The hotly contended race for WA schools superintendent

With never enough state funding, a youth mental health crisis, and national issues like parental rights taking root in Washington, the race for the state’s top public education leader highlights the state’s distinct issues while mirroring debates happening across the nation.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction race centers on three candidates: a two-term incumbent, a nationally backed challenger, and a fiscal conservative. 

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction candidates, from left: David Olsen, incumbent Chris Reykdal and Reid Saaris. (Courtesy of the candidates)

The three frontrunners

Incumbent Chris Reykdal, who first ran in 2016, is a proud, wear-it-on-his-sleeve Democrat endorsed by the statewide teachers’ union. Reykdal served three terms in the Legislature before being elected Superintendent of Public Instruction. Reykdal has also worked as a public school teacher, served on a local school board and spent 14 years in the leadership of a state board for community and technical colleges. 

Reid Saaris, also left-leaning, is positioned as Reykdal’s main challenger. Saaris founded and ran for a decade Equal Opportunity Schools, a national education nonprofit aimed at fostering equitable outcomes. He said he worked closely with the Obama administration and was encouraged by John King – Obama’s secretary of education from 2016-2017 – to run for OSPI. His experience also includes teaching at Rainier Beach High School last fall, previously working as a substitute at the high school and teaching social studies for three years from 2004 to 2007. He also worked with students in an International Baccalaureate program.

David Olson, the sole candidate endorsed by Washington State Republicans, has served on the Peninsula School District board since 2013, currently as vice president and as president in 2021. Olson’s background includes service in the Navy and later government banking, with cities and counties throughout Washington as his clients. 

From four to two

The top two vote-getters from the August primary will advance to the general election in November. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is a nonpartisan office.

While the race technically has four candidates – including perennial candidate John Blair, who has run for the office almost every term since 2004 and typically earns about 6% of the vote – only these three have raised money and made other moves toward a viable campaign, like building a website. 

Saaris is in the fundraising lead with nearly $300K, nearly double Reykdal’s $175K, with Olson at about $55K. But this race is still in its early days for at least two of these candidates, and more than $700,000 in independent expenditures (made by third parties without the candidate’s approval or collaboration) came in for Reykdal during the 2020 election.

Reykdal said he wasn’t concerned about the fundraising gap, arguing that he and Saaris had comparable in-state donations. According to Public Disclosure Commission data, 63% of Saaris’ contributions are from Washington-based donors, which comes out to about $50K more than Reykdal. Reykdal’s contributions are 77% from in-state donors, and for Olson, it’s 92%.

Vying for endorsements

All three candidates hold endorsements ranging from local educators to statewide organizations and officials. But though Reykdal is lacking in fundraising, he’s making up for that in endorsements. His include three former state superintendents, a laundry list of state and local public officials, Democratic organizations throughout the state and about two dozen unions, including the Washington Education Association. 

“I’m grateful to have the support of a lot of school district leaders, state leaders, federal leaders, and people all around the country,” Saaris said. “I have learned as things progress that a lot of folks do routinely – without looking closely, necessarily – endorse career politicians and incumbents.” 

Saaris added that he is a member of WEA and his parents were both union members before clarifying that he understands why some may see him as a newcomer on the scene. 

“I’m working hard to ensure that folks do know me and know that I’m a fourth-generation Washington public educator who’s deeply committed to this state,” he said.

Academic performance

A key issue in the OSPI race is the question of academic performance in Washington schools. 

“Washington is a paradox,” Saaris said. “We have a lot of economic resources going for us. There’s a lot of progressive values. We’re committed to facts and evidence, and so it’s hard to explain why we would be falling so far behind other states.”

Both Saaris and Olson argue that statewide academic performance has worsened under Reykdal’s leadership – and during the pandemic – resulting in lost ground nationally. But Reykdal argues that schools aren’t doing as poorly as his challengers – or national data – make it seem.

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress – known as the nation’s report card – Washington schools are faring better than the national average. But test scores for two key testing years, fourth and eighth grade, show a steady decline in math and reading since at least 2017. While eighth-grade scores for 2022 were still above the national average, the fourth-grade scores have dropped to be on par. 

However, the criticism goes further than overall academic performance to include gaps among students, especially for historically marginalized students. Saaris argues that achievement gaps – disparities in learning among student groups – have grown each year under Reykdal’s leadership. A 2022 report from the Washington Achievement Council on racial disparities in education described a pattern of persistent gaps before the pandemic that have since widened. The scores from 2021 show a small rebound, but not to pre-pandemic levels, according to the report.

Saaris’ nonprofit, Equal Opportunity Schools, works to close these gaps, which is what Saaris said he did for Federal Way Public Schools. Specifically focusing on gaps in the curriculum, Equal Opportunity Schools collected data from students and educators to systematically identify and close those gaps. 

For Olson, absenteeism and declining enrollment are key components of the issue, both for academic performance and for school funding. He described a cascading effect: Students miss school and begin to fall behind academically; the schools lose money because of decreased enrollment, and as a result schools have fewer resources to improve academic performance. 

“The main impetus for me to run is public trust,” Olson said. “Trust in public education in the state of Washington right now is not good. That’s why we lost so many kids to private schools, homeschool … and I think it’s because they don’t feel their kids are getting the academic rigor and the accountability to be academically successful.”

Mental health support

Student mental health was a top issue for all three candidates. 

Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency in 2021 for youth mental health. In 2023, nearly a third of 10th-grade students reported experiencing depressive symptoms, and six in 10 of those students reported feeling “nervous, anxious, on edge, or not being able to stop or control worrying,” according to the Healthy Youth Survey. 

But the candidates differ on how to address this. Both Saaris and Reykdal outlined holistic plans to improve mental health outcomes, while Olson’s focus is primarily on cell phone use. 

Saaris pointed to a paper he recently published with Children’s Alliance that outlined “affordable and effective solutions,” including universal screening – modeled after a program in King County – and fully funded virtual therapy. He also suggested implementing the surgeon general’s warning for social media use. 

Reykdal said that he used a “whole child approach” during his time in office, highlighting investments in school meals as an example. He also mentioned improvements in response systems for the youth crisis hotline, but said his new term would focus on proactively addressing mental health issues in addition to improving responses. 

“This is one [issue] where we can’t ignore the factors up front and just keep building response systems for kids in crisis,” he said. 

For Olson, banning the use of cell phones in schools is critical to addressing students’ mental health. He implemented a ban on cell phones and social media for his school district. He said he’s heard from students that they feel less anxious and stressed and from teachers that student engagement has improved. 

“Both my opponents say they will pursue this if they are elected, but I’ve already done it,” Olson said. “My school district has already done it, and we’ve proven that it’s successful.”

The other candidates also noted cell phone and social media use as key elements. Reykdal said he is not interested in a ban, but instead wants to foster more education around the harms of social media in particular. 

“I’ve always believed education in partnership with policy can lead us through the hardest things,” Reykdal said.

McCleary and addressing funding gaps 

Ensuring schools are fully funded is a critical part of OSPI’s role, especially after the 2012 Washington Supreme Court McCleary vs. Washington ruling that the state was not fulfilling its constitutional duty to fully fund basic education. While the responsibility to provide that funding falls to the Legislature, it’s the state superintendent’s job to provide recommendations. 

Statewide funding dropped below 50% of the state budget, the portion recommended by the Quality Education Council, with the 2021-2023 biennial budget allocating about 48% of the state budget to K-12 education. 

Reykdal wants to increase funding and show how inflation is outpacing current spending levels. He plans to request an additional $1 billion – around $1,000 per student – in the next budget cycle. 

He will also request the Legislature to shift how inflation is factored into budget formulas to include consumer inflation.

For Saaris, who was critical of the current funding model based on a “prototypical school,” the focus would be investing more resources in lower-income students and fostering financial stability. 

“Some people mischaracterized [McCleary] as a fix,” he said. “We have not hit the fix, and nobody thinks that they are the prototypical school for whom this is working well.”

“But I think we’re missing the bigger picture,” he added, explaining that his research has found that funding for lower-income students in Washington is less than other students. “[That] is not a formula for equity. It’s part of what’s driving the expanding achievement gap.”

He argued that funding will continue to decrease because of decreasing enrollment, related in part to Washington’s decreasing school-age population, and suggested working with the Legislature to create a stabilization plan.

Olson wants to change the funding model because he argues it’s unfair to school districts with lower property values. While most education dollars come from the state, districts can vote on levies – based on local property values – to fill the gaps. Olson argued that districts with lower property values often face higher levies to make up for budget gaps, which makes these taxes harder to pass. 

He also took aim at transportation funding. 

“The transportation funding model is broken,” he said. “It makes no sense. We need to fix it … The superintendents I’ve talked to across the state have said that if the state would fund special ed, and if we could fix transportation, all the school districts in the state would almost overnight come out of financial [strain].”

He proposed a summit of school board financial officers to evaluate and rethink the funding formula, and suggested adding public finance training for school board members.

Olson and Reykdal clash on a few key issues 

With Reykdal a Democrat and Olson backed by Republicans, the two clash on a few key issues: charter schools and parental rights. 

Reykdal opposes charter schools, instead advocating to “keep public schools public.” He argued that charter schools – and school privatization broadly – is part of a national movement to “vilify public education.” 

“Their whole goal is to turn this into a private benefit instead of a public good,” he said. “I don’t think it’s healthy for democracy … The jury is pretty clear that they don’t really produce better outcomes overall but they’re neutral. But what voters lose is the ability to elect their school board.” 

Although charter schools are also taxpayer-funded public schools, they are typically overseen by a private board, similar to a nonprofit board, after receiving approval from the Washington State Charter School Commission. Locally elected school districts can also approve and oversee charter schools instead of the commission. Currently, two of the state’s 18 charter schools are operating under a public school district, Spokane. 

Olson, on the flip side, said he sees charter schools as a way to provide more options to parents in places where public education may be lacking. 

“I don’t believe it’s fair, and I like to use the word fair, for a parent to have their kid attending a struggling school and have no other option for their kid other than the struggling school,” he said. “If there was an opportunity for their kid to go an extra mile or two down the street and attend a charter school that maybe is performing at a higher level than the school they’re currently going to, I think they should be allowed.”

He also cited the Washington State Board of Education’s report on charter schools for 2024, which found that math and English test scores were higher for charter school students who identified as Black or Hispanic or are English learners or low-income. However, the report also found that attendance and the percentage of students finishing dual-credit courses – earning college and high school credit at the same time – were lower at charter schools. 

“I’m running for public superintendent, but I support options for parents that until we lift public schools back to being top of the country again, I support parents so that they’ll have options,” he said.  

So-called “parental rights” is another area of disagreement between Reykdal and Olson. The term is used by political conservatives to refer to parents having access to school information such as when a  student identifies themselves as LGBTQIA+ in school. 

Olson believes most parents are supportive of their kids and also said he wants children to feel safe at school. But he also feels most parents “want to know that their kid is going through these issues, and they want to support their kids. They don’t want to be kept in the dark about it.” 

He particularly took issue with Reykdal’s response to the passing of Initiative 2081, known as the “parents’ bill of rights.”  OSPI released a statement in June outlining where this state law conflicts with federal privacy laws, concluding by telling schools to follow federal laws “when in doubt.” 

Olson said he felt that amounted to telling school districts to ignore the law. But for Reykdal, it was a point of pride, especially considering a superior court judge recently blocked many parts of the bill that Reykdal had identified as conflicting. 

“There is no question that students are best supported when their families are actively involved in their education,” Reykdal said in the press release. “But if a student does not feel safe coming out to their family and they turn to a trusted adult at their school for support, they have a right to receive that support without fear of being outed by their school.”

Read more: