Olympia Works to Dismantle Your Local Control of Schools – A Key Vote this Friday Would Allow Firing of Local Superintendents
On Friday, May 15th, the Washington Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) is expected to vote on new rules that would give the state the power to discipline or even fire superintendents who vary from Olympia’s prescribed policies, even if those are at odds with Federal Law.
Yes, really.
And because this vote has not happened yet, you still have time to speak out by submitting comments to the board before Friday’s hearing.
Under the proposed rules, unelected state bureaucrats in Olympia would effectively be given authority over locally elected school boards and school district leadership on some of the most sensitive and life-altering issues facing children and families today.
Specifically, these rules could target school superintendents who:
- Notify parents when their child socially transitions at school
- Follow a local school board policy that prioritizes parental notification over Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) gender identity guidance
- Decline to implement curriculum approved by the OSPI despite objections from local parents
This is not just another bureaucratic rule change. It is a dramatic escalation in the state’s ongoing effort to cut parents out of major decisions involving their own children.
And the most disturbing part is that it is being driven from the top down by Olympia bureaucrats who appear determined to remove any local accountability whatsoever.
For years, Washington state law has already allowed minors as young as 13 to make sweeping decisions related to mental health, reproductive care, and gender-related services without parental notification or consent. That framework exploded into national controversy last year when Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle) bluntly described the law during a television interview.
That statement shocked many Americans because it sounded unbelievable. But in Washington, it is effectively how policy operates.
And the real-world consequences are devastating.
Perhaps the most horrifying example is the case involving Jodie Holman and her 16-year-old daughter, Eleanor. In late 2025, according to reporting by Brandi Kruse, the Puyallup School District allegedly facilitated the teenager’s separation from her parents without their knowledge. For months, Jodie reportedly had no idea where her daughter was living, whether she was safe, or what was happening to her. Though that report came out in February, it seems that’s still the case.
It is difficult to imagine anything more traumatic for a parent.
And while the underlying policies are already deeply disturbing, there was at least one remaining layer of accountability: local communities still had some say. Parents could pressure their school boards. Voters could elect different school board members. Superintendents could make decisions based on the values and expectations of the communities they serve.
The proposed PESB rules would strip even that away.
Washington state is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice with some of the policies adopted at the state level. This policy would force Superintendents to potentially violate Federal Law in advance of the case being decided, or potentially lose their jobs.
If adopted, unelected state officials would gain the power to punish superintendents simply for believing parents deserve to know what is happening in their children’s lives.
That means local parents could overwhelmingly support parental notification policies. Local school boards could vote for them. Communities could demand them.
And it still would not matter. Olympia bureaucrats would get the final say.
This kind of centralized ideological control should alarm everyone, regardless of political affiliation. Parents should not have to beg state agencies for the right to know what is happening with their own children at school.
Fortunately, the vote has not happened yet.
Washingtonians still have an opportunity to speak out before Friday’s hearing.
Here’s what you can do:
- 📧 Submit a written comment by emailing PESB@k12.wa.us with the subject line “Public Comment” before the end of the day TOMORROW, Thursday, May 14.
- 📍 Attend the hearing in person at the Radisson Hotel Seattle Airport on Friday, May 15th. Individuals who want to testify must sign up between 8:15 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. and provide written remarks. Public testimony is scheduled from 8:45 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
The Washington Policy Center has also covered serious legal concerns about these proposed rules and whether the PESB is attempting to exceed its statutory authority. Those concerns deserve close scrutiny. But regardless of the legal outcome, the broader issue here is impossible to ignore.
Why are lawmakers, the superintendent of public instruction, and unelected education bureaucrats so aggressively determined to cut parents out of critical decisions involving their own children?
Why are local communities, elected school boards, and families themselves being treated as obstacles instead of partners?
If these stories were not documented and completely real, most people would struggle to believe them.
But they are real. And unless people start paying attention and speaking up, this latest effort to sideline parents may quietly become the new normal in our state.