Leaders don't get a vote on what reaches the classroom. They decide what reaches the student.
On November 3, voters will decide more questions about schools than in any election since 2018. By the National Conference of State Legislatures count cited in The Washington Post, 19 measures on ballots this year deal with K-12 and higher education (Wolfe, 2026). Many of them skip past budgets and governance and reach straight into the school day: who plays on which team, what parents can see and opt out of, and how each morning begins.
For much of my career, a recurring question parents brought to me and other school leaders was not about sports or prayer. It was about opting out. Parents wanted their children excused from certain lessons and activities, sex education above all. In California, the Healthy Youth Act has spelled out the rules since 2016. Parents can excuse their child, in writing, from comprehensive sexual health instruction, but not from lessons on discrimination, harassment, relationships, or family (California Department of Education [CDE], n.d.). Since the Supreme Court's 2025 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, districts must also weigh religious objections to other lessons, starting with LGBTQ-themed storybooks in the elementary grades (California School Boards Association [CSBA], 2025). Every one of those requests landed on someone's desk, and that person had to honor the parent and protect the student's learning at the same time.
That is the part of this ballot most leaders will feel first. Whether or not we asked for these measures, and whether or not we agree with what passes, we will carry them out anyway, in real classrooms, the morning after the results are certified. Whatever passes, the job stays the same: protect students and their learning from distraction, and from anything worse that stands between them and their growth, and do it in a way that is equitable and inclusive.
Who Plays
Four states will vote on who can compete on girls' teams. Colorado's Proposition 134 and Washington's Initiative 638 reached the ballot by citizen petition. Both would restrict girls' school sports by biological sex (Colorado Legislative Council Staff, 2026), and Washington's measure would use the physical students already take before playing to verify it (O'Neil, 2026). Nebraska's Initiative 442 would write an existing state law into the constitution (Salinas, 2026). Arizona already bars transgender girls from girls' teams. Its Proposition 318, referred by the Legislature, would add restroom and locker room rules and extend them to private schools and club sports (Wolfe, 2026). A poll paid for by Washington's sponsors shows 56% support for I-638, though they have not released the full results (Mizes-Tan, 2026).
Who Opts Out
Washington's Initiative 001 asks voters to restore the Parents' Bill of Rights the Legislature passed in 2024. Lawmakers revised it in 2025, giving schools 45 days instead of 10 business days to produce records and dropping advance notice when a school offers a medical service to a child. The initiative would bring back the original terms: records within 10 business days, the right to review curriculum, and opt-outs from lessons on topics ranging from sexuality to religion to mental health (Fahmy, 2026).
Who Shapes the School Day
In Alabama, Amendment 3 would require every local board to open the school day with the Pledge of Allegiance and to allow student-led prayer. Students could opt out of either, and the local superintendent would review reported violations (Alabama Fair Ballot Commission, 2026). A separate Alabama measure would require schools to play or perform the national anthem once a week (Ballotpedia, 2026). Arizona's Proposition 142 would bar public money for offices that promote preferential treatment by race, sex, or ethnicity, commonly called DEI offices, and ban discipline policies that treat students differently by race. Classroom instruction is exempt (Johnson, 2026).
Two other measures, Colorado's Proposition 135 and Missouri's Amendment 3, address medical care for transgender minors. They matter, but they govern clinics, not classrooms, so I have left them out here.
The Case for Settling It
Supporters make arguments that deserve a hearing. Backers of the sports measures say physical advantages make competition unfair for girls (O'Neil, 2026). Washington's parents' rights campaign says parents are the primary stakeholders in their children's upbringing (Fahmy, 2026). Liz Wolfe of Reason sees a broader pattern: voters want durable answers that legislators cannot reopen every session (Wolfe, 2026). Notice how many of these measures take rules that already exist and lock them into constitutions. Voters want the question closed.
My View
A closed question still lands on an open school. A constitutional amendment can settle who plays, but it cannot tell a coach what to say to the student who just lost her team. A records law can set a deadline, but it cannot tell a counselor how to keep a student's trust while honoring a parent's request. Those judgment calls still belong to the people in the building.
Students notice when adults let a policy fight become the climate of a school. Equity and inclusion are not a position on any single measure. They are the standard every student is owed, whatever the results say.
The First 90 Days
Read the final text of every measure that passes in your state the week it is certified, not the campaign summaries. Map each one to the handbooks, athletic rules, and parent forms it changes. Brief coaches, counselors, and front-office staff before families start asking them questions. Then name the students most likely to feel the change, and make sure each one has an adult who knows them by name. At day 90, look at what you have learned and adjust.
The ballot sets the rules. You decide whether a student's learning survives them. Vote on November 3, then get to work.
References
Alabama Fair Ballot Commission. (2026). Statewide Amendment 3 [Ballot explanation]. Alabama Secretary of State. https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/2026-08/FBCStatewideAmendment-3.pdf
Ballotpedia. (2026, April 10). Alabama voters to decide two constitutional amendments related to the Pledge of Allegiance and school prayer. Ballotpedia News. https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/04/10/alabama-voters-to-decide-two-constitutional-amendments-related-to-the-pledge-of-allegiance-and-school-prayer/
California Department of Education. (n.d.). FAQ for sexual education, HIV/AIDS, and STDs. https://www.cde.ca.gov/LS/he/se/faq.asp
California School Boards Association. (2025, July 29). Navigating opt-out requests in light of Mahmoud v. Taylor. CSBA Blog. https://blog.csba.org/opt-out-mahmoud/
Colorado Legislative Council Staff. (2026). 2026 state ballot information booklet. Colorado General Assembly. https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2026-blue-book-en-accessible.pdf
Fahmy, N. (2026, August 15). Voters to decide whether Washington restores original Parents' Bill of Rights in November. KOMO News. https://komonews.com/news/politics/story/explainer-what-is-the-parents-bill-of-rights-washington-state-law-on-the-ballot-this-november-voting-olympia-hb1296
Johnson, J. (2026, October 12). Arizona Prop 142: Voters to decide on constitutional amendment restricting DEI programs. FOX 10 Phoenix. https://fox10phoenix.com/election/arizona-prop-142-voters-decide-constitutional-amendment-restricting-dei-programs
Mizes-Tan, S. (2026, October 5). Polling shows ban on trans girls in girls' sports could pass in November. KUOW. https://www.kuow.org/elections/2026-10-05/polling-shows-ban-on-trans-girls-in-girls-sports-could-pass-in-november
O'Neil, T. (2026, October 14). 5 states put transgender sports, gender-medicine questions before voters. The Daily Signal. https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/10/14/5-states-put-transgender-sports-gender-medicine-questions-before-voters/
Salinas, J., II. (2026, August 29). Sex-based constitutional restriction on Nebraska K-12, collegiate sports qualifies for ballot. Nebraska Examiner. https://www.wowt.com/2026/08/29/sex-based-constitutional-restriction-nebraska-k-12-collegiate-sports-qualifies-ballot/
Wolfe, L. (2026, October 13). Settling the school wars. Reason. https://reason.com/2026/10/13/settling-the-school-wars/
Let's Talk
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DISTRICT LEADER PODCAST
Leading Where It Counts
This week’s issue argues that whatever passes on November 3, the judgment that protects students belongs to the people in the building. Principal Baruti Kafele has spent his career proving it. A nationally recognized turnaround principal and author, he rose from teaching fifth grade to leading schools in urban communities, where he built culture and climate as the foundation for learning. He shares his daily student messages, monthly “state of the school” meetings, and his case for principals as in-classroom coaches. His core lesson fits this election season: students don’t respect a message if they don’t respect the messenger.
EDUPRENEURS NETWORK • DEEP DIVE
From Vendor to Trusted Partner in Education's New Landscape
Last year I argued that in uncertain times, districts choose partners who understand both instruction and finance, and that trust is the most valuable thing a provider can build. This ballot adds a new kind of uncertainty. If your product or service touches athletics, curriculum review, parent communication, or student support, some of these measures may change what your district clients can buy or must provide. The providers who call before the client does, with a clear read on what changed, will be the ones still on the vendor list next year.
From the Bookshelf - Thought Leadership
"Navigating Tensions Between Competing Educational Values"
In Chapter 9, Ethical Dimensions of Educational Thought Leadership, I write about the tensions that never fully resolve in our work: excellence and equity, freedom and guidance, individual development and social cohesion. Thought leaders, I argue there, resist the easy way out: "Instead of simplifying these tensions or choosing one value over another, they develop frameworks that respect the complexity of educational goals." Several measures on this ballot try to settle those tensions with a single rule. The chapter's final strategy, practical wisdom, names what a rule leaves behind: the judgment of the educators who apply it.
This week: Read the "Pluralistic Constraint" and "Practical Wisdom" sections in Chapter 9. Then ask yourself: if a measure passes in your state, what minimum standard will you hold for every affected student, and where will you trust your staff's judgment?
Additional Resources
Read the Top 5 Leadership Books in 1 Week, Not 1 Year
Never Split the Difference. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The 48 Laws of Power. Shortform gives you the key ideas from each and how to use them at work, so you finish the list this week.