New initiative aims to protect WA parents’ bill of rights from legislative rewrite

(The Center Square) – It’s like the movie “Groundhog Day” for Let’s Go Washington, which introduced an initiative Tuesday to protect parents’ rights – again.

The initiative preemptively proposes repealing Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5181, which has passed the Senate but has not yet been heard in the House of Representatives. ESSB 5181 amends the in-effect Initiative 2081 to align it with existing state law, and deals with access to education records, notifications, and protections from discrimination.

I-2081, passed by the Legislature last year, provides certain rights to parents and guardians of public school children, including rights to review instructional materials, inspect records, receive certain notifications, and opt out of certain activities, like sexual health education.

Let’s Go Washington and other critics of ESSB 5181 say the proposed legislation attempts to effectively undo I-2081.

“Our new initiative preemptively pushes back against their shady dealings and simply repeals ESSB 5181 should it pass through the Legislature,” Let’s Go Washington founder Brian Heywood said in a news release announcing the initiative. “No state employee, no matter how well-intentioned, can know or love a child better than their own parents.”

He went on to say, “With ESSB-5181, the Legislature is saying that not only do they know better than their parents, [but] they have the right to keep secrets from those parents. We will fight Olympia’s arrogance at every turn starting with this new initiative to repeal ESSB-5181.”

Let’s Go Washington spokesperson Hallie Balch noted the déjà vu nature of the organization’s current effort.

“Nobody is really that excited about having to essentially go back and redo the work we did on 2081,” she said. “We thought that was a clear enough signal to lawmakers and it seemed like they understood it, but now they’re doing the exact opposite and gutting all of the rights that 2081 granted.”

Republican lawmakers have decried what they characterize as efforts to gut parents’ rights.

“Schools are fast-tracking policies that would allow your child to excuse themselves from school behind your back to walk out of the building to seek these services,” Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, said during a Feb. 15 parents’ rights rally in Olympia, referring to policies that allow minors to seek mental and medical services without parental consent.

Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, told The Center Square that his email inbox has been flooded with messages about ESSB 5181.

“I get more emails about parental rights than anything else,” he said. “I think I had one email from somebody supporting 5181, by every other email is against it.”

ESSB 5181 supporters contend the legislation adds new rights for parents while protecting the balance between parents’ rights and students’ privacy rights.

The Center Square emailed ESSB 5181 sponsor Sen. Wilson, D-Federal Way, for comment about Let’s Go Washington’s new initiative but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

According to Let's Go Washington, the initiative will be available on the Washington Secretary of State’s website after approval by SOS staff.

If the initiative receives enough signatures, it will appear on the general election ballot in November.