Nearly 40 years ago, Cal Anderson was appointed to the Washington House of Representatives, becoming the first openly LGBTQ+ person to hold the office in the state. He then went on to win four elections and serve eight years in the House before being elected to the state Senate in 1994. Anderson served as a senator for just seven months before dying of AIDS in 1995.
His name, however, is absent from any Washington curriculum on state government, according to state Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle.
That may soon change though with Gov. Jay Inslee's March 18 signing of Senate Bill 5462 into state law, which would make sure that the K-12 curriculum is more inclusive of people from marginalized communities. The law takes effect on June 6.
"The whole point is that LGBTQ+ people are represented in the curriculum," says Pedersen, who was one of the bill's primary sponsors. "Whether that's politicians, artists or authors, the identity of those people is not hidden, but instead recognized so that young people can see for themselves the kinds of contributions that have been made."
This won't only impact LGBTQ+ youth though. The law mandates the inclusion of perspectives from "people from various racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, people with differing learning needs, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people, and people with various socioeconomic and immigration backgrounds" in public school education.
"When young people have cultural relevance to their current lives, they are so much more engaged in their own learning. And they are more apt to be successful in their future endeavors."
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"I hear from students that oftentimes what they're learning and talking about hasn't been relevant or necessarily inclusive to them," says Sen. Claire Wilson, D-Auburn, also a sponsor as well as vice chair on the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee. "When young people have cultural relevance to their current lives, they are so much more engaged in their own learning. And they are more apt to be successful in their future endeavors."
The new law, which was originally introduced during the 2023 legislative session but died in a House committee, tasks the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction with reviewing and updating the existing curriculum for all grade levels to incorporate the contributions and perspectives of these communities. By June 2025, the Washington State School Directors' Association and OSPI must provide policies and procedures for local school boards to select which materials and courses they'll offer students.
"We look forward to working with the Washington State School Directors' Association to support the review and update of a model policy and procedure to support instructional material adoption to meet the requirements of the legislation," OSPI spokesperson Katy Payne wrote in an email. "OSPI also looks forward to consulting with the expertise of the state's commissions to update the tools and procedures we use in the learning standards revision and adoption process to include screening for biased content to ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are incorporated into all state learning standards."
School districts would be required to incorporate these standards by Oct. 1 of the 2025-26 school year.
The bill drew opposition from school boards across the state, including the Mead and Central Valley school boards, claiming that the bill would undermine their local authority.
"The Mead School District Board of Directors opposes [the law], as it subverts local school boards elected to consult and adhere to adopted policy and procedure," the Mead School Board said in a unanimously approved resolution opposing the bill. "In equipping future-ready students, the Mead School District will seek to foster belonging, instill purpose, and cultivate curiosity in ALL the students it serves."
The Central Valley School Board passed a similar resolution a few days later and notified the Legislature of their decision with a letter from board President Pam Orebaugh.
"Please do not require the expenditure of valuable dollars to add another layer of outside regulations," she wrote. "Our community values and thrives on local control and budget accountability."
Educational curriculum is mandated at the state and federal level already. For example, fifth grade teachers are required to instruct their students on multiplying and dividing fractions. And in social studies, an eighth grade student must learn how to analyze evidence to verify the validity of a viewpoint.
SB 5462 doesn't change that, it solely adds to the curriculum requirements already in place, according to Wilson and Pedersen.
As a former Federal Way Public Schools board member herself, Wilson understands the concerns of local school boards but says the new law does not take away a school board's rights.
"A school board member's job is to ensure policies are in place and to hire the superintendent while ensuring that they are following those policies," Wilson says. "School board members do not have expertise in pedagogy." ♦
