Two House Democrats proposed a bill on Thursday to provide excused absences upon advanced request for Washington state public school students protesting on the taxpayers’ dime.
Rep. Osman Salahuddin, D-Redmond, and Rep. Greg Nance, D-Bainbridge Island, filed House Bill 2732 as students across the state walked out of class to protest federal immigration enforcement. State law currently allows schools to treat this as an excused absence, but they can’t do much else to intervene.
Recent events have led to divided opinions on whether public schools should prevent protests or allow students to proceed. Supporters frame this as children simply exercising their First Amendment rights, but some parents are pulling their kids from class out of fear that teachers are pushing certain beliefs.
