{"id":29749,"date":"2020-07-31T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.redmond-reporter.com\/news\/sex-ed-local-control-at-heart-of-race-for-wa-state-schools-chief\/"},"modified":"2020-07-31T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T23:00:00","slug":"sex-ed-local-control-at-heart-of-race-for-wa-state-schools-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redmond-reporter.com\/news\/sex-ed-local-control-at-heart-of-race-for-wa-state-schools-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Sex ed, local control at heart of race for WA state schools chief"},"content":{"rendered":"
A controversial sex education law and the path to reopening public schools are two flash points in the contest to become the next leader of Washington state’s public schools system. <\/p>\n
Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal<\/a> is seeking a second term against five opponents critical of his embrace of the law that requires every school district to create a sexual health education curriculum for every grade level.<\/a><\/p>\n Challengers Maia Espinoza<\/a>, Ron Higgins<\/a>, Dennis Wick<\/a>, David Spring<\/a> and Stan Lippmann<\/a> each support the law’s repeal — which voters could do this fall with Referendum 90 — because they say it usurps local control of districts to set education policy in their communities.<\/p>\n The quintet, in varying degrees of vociferousness, also questions Reykdal’s commitment to allowing districts to restart classroom instruction this fall if they want. Some think he will intercede to keep campuses shuttered amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n The two top finishers in the Aug. 4 primary will advance to the general election on Nov. 3.<\/p>\n At stake is a four-year term at the helm of an agency charged with overseeing the state’s public school system which includes 295 school districts and roughly 1.2 million students from preschool to high school. It is a nonpartisan job paying $153,000 annually.<\/p>\n