“I’ve never seen [public education] more under attack by a federal administration. It’s pretty threatening. It’s real. It’s not just words.”
The state’s public school chief Chris Reykdal says Washington’s public education system is underfunded, politically targeted, and structurally overdue for reform.
During a wide-ranging interview on Inside Olympia, Reykdal told host Austin Jenkins that his office requested $3 billion for the upcoming biennium but received only a third of that. Jenkins pressed Reykdal on some of the hot-button issues that have made headlines in the state and nationally: school privatization and charter schools; diversity, equity and inclusion programs; transgender issues including transgender students in school sports; student academic performance, and the value of student testing.
Reykdal praised the Legislature for bipartisan progress, including removing the 16% cap on special education funding, but said key needs remain unmet. “We continue to see a pretty large gap,” he said, citing a $600 million special ed shortfall.
Reykdal warned federal cuts could disproportionately affect rural and high-poverty districts. “They’re trying to use executive orders now to dismantle and privatize the system,” he said of the Trump administration. “It’s real. It’s not just words.”
He rejected voucher programs and attacks on DEI as part of a broader political movement to discredit public schools. “We are re-segregating schools in the South,” he said. “I will never buy into the idea that we should be anything but community-based, neighborhood-based schools.”
Reykdal also challenged how student achievement is measured. “Fifty-four percent of kids who get a two [on a 4-point scale] go to college,” he said, pushing back on the idea that standardized test scores define success. He advocates for flexible graduation pathways and AI-integrated learning that emphasizes editing and inquiry: “Stop expecting the paper to be written by the kid.”
On gender inclusion, Reykdal defended state policies for transgender students, saying they are rooted in longstanding Washington law. “Districts have to follow state law, and the federal government should follow the law,” he said.
Looking ahead, Reykdal called for streamlining governance. “You would never design the system that we have today,” he said, even suggesting his role could be appointed, not elected.