Multiple bills seeking to mandate school curriculum failed. Here’s what they proposed
OLYMPIA – Washington’s 2024 legislative session concluded last week, leaving behind five bills that aimed to mandate school curriculum across various subjects.
Though the Legislature passed upward of 350 bills this year, other legislation ranging from requiring computer science education to the history of the pledge of allegiance failed to make it through the legislative process. Here’s a look at what students won’t be required to learn by state law as of this year.
Financial education
A bill debated until the last day of the session, March 7, would have made financial education courses a high school graduation requirement, though it died because the House and Senate couldn’t agree on amendments.
Beginning in the 2027-2028 academic year, school districts statewide would have been required to offer high school students at least half a credit of financial education courses. Public and charter schools, along with state-tribal compact schools, could have provided this content in a standalone course or integrated it into other subject areas.
Initially, the class of 2029 was slated to be the first to need financial education courses to graduate, but this was later revised to the class of 2031. Then the Senate amended the focus solely to when schools would begin teaching financial education, removing the graduation requirement.
Sen. Lisa Wellman, D-Mercer Island, said the Senate wanted to first ensure schools offered the course in a strict time frame before it became a requirement for students.
“This will also ensure that there are actually teachers with an endorsement in this particular subject who will be available to teach it if, at some point in the future, we want to make it a graduation requirement,” she said on Feb. 29.
The House disagreed on the changes, and the two chambers couldn’t come to a compromise. So even though the bill had support from more than 50 lawmakers and the state treasurer, it died on the final day of the session.
Computer science requirement
Tallying on the graduation requirements, legislation requiring high school students to demonstrate computer science competency before they graduate stalled in the House Appropriations Committee before receiving a floor vote.
The graduation requirement initially targeted the class of 2029 but later changed to start with the class of 2030. Students could have met this requirement by completing a computer science class, taking a course using computer science learning standards or passing a competency test.
Students could have also requested a waiver from their principal if their High School and Beyond Plan didn’t align with the need for computer science understanding.
Supporters of the bill argued the constant evolution of technology means students need up-to-date computer skills to better prepare themselves for their future careers.
Opponents said the bill added to the number of existing graduation requirements and could have taken away elective credit from students seeking careers beyond the realm of computer science or technology.
The bill passed the Senate in a 46-3 vote but didn’t have enough steam to pass through House committees.
Tribal education
A bill requiring all school districts to incorporate Native studies and tribal history, known as Since Time Immemorial curriculum, into social studies classes by Sept. 1 lapsed in the Senate for the second year in a row.
The bill would have mandated Since Time Immemorial curriculum in all U.S. history, U.S. government and civics classes for grades nine through 12. Elementary and middle school students would have also been required to learn about tribal sovereignty.
Legislation encouraging the integration of Since Time Immemorial curriculum through a partnership with local tribes began in 2005, with a 2015 update requiring it to be incorporated.
The bill didn’t specify, however, when school districts had to start teaching about tribal sovereignty, so nearly 16% of Washington school districts have yet to implement it, according to a 2024 Basic Education Report.
This year’s attempt to mandate Since Time Immemorial curriculum would have also required school districts to integrate materials on the history, culture and government of their nearest federally recognized Native tribe into social studies curricula by Sept 1, 2026. The bill also set up a state grant program to help schools meet this requirement.
After unanimously passing the House, the bill stalled in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.
Pledge of allegiance instruction
After a group of Eatonville middle school students realized they said the pledge of allegiance every day without understanding its history or why they recited it, they let lawmakers know.
Sen. Jim McCune, R-Graham, then sponsored a bill that would have mandated instruction on the history and meaning of the pledge of allegiance in public schools beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.
Previous reporting by The Spokesman-Review found that many Spokane County students don’t know the history behind the saying either.
The bill advanced through the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Committee early in the session but stalled in the Senate Rules Committee on Feb. 15 before reaching the floor.
Holocaust and genocide education
Spurred by the Israel-Gaza war, lawmakers in both the House and Senate proposed companion bills that would have mandated Holocaust and genocide education for public middle and high school students beginning in the 2027-2028 school year.
Though a 2019 law strongly encouraged, but didn’t require, Holocaust education in schools, Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, said he was motivated by the “tragic events of Oct. 7” and the “generational gap in understanding what happened during the Holocaust” to push the mandate through the legislature this year.
The legislation would have also named April as International Genocide Prevention and Awareness Month to create a space for schools to hold assemblies, host guest speakers or provide classroom instruction on the Holocaust or global genocides.
Opponents of the bill voiced concerns regarding the lack of other named genocides, arguing that genocide education should not prioritize one over the others, with some asking for the inclusion of the Bosnia, Cambodia and Rohingya genocides.
The House bill ultimately gained more traction in the legislature, unanimously passing through the House on Feb 10. It included an amendment mandating schools to screen materials for bias, partner with a public university for teacher training and integrate survivor voices of genocide into the curriculum.
Those amendments were taken out in the opposite chamber, and the bill failed to advance out of the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.