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Washington superintendent urges funding overhaul, outlines enrollment trends and defends student privacy ahead of session
Summary
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal previewed OSPI data showing modest gains in assessments and kindergarten readiness, warned of long-term enrollment declines tied to low birth rates, proposed minimum district fund balances and board fiscal training, and said he would 'uphold the law' on student privacy and is likely to oppose a privacy initiative he says risks medical privacy.
Olympia — Chris Reykdal, Washington’s state superintendent of public instruction, used his annual media update to press lawmakers for new funding tools and to lay out what he described as a looming demographic and fiscal challenge for K–12 schools.
Reykdal said OSPI will deliver an equitable funding report a year early and urged the Legislature to consider revenue changes targeted to high-poverty schools while offering middle-class tax relief. "We're gonna deliver that report a year early," he said, describing a plan that will include both revenue options and recommendations to steer more resources to high-poverty communities.
Why it matters: Reykdal framed the issue as both immediate and structural. He cited a roughly $4,000,000,000 annual gap if Washington aimed to reach a national average of per‑student investment and told reporters that, even after earlier post‑McCleary funding gains, inflation‑adjusted dollars per pupil are lower than they were seven years ago.
On enrollment, Reykdal urged reporters to look beyond rhetoric that families are abandoning public schools. He said kindergarten readiness in OSPI’s annual measure stood at 55.3% and noted recovery patterns after the pandemic, but warned of a sustained, birth‑rate driven decline in cohort size: "we're gonna see a steady decline for many, many years in the state of Washington in total attendance," he said, citing lower birth cohorts entering school.
Reykdal described three principal pressures on districts: enrollment loss (he estimated roughly 70% due to demographics), underfunding relative to inflation, and local tax burdens. He highlighted several near‑term needs OSPI sees for districts, including transportation funding and gaps in services for students with disabilities, and said MSOC (maintenance, supplies and operating costs) shortfalls amount to "a good billion dollars or more" in immediate needs.
Policy proposals: Reykdal previewed several legislative ideas OSPI plans to press during the session. He said the agency will propose requiring reasonable minimum (and maximum) fund balances for school districts, and asked the Legislature to fund fiscal training and higher compensation for elected school board members so boards can better serve as fiduciaries. "We would propose the legislature step up and fund financial training for school board members," he said.
On school construction and local bonds, Reykdal said he supports lowering local bond thresholds to a simple majority and urged lawmakers to reconsider the state's share of capital funding and the use of design templates to reduce construction costs.
Student privacy and initiatives: When asked about pending national court cases and a state initiative concerning access to student records and privacy, Reykdal emphasized OSPI's obligation to follow state and federal law and said he would protect students’ privacy. "My job is to uphold the law, and I'm gonna do that relentlessly," he said. He added that he is "very likely to oppose the initiative because I don't think it protects medical privacy appropriately, and I don't think it creates the safest environment."
Other questions: Reykdal said OSPI has long standing guidance for when federal immigration agents visit schools (agents must show identification and legal authority and schools may pause to contact families) and that, to date, OSPI has not documented detentions on school property but is tracking potential hotspots in enrollment data.
Context and next steps: Reykdal framed OSPI’s early report and proposed legislation as conversation starters for the upcoming session rather than enacted policy. He urged balanced public coverage of school success and challenges and called on lawmakers to act on funding, math instruction, and policies that ease local tax burdens without disinvesting in schools.
Reykdal closed by asking media and citizens to press legislators: "focus on education and the well‑being of young people, and please invest appropriately through fair taxation," he said. OSPI’s funding report is scheduled to be delivered earlier than originally assigned and the superintendent signaled the agency will introduce the fund‑balance and training proposals for legislative consideration; none of those measures had been enacted at the time of the briefing.
