Seattle Public Schools face massive budget shortfall amid enrollment collapse, woke gender lessons

Despite legislative assistance and a $1.3 billion operating budget, the district is still staring at an $80 million deficit for future years. While that number has improved slightly from over $100 million in recent projections, Podesta warned the financial situation remains dire.

“Our biggest concern that we see in our enrollment forecast are smaller kindergarten classes,” Podesta said at a press conference on Tuesday

Currently, SPS operates 63 elementary schools and 11 K–8 schools. Of those, between 25 and 28 schools enroll fewer than 300 students, falling well short of the district’s preferred minimum of 350 students per school. The decline has raised questions about how long SPS can sustain its large number of school buildings amid shrinking class sizes. Last year, the district weighed closing dozens of schools but opted to ask the State Legislature for a bailout after parent outcry.

Many parents are not just blaming demographics for the decline; they are pointing to the district’s embrace of progressive social curricula as a driving factor.

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The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has issued Health Education Core Ideas that lay out what students are expected to learn each year, starting in kindergarten. Under the “Self-Identity” section, students are introduced to concepts of gender identity and sexual orientation that many parents assumed were reserved for older grades.

The framework requires that:

• Kindergarteners understand “there are many ways to express gender” and be able to name “at least three gender identities.”
• 1st graders explain that there are “many ways to express gender.”
• 2nd graders learn about “a range of gender roles and expression,” with emphasis on respecting others.
• 3rd graders are told “gender roles can vary considerably” and revisit respect for gender identity.
• 4th graders are taught how family and friends influence gender identity and are introduced to the definition of “sexual orientation.”
• 5th graders focus on how media and culture influence gender roles, while being directed to seek “trusted adults” to discuss gender and sexual orientation, often meaning teachers and school staff, not parents.

By fourth and fifth grade, parents note, the framework explicitly shifts authority to schools on matters of gender and sexuality, sidelining families.

Compounding the frustration, much of the material cannot be opted out of because it is embedded into the overall curriculum.

Enrollment data from the district previously obtained by The Post Millennial showed an 853 percent increase in students who identify as non-binary in only three years.