7944 | sharon.santos@leg.wa.gov |
| Dolan, Laurie (D) | 318 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7940 | laurie.dolan@leg.wa.gov |
| Paul, Dave (D) | 309 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7914 | dave.paul@leg.wa.gov |
| Steele, Mike (R) | 122F Legislative Building | (360) 786-7832 | mike.steele@leg.wa.gov |
| McCaslin, Bob (R) | 425 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7820 | bob.mccaslin@leg.wa.gov |
| Volz, Mike (R) | 427 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7922 | mike.volz@leg.wa.gov |
| Bergquist, Steve (D) | 322 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7862 | steve.bergquist@leg.wa.gov |
| Caldier, Michelle (R) | 122H Legislative Building | (360) 786-7802 | michelle.caldier@leg.wa.gov |
| Callan, Lisa (D) | 335 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7876 | lisa.callan@leg.wa.gov |
| Corry, Chris (R) | 410 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7810 | chris.corry@leg.wa.gov |
| Harris, Paul (R) | 426A Legislative Building | (360) 786-7976 | paul.harris@leg.wa.gov |
| Kilduff, Christine (D) | 334 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7958 | christine.kilduff@leg.wa.gov |
| Kraft, Vicki (R) | 436 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7994 | vicki.kraft@leg.wa.gov |
| Ortiz-Self, Lillian (D) | 420 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7972 | li.ortiz-self@leg.wa.gov |
| Rude, Skyler (R) | 122G Legislative Building | (360) 786-7828 | skyler.rude@leg.wa.gov |
| Stonier, Monica Jurado (D) | 331 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7872 | monica.stonier@leg.wa.gov |
| Thai, My-Linh (D) | 424 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7926 | my.thai@leg.wa.gov |
| Valdez, Javier (D) | 306 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7818 | javier.valdez@leg.wa.gov |
| Ybarra, Alex (R) | 469 John L. O’Brien Building | (360) 786-7808 | alex.ybarra@leg.wa.gov |
