I-1495 Seeks to Enhance Curriculum Transparency Statewide
An Initiative Petition that seeks to greatly enhance public transparency of instructional and training materials used in WA State schools has just been made available statewide. I-1495 (if passed) would amend WA State Law RCW 28A.657.005 and 28A.657.010 by adding a new section meant to increase public awareness of curriculum execution. While the argument is often made that “school curriculum can be reviewed by any parent” within the TSD, there is little requirement for schools to be transparent with how curriculum is executed by teaching staff. This lack of accountability has led to fears of personal agendas being injected into lessons without parental knowledge.
I-1495 seeks to solve this problem by requiring schools to publicly make available via their websites: all training materials and activities for staff as well as educational materials used for students (to include any website associated with the material). Furthermore, the law would require schools to post all material online no later than one week after the first instance of training or instruction. While the delayed posting requirements could mean students are still introduced to inappropriate material (like in the recent case of MVMS 6th graders being led to extremely graphic sexual poetry), parents would at least have an easier way to review what their children are being exposed to.
An argument against I-1495 is that it could increase educational spending due to the online posting requirements. District websites would need to be altered and managed to account for the change. The law would also place a slight burden on staff members to ensure their materials are consistently up to date online. However, this cost/time burden may be mitigated by a reduction in records request fulfilments and parental communications to seek lesson information.
The Initiative Petition requires valid signatures from at least 8% of the total votes cast in the previous gubernatorial race by December 19th, 2022. As approximately 15% of signatures are rejected on petitions, the WA SOS recommends exceeding the required signature count by 20%. Petition leaders have set a target to obtain 400,000 signatures by the deadline. If the signature threshold is reached, then the Initiative will be referred to the State Legislature to either:
Enact into law (as is).
Take no action (placing it on the next General Election ballot).
Propose an alternative (both measures are placed on the ballot).
Tahoma Parents supports I-1495 and encourages everyone to sign the Initiative Petition. As parental concern over how teachers execute curriculum appears to be at an all-time high, it is clear that a large portion of parents all around the state are losing faith in the public education institution. I-1495 would help correct this issue by increasing transparency and parental access.
Parental trust is foundational to the success of our district.
Petition signatures must be completed in person. Future signing events can be found on our calendar.
Currently scheduled events as of this article:
2-JULY-2022 10:00AM-2:00PM - TRM Wood Products
4-JULY-2022 12:00PM-5:00PM - Headworks Brewing
13-JULY-2022 10:00AM-2:00PM - Red Dog Saloon
