This is strange. Last month, state education officials in Washington asked for public comments on how to implement House Bill 3026, which bars government school districts from discriminating based on race and other factors.
But voters have spoken on this issue. In 1998, 58 percent passed I-200, which barred the state from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment in government employment, education, or contracting based on race and other factors. For 12 years, government school districts have been prohibited from doing what the new law purports to prohibit. An excerpt:
“In 1975, Washington passed a law prohibiting discrimination in public schools based on gender. Although many state and federal laws ban discrimination on the basis of other factors, state laws did not expressly include those factors for public schools until the new law was passed. The law brings all of Washington state’s protected classes to the same level. For public school staff members, it bans employment discrimination; for students, it extends protections to counseling and guidance services, recreational and athletic activities, and access to course offerings, and in textbooks and other instructional materials.”
There’s no mention of the existing law that bars discrimination and preferences. It’s as though it doesn’t exist.
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