OPINION | Coalition of Genocide Survivors Advocated for Ethnic Studies, but Lawmakers Killed Bipartisan Bills

by Oliver Miska

A coalition of genocide survivors led by local education nonprofit Washington Ethnic Studies Now (WAESN) is fighting for "meaningful inclusion" and "equity" in bills funding holocaust and genocide curriculum and teacher training. HB 2037, the House version of the bill, and SB 5851, the Senate version, have been under scrutiny, with lawmakers being pressured to make amendments.

The result of this session's competing amendments to the bills will determine what is taught in our schools. More specifically, it will determine whether our state's education system will include the many diasporic communities that have been impacted by genocide, or whether our state will double down on a Eurocentric approach to genocide education, funding a single group to teach about genocides from all over the world.

Students and Educators in Crisis

With a complex corporate media landscape coupled with the polarizing impacts of social media platforms, it comes as no surprise that educators across the country cannot address our students' concerns, with crisis upon crisis hitting the headlines. Students are exposed to a spectrum of perspectives that teachers do not know how to address in the classroom. We feel unprepared to answer students' questions, we feel at risk for sharing information, and we are under attack for voicing our concerns.

In a Seattle Public Schools classroom, a student asked their teacher the other day: "What is happening in Gaza right now, and why is the U.S. funding what looks like genocide?" Another student looked over and said, "It is antisemetic to call Israel's war against Hamas a genocide."

In another Washington classroom, a teacher reported a Palestinian student and an Israeli student erecting a "backpack barrier" between their desks since Oct. 7. This classroom scenario is playing out for the 75,000 certified K-12 instructors in our state's districts, not to mention the countless uncertified staff and teachers in independent schools.

In these scenarios, there is a fundamental disagreement on facts and language. Each utterance seems to deny the other's existence and truth, contributing to the "epistemicide" — the erasure of another's knowledge or truth — that always accompanies genocide. Both sides claim erasure, claim harm. How can an educator responsibly navigate these scenarios? What should we teach in our schools, and who should be invited to the conversation to determine this curriculum?

With the U.S. presidential election this year and ongoing wars throughout the world, we, as educators, are bracing for another year of questions from students we don't know how to answer. Educators have the responsibility to make sure students feel safe and grounded in the classroom in three fundamental ways:

• Students are grounded with relevant content and information from a spectrum of perspectives, including mainstream, local, and underrepresented voices.

• Students are grounded with strategies and skills to engage in the activity (writing, speaking, reading), including tools to navigate open civic discourse and media literacy.

• Students feel safe enough to share opinions openly without risk of harm or criticism by peers or school; including skilled facilitation and de-escalation strategies.

If Washington educators find themselves unprepared, it is no surprise that families, youth, and educators have testified in School Board meetings across the state and in the State Legislature in Olympia asking for our schools to invest in ethnic studies.

A Rising Coalition

The coalition of educators, parents, youth, and community members impacted by genocide convened in partnership with WAESN to advocate for unbiased, meaningfully inclusive, and equitable "Holocaust and Genocide Education" at the Washington State Legislature this session.

Without the advocacy push of WAESN and the genocide studies advocates, some lawmakers may not have even been aware of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction's (OSPI) overreliance on one organization, which clearly does not represent the experiences of this diverse group of genocide survivors who call Washington home.

WAESN specializes in developing ethnic studies curriculum and professional development, and has trained upward of 1,000 teachers in Washington State. The coalition is asking for a seat at the table, so communities impacted by genocide can be responsible for developing their own curriculums. Yet in requesting the bill be more inclusive of other genocides, their efforts have been mischaracterized by right-wing media sources locally and internationally.

WAESN has not been alone in calling for ethnic studies and unbiased approaches to education. Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action climaxed with a rally at the Seattle school board's Feb. 7 meeting, with youth, educators, and Indigenous advocates demanding district support of ethnic studies. Lake Washington School District parents and youth testified on Jan. 22 to demand Islamophobia training made by Muslims. This outpouring of community testimony comes after many have reported being pushed out of PTA meetings and school administrators' offices for voicing similar concerns.

With the current 2019 law on holocaust and genocide education, State contracts are overseen by a single nonprofit organization, the Holocaust Center for Humanity (HCH). This bill would reinvest in current programming the State invests in, which is done without the collaboration of Muslim scholars or community members. Meanwhile, parents and communities that have since joined WAESN's coalition, such as Maps-Amen and CAIR-WA, have been calling for Islamophobia prevention training and curriculum since Trump's "Muslim bans'' in 2017.

With this session's HB 2037 and HB 5851 aiming to double down on the status quo curriculum, lawmakers were forced to reckon with the fact that the Washington OSPI had not included any of these voices as these two bills came up for public testimony. Lawmakers limited testimony due to the outpouring of input on these bills during this short session. The crucial question remains on whether they will be able to amend the law for meaningful inclusion and equity, and give survivors of genocide a "seat at the table," as they repeat in their testimonies.

At first glance, these bills look like an important investment in ensuring we have a curriculum that not only addresses genocide, but also provides much-needed teacher training on how to facilitate open civic dialogue on issues like antisemitism and Islamophobia. Yet as the bills were written by their sponsors, they would continue to exclude more than one partnership with OSPI, by limiting the contracts to a single "expert nonprofit organization," in this case, HCH. These bills would further HCH's $1 million in existing contracts with OSPI to an additional $1.2 million in funding over the next six years. This is in addition to its yearly private contributions, which exceeded $2 million in 2022.

The WAESN coalition demands that the bill:

• Mandate that OSPI, in addition to HCH, must partner with and fund "other expert non-profit organizations led by underrepresented communities impacted by genocide with expertise in education of other genocides, crimes against humanity, and ethnic studies."
• Mandate that OPSI deliver an accountability and bias report to ensure OSPI contracts are inclusive and materials are screened for bias.

The effects of these demands would require that OSPI and HCH allow for new community representation and experts to develop curriculums about their own histories and lived experiences, a request in the spirit of nothing about us made without us.

Legislators Scramble to Amend

Advocates in the coalition watched both the Senate and House bills move forward, testifying and meeting with legislatures to make their demands. The legislative process is complicated, but ultimately, a bill must pass through the House and the Senate, and then get signed by the governor.

When there are "companion bills," as is the case for HB 2037 and SB 5851, identical bills start in both chambers, but ultimately one bill will move forward as the "vehicle" for the law.

These bills, which had bipartisan sponsors, were expected to pass through without much protest, but legislators took meetings with WAESN's coalition after their offices were flooded with emails by constituents from all over the state. In response to the public outcry, legislators began to make amendments, claiming to make the bill more inclusive.

The first amendment was from Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, who has been both an important champion of education reform and a bottleneck for much-needed change taking place. Her amendment made some adjustments in the spirit of the coalition's testimony, adding "and other nonprofit organizations" to possible contractors with OSPI. This wasn't enough for the coalition, whose Instagram posts claimed, "we are not JUST other." Santos' amendment was passed in the first stop for the bill: the House Education Committee. Meanwhile, the coalition's advocacy was also felt in the Senate's version of the bill, SB 5851.

On the Senate side, a confusing series of wish-washy amendments were made to SB 5851 by Mercer Island Sen. Lisa Wellman. After hearing testimony in the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 3, Sen. Wellman introduced and passed an amendment using near-exact language to WAESN's first demand, including "ethnic studies." This, however, proved to be short-lived, as Wellman later introduced an amendment on the Senate floor to strike "ethnic studies" from her own amendment. This bill has not been heard on the Senate floor, so it missed the deadline to pass to the House. It is assumed HB 2037 became what is called "the vehicle" for the second half of the session because it passed the House floor on Saturday, Feb. 10. But not without new amendments.

To the House Floor (and More Amendments)

HB 2037 moved out of the Education Committee and onto the House floor, where it was subjected to another round of amendments. Democratic Rep. Gerry Pollet sought to make changes, adding Western Washington University's Institute for Study on the Holocaust and Genocide to the list of providers.

Democratic Rep. Emily Alvarado introduced an amendment to HB 2037 on the Feb. 10 at 1:30 a.m., seconds before the House adjourned until 10 a.m. Saturday. This amendment called for the bill to specify the "other organizations" of Santos' amendment (which had already passed) and added language in line with the second demand of WAESN's coalition for a bias and accountability report, meeting some of the coalition's demands, yet without the inclusion of ethnic studies.

The amendment instructed OSPI to partner with the Holocaust Center and "other nonprofit organizations with expertise in teaching lessons on genocide and crimes against humanity…particularly including diasporic communities with lived experiences of surviving, being made refugee by, or otherwise being directly impacted by genocide."

Republican representatives testified against the amendment with the complaint that this inclusion would risk erasing the Holocaust, which has a "fundamental difference from other genocides." Despite the controversy, the newly amended bill passed 96—0 from the House floor to the Senate, where advocates were expecting more opportunities to amend the bill in conversation with lawmakers.

Senator Wellman Amends Again

First stop in the Senate was back to the Early Education Committee, chaired by Sen. Wellman. After five weeks of testimony, dialogue, and the potential of inclusion, Wellman had a second opportunity to shape the bill that would become law, but once again, her amendments raised eyebrows from Democrats and Republicans alike.

In a controversial move, Wellman skipped routine public testimony, moving straight into executive session. On Feb. 15, she introduced a shocking "striker" amendment that erased the progress of WAESN's coalition and contradicted her early amendment that had included ethnic studies. In a confusing turn of events, the Senate Education Committee could not agree to pass the bill as amended by Wellman to the next step in the legislative process, rendering both the bills dead this session.

With less than half the session left, there is much speculation as to why Wellman's amendments killed the bill. The bill would have been open to amendments in Ways and Means and on the Senate floor, where WAESN's coalition could have had allies to re-amend the bill out of Sen. Wellman's control. The bill would also have been up for discussion on the Senate floor and with the Governor's Office before becoming law. Yet, in a disappointing move, our lawmakers prematurely killed the bill rather than provide inclusion of other genocides. With the bill dead, there are still many unresolved questions.

The Right Wing Takes Aim at the Coalition

WAESN's coalition has been calling for amendments to ensure any curriculum made on a particular community be developed by those with lived experience from that community. The coalition is also adamant about including ethnic studies because it reports being pushed away by OSPI in recent requests. Tracy Castro-Gill, executive director of WAESN, requested a meeting with a department director at OSPI early February, but the meeting request was denied, citing that OSPI was awaiting the results of the legislative session.

This could be explained as normal procedure, as OSPI takes directions from the State Legislature, but WAESN has been subjected to national-level critiques by figures such as Christopher Rufo, who launched the panic against CRT and ethnic studies and was recently exposed for his varied connections with debunked eugenicists. Washington State right-wing pundits Brandi Kruse, Ari Hoffman, Julie Barrett, and Emily Alhadeff have also condemned the WAESN coalition's efforts. Questions remain about whether OSPI and the democratically held Senate and House of Washington State are allowing these pundits to dictate policy, as they did in California when ethnic studies programs were halted by pro-Israel groups.

The Road Ahead

Will legislators support WAESN's coalition to create Islamophobia training for teachers by Muslim experts? Will the budget be amended to include more than one expert nonprofit to have a seat at the table in open dialogue with OSPI? Will Washington be able to lead the failed efforts in California to have open dialogue about how to address ongoing crises in our classrooms? The coalition has drawn attention to the need for the state to invest in ethnic studies, but will it be enough for meaningful investments this legislative session? Or will it be the next, as the window seems to have been opened?

In the meantime, with Wellman's striker amendment prematurely killing the bill, teachers are left unprepared and students are left with their questions unanswered or, worse, with a backpack between them.

Faced with a politically wrought year of important global elections, there is a need for greater investment in supporting educators to address these crises in the classroom. If OSPI cannot facilitate open conversations between multiple perspectives in its curriculum development, and if our State legislators cannot ensure meaningful inclusion in the law, then who will model open dialogue for our students?

Editors' Note: This op-ed was updated on 02/22/2024 to remove references to Hamas and Palestinians for the safety of community members.

The South Seattle Emerald is committed to holding space for a variety of viewpoints within our community, with the understanding that differing perspectives do not negate mutual respect amongst community members.

The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the contributors on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the Emerald or official policies of the Emerald.

Oliver Treanor Miska, 33, is a queer Seattleite, educator, community organizer, and board member of Washington Ethnic Studies Now (WAESN). As they completed their undergraduate at the University of Washington, they began working in outdoor education across the world, leading wilderness trips for youth and working as a coach to professional youth rock climbers. After moving to NYC and completing their graduate studies in English at NYU, Oliver moved back to Seattle to become an educator, and has since now spent over six years in the classroom in Washington State as an English, social studies, and ethnic studies certified teacher in both public and independent schools grades 6—12. Oliver has worked in collaboration with coalitions in NYC and Seattle through their organizing and advocacy work in Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and more specifically in education policy at the Washington State Legislature with WAESN.

Featured image courtesy of WAESN.