As a local control state, Washington schools’ success (and budget) are dependent on the school board. Support of arts education is especially important now: the passage of SB5878 requires schools with more than 200 enrolled students to offer arts, visual or performing, each year a student is enrolled in K-12 school. This must be taught by a certified art teacher. At least one year's credit is a high school graduation requirement. This law clarifies the state's position on arts education but local school boards and administrators will be responsible for determing how to implement it in their schools. The text of the law can be found at SB5878

Every other year, we survey school board candidates to make sure you can make the most informed vote possible. As a nonprofit, we can’t endorse candidates, but we can share their views. This year, we asked about personal experiences with the arts, plans candidates are willing to consider if elected to ensure the arts are supported, how their district will be impacted by SB 5878, and how they intend to support culturally responsive and trauma-informed arts.

To find your candidate’s response, just scroll to find your district and click the Educational Service District to see the full survey. (We suggest desktop vs mobile for readability.)

This year, we had 94 responses representing 61 school districts, 9 ESDs, and across 25 counties. However, if you don’t see your school district highlighted, it means we didn’t receive any response from candidates in that school district.

Thanks for getting informed and don’t forget to vote by November 7th!