Reminder: Ballots Due

Three statewide initiatives on this November’s ballot affect schools and children. Please note: Whittier PTA is not telling anyone how to vote. Instead, we are sharing the Washington State PTA’s (WSPTA) recommendations so you can read their reasoning and decide for yourself. As part of its mission to advocate for the education and well-being of all kids, WSPTA opposes all three. Ballots are due by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3. (Click here for voter registration and information)

Measures

IP26-645 — “concerns state and local taxes”
WSPTA position: Oppose

• Repeals the millionaire’s tax passed in 2026 and bans any income tax at the state, county, and city level.
• Cuts state revenue by an estimated $11.4 billion from 2027 to 2031 (state fiscal impact statement), reducing general fund support for education, healthcare, and other core services.
• Childcare, early learning, food assistance, and health coverage sit in the part of the budget legislators turn to when balancing it. Repeal also ends a dedicated transfer to Fair Start for Kids, a $377 million loss in 2029–31.
• Full position statement

IL26-001 — “concerns parental rights relating to their children in public schools”
WSPTA position: Oppose

WSPTA has spent 120 years arguing that families belong at the center of their children’s education, so it examined this one closely. Its concerns:

• Lets parents inspect medical and mental health counseling records, conflicting with state and federal privacy law and putting school-based health services in a difficult position.
• Requires immediate parent notification when a student is placed in a youth shelter or host home, removing the option to notify the Department of Children, Youth, and Families instead when there is a compelling safety reason.
• Replaces the parental rights statute entirely, removing rights consolidated there in 2025: bullying complaints on your child’s behalf, special education appeals, language access, military family enrollment, and protection against discrimination.
• Full position statement

IL26-638 — “concerns participation in athletics at K-12 schools”
WSPTA position: Oppose

• Requires every student playing a girls’ sport to submit a signed statement from a health care provider verifying biological sex based on reproductive anatomy, genetics, or testosterone levels. Boys’ sports have no comparable requirement.
• The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) knows of roughly ten transgender athletes among more than 200,000 students competing statewide. To address that, every girl athlete would need a medically unnecessary verification, in many cases an intimate exam, possibly starting in middle school.
• Supporters say sports physicals already cover this, but the WIAA’s own examination form has no field for sex.
• Full position statement

Thank you for your advocacy to help support all students in Washington. If you’d like to learn more about how you can support education-focused advocacy, please reach out to our Advocacy Chair – advocacy@whittierptaseattle.org. Paws up!