One of initiatives introduced by Republican-allied group Let’s Go Washington, Initiative 2081, gave parents and legal guardians of public school children under 18 years old certain rights, including to examine textbooks, curriculum and any supplemental materials used in their children’s classrooms.
Although that’s innocent language in normal times, the 2024 Democratic-majority Legislature was understandably suspicious of Republican motives. So they passed a similar parental “bill of rights” that removed the initiative from the upcoming November election. Two other initiatives were Legislature-handled similarly.
An uptick in the school parental rights movement has been driven by banning books and dictating teachers’ curricula, including eliminating unpleasant aspects of our racial history.
But students, particularly the most mature at high school and college level, generally oppose these actions. They want books covering a range of subjects and the whole truth from their history classes.
When educator Cory DeAngelis says, “Now kids have a union of their own — their parents,” he errs. Indeed, it is just the opposite; kids deserve their own union that opposes anti-education efforts characteristic of the parental rights movement.
