Superintendent: Legislature, governor are shortchanging WA students | Opinion

Despite a constitutional mandate, years of hard work by educators and broad community support for public education, the governor and our Legislature are sliding backwards on supports for students in our public K–12 schools, colleges and universities.

Led by the governor’s budget proposal in December and embraced by legislators, cuts to public education and higher education continue. These are not abstract budget lines. They are real cuts that will be felt in classrooms across Pierce County and the state. Cuts to early learning, cuts to communities with lower property values, cuts to high school students taking college classes, and massive cuts to colleges’ and universities’ base budgets.

Pierce County school districts, large and small, have been cutting services for years to backfill the state’s inadequate funding model. When state funding falls short, districts are forced to stretch fewer dollars across essential services. That can mean larger class sizes in elementary schools; fewer instructional supports in middle and high schools; and reduced access to counselors, nurses or mental health professionals. In higher education, it means program cuts, fewer course offerings, or cuts to student services.

Perhaps it is the continued intentional spread of misinformation that drives lawmakers to these cuts. Despite the rhetoric, Washington’s K–12 schools are only middle of the pack nationally in per-student funding when adjusted for regional cost of living. As a share of our total economy, Washington state spends far less on public education than the national average. And quality — there are only five states in the nation statistically outperforming our students by 8th grade in reading.

K–12 and higher education are receiving the smallest share of the state budget in over a decade. When adjusted for inflation, our public schools have less funding per student today than they did seven years ago.

In short, our education system is outperforming relative to the investments being made, but that is all at risk.

We should be clear about what is driving funding challenges within our schools and colleges: inflation, fewer enrollments due to years of declining birth rates, and a student population that needs substantially more supports than any generation prior.

The Washington State Constitution does not say we should fund education when it is convenient. It says education is the paramount duty of the state. That means protecting — not cutting — investments that support students, educators and communities.

Pierce County families understand that strong schools are the foundation of a strong economy; it’s why they recently passed all 17 local levies and bonds on the ballot in the February Special Election.

Local voters get it. It’s time for legislative leaders to lower their ambition in many parts of state government and drive more resources to public education and colleges. It’s also time to reform our tax code to generate ample revenue to fund schools while lowering taxes in a meaningful way for families who have been hit the hardest by inflation.

I urge lawmakers and the governor to reverse this trend, work together to honor our constitutional responsibility, and consult with my office on enormous opportunities to make K–12 and higher education more effective and efficient while investing more resources.

Our students get one chance at their formal education. We have to stop balancing our state budget on their backs.

Chris Reykdal is serving in his third term as Washington’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction, where he leads the state’s primary K–12 education agency. He also serves as president of the Council for Chief State School Officers, a national organization that supports state departments of education.