MULTIPLE NEWS ARTICLES
The law, SB 5395, requiring mandatory K-12 Comprehensive Sexuality Curriculum, passed in March, 2020 with a massive grass roots effort to stop it in the Washington Legislature. Citizens tried to repeal the law by collecting enough signatures to place it on the ballot. In 7 weeks, in the middle of the governors stay at home order, with no paid signature gatherers, a state record was made turning in 266,000 signatures to put Ref. 90 on the Nov. 2020 ballot. Unfortunately, the voters were misled, and voted to uphold the the bill. Keep these dates in mind as you review the news articles below. Full Story Here
-September 3, 2020, The Wahkiakum County Eagle: "Comprehensive sexual health education for students in grades K-3 would need to be taught as instruction in social and emotional learning (SEL). Social and emotional learning is defined by the Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction as “a process through which individuals build awareness and skills in managing emotions, setting goals, establishing relationships, and making responsible decisions that support success in school and in life.”
-October 8, 2020, The Courier Herald:
GRADES K-3: SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING
According to SB 5395, “Comprehensive sexual health education for students in kindergarten through grade three must be instruction in social-emotional learning that is consistent with learning standards and benchmarks adopted by” OSPI.
In other words, “the bill is very specific that only social-emotional learning is required for students K-3,” Dils said.
But what, exactly, is social-emotional instruction, and how exactly do you measure it?
For that, OSPI has compiled list of standards, benchmarks and indicators that educators and families can use to help track the social-emotional learning of a student.
According to that list (which is available on OSPI’s website), sex-ed curriculum taught to students K-3 should cover ideas and topics like being able to “recognize, identify, and name my emotions, feelings, and thoughts,” “identify the importance to me of being a member of my cultural group,” “identify reasons why I may need to seek help from others,” and “accept people have different opinions and perspectives,” just to name a few.
-October 19, 2020, King 5 News: Students in kindergarten through third grade would be taught social-emotional learning with a focus on controlling emotions, understanding boundaries and identifying a trusted adult.
-Nov. 3, 2020, The Seattle Times: Young children would learn social emotional skills, including how to make friends;
-Nov. 9, 2020, The Spokesman Review: Students in kindergarten through third grade must have social-emotional learning that is consistent with standards set by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, according to the bill. In OSPI guidelines, social-emotional learning teaches how to identify and express feelings, how to achieve goals and how to act responsibly when interacting with others, among other guidelines.
-May 9, 2022, The Courier Herald: “Any parent or legal guardian who wishes to have his or her child excused from any planned instruction in comprehensive sexual health education may do so,” the bill reads. “Any parent or legal guardian may review the comprehensive sexual health education curriculum provided in his or her child’s school.”
