An alliance of conservative groups on Tuesday submitted nearly 425,000 signatures for an initiative to guarantee parents access to materials their children are taught in K-12 classrooms and information about medical services public schools provide.
The proposed ballot measure, Initiative 2081, would codify a “parents’ bill of rights” on matters ranging from reviewing textbooks and curriculum to obtaining medical records to being able to opt their child out of assignments involving questions about a child’s sexual experiences or their family’s religious beliefs.
Initiative supporters delivered boxes of petitions to the Secretary of State’s Office in Tumwater at 1:30 p.m. They said they were turning in 423,399 signatures.
“This initiative is nothing anyone would have believed was controversial even a few years ago,” said hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, founder of Let’s Go Washington and chief financier of the signature-gathering effort.
“Parents are the primary stakeholder in raising children,” he said in a statement. “The overwhelming number of signatures from across the political spectrum shows that everyone just wants to get back to normal.”
State Rep. Jim Walsh of Aberdeen, who also chairs the Washington State Republican Party, is the prime sponsor of this initiative and five others circulated this year by Let’s Go Washington, Restore Washington and other conservative political groups.
In November, they turned in 418,399 signatures for Initiative 2117 to repeal the Climate Commitment Act. Petitions for a third measure dealing with vehicle pursuits by police are scheduled for delivery Thursday, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
