Senate Bill 5007: A Threat to Parental Rights and Student Autonomy
In recent years, Washington state schools have been subjecting students to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and other radical agendas that have left many students disillusioned with education. Test scores have continued to plummet, and students are increasingly turning away from teachers pushing these ideologies. Now, Senate Bill 5007 threatens to further alienate students by criminalizing their reluctance to attend school, all under the guise of “supporting students.”
One of the most concerning aspects of SB 5007 is its blatant encroachment on parental rights, as outlined in RCW 28A.225.026. The bill allows school superintendents to assume they know best, often bypassing parents and handing students over to juvenile courts for truancy issues. This heavy-handed approach undermines parents’ ability to address their children’s mental health challenges and imposes a one-size-fits-all solution.
The bill calls for “robust early warning systems” to identify at-risk students, but fails to define what these systems entail. Additionally, it mandates the collection of unspecified data, raising concerns about privacy and the extent of surveillance on students and families.
SB 5007 includes provisions for “necessary supports,” which many view as draconian. These supports infringe on fundamental parental rights by allowing unspecified individuals with unclear credentials to investigate students’ clothing, food, nutrition, transportation, and health. This overreach has no constitutional basis and violates parents’ rights to raise their own children.
The bill defines any student with over 10% excused absences as “chronically absent,” an arbitrary figure that fails to account for individual circumstances. For example, a child with a mother battling cancer who does schoolwork at home, or students with emergency situations, would be unfairly categorized. SB 5007 imposes an intervention and retrieval system that introduces students to the juvenile justice system, potentially criminalizing them for truancy and exposing them to other offenders.
While the bill claims to build bridges, it effectively alienates parents, especially by collecting detailed data on participants’ characteristics and outcomes without clear definitions or privacy protections. This legislation exacerbates mistrust and undermines parental rights at a time when public confidence in schools is waning.
SB 5007 authorizes school employees to seek out students at their homes, ignoring property rights and violating the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unwarranted government intrusion. This not only jeopardizes unqualified school employees but also puts families at risk of forced compliance.
The bill fails to encourage alternative forms of education, such as homeschooling or private schooling, which might better suit students facing bullying, assault, or inadequate teaching in public schools. Instead, it confines students to a system that may be contributing to their issues.
Schools should not be responsible for providing economic and health support to students, especially given their already strained budgets. Parents are the primary stakeholders in their children’s upbringing and should be the ones ensuring their behavioral and physical health needs are met.
SB 5007 represents a problematic collaboration between Republicans and Democrats to further erode parental rights and criminalize children for not fitting into a rigid educational framework. As Washington citizens increasingly reject the failing public school system, it is crucial to oppose legislation that criminalizes students for disengagement and disrespect parental authority.
This bill is a clear overreach and does little to address the root causes of absenteeism. Instead of punishing students and overstepping constitutional rights, we should explore supportive and respectful solutions that honor parents’ roles and provide real educational choices for our children.
WATCH: CLW Team Lead, Leslie Williams, breaks down the issues with SB 5007 in the video
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