4. By law, all school
districts in Washington State must teach about sexual diversity (biological sex,
gender identity & expression, sexual orientation). |
Washington is largely a “local
control” state in terms of elementary and secondary instruction5.
Some states actually prohibit positive portrayals of LGBTQ people in the
schools; Washington isn’t one of them. That said, “local control” doesn’t
supersede state standards. The 2007 Washington State Healthy Youth Act6
does require that, if a district chooses to teach about sexual health,
they must do so in a way that is medically and scientifically accurate and
“appropriate for students regardless of gender, race, disability status, or
sexual orientation.” And Washington State social studies standards – called
EALRs7 -- do require that, in primary
grades, students learn to describe who can be in a family. They require that
middle schoolers learn to recognize stereotypes, clichés and bias and to
understand events and movements. They require that, in high school, people learn
to identify and analyze major concepts, people and events in world history
including challenges to human rights. 5See Funding Washington Schools (last visited on November 16, 2009): www.fundingwaschools.org/index_files/Local_Control_SchoolBoards_Funding_ WA_K12_Schools.htm 6See WA State’s comprehensive sex ed law (RCW 28A.300.475) http://www.k12.wa.us/CurriculumInstruct/healthfitness/HealthyYouthact.aspx 7See Social Studies standards: http://www.k12.wa.us/SocialStudies/EARLs-GLEs.aspx |
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a. | True, in all grades | |||||
b. | True, in secondary schools | |||||
c. | True, in public secondary schools | |||||
d. | False; it is a local school board decision YES! | |||||
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