The Herald recommends this candidate to lead Washington’s public schools | Editorial

Incumbent state Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal has led the state’s K-12 schools through challenging pandemic years, performing adequately though not exemplarily.

That might have made him vulnerable to a strong challenger on the November ballot. Instead, he faces off against David Olson. We recommend voters stick with Reykdal.

The superintendent heads a state agency that oversees public K-12 education. It works with about 300 public and tribal school districts, allocating funding and providing other resources to support learning.

Reykdal has some notable accomplishments since being elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. Civics became a graduation requirement under his direction, dual and tribal language programs expanded, and equity was a priority in decision-making. There have been no catastrophic failures. It’s the sort of solid, progressive leadership that a majority of Washingtonians expect.

He also has a balanced background suitable for the job, having served as both a legislator and budget specialist with the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. He has an impressive list of endorsements from Democrats and educational organizations, though the office is technically nonpartisan

There’s room for improvement, though.

After remote learning during the pandemic, students fell behind. It’s easy to cherry pick numbers to show that students are doing well or poorly compared with their national peers, and both candidates are adept at it. No matter how one cuts it, though, the state ranks in the bottom half nationally. The educational shortfall is especially acute in some Tri-Cities schools.

Reykdal lays much of the blame on cell phones and funding. He recently urged districts to ban phones and asked the Legislature for $3 billion for schools. We doubt that the timing of these headline-grabbing announcements is coincidental in an election year. Plus, funding as a portion of the state budget declined over the past four years under his watch. If he couldn’t convince lawmakers to keep up funding then, will they listen now?

Those concerns warrant watching but are not disqualifying. His opponent, however, has significant problems politically and on paper.

Olson has served on Gig Harbor’s Peninsula School Board for 11 years, but he does not have the sort of executive experience in education that Reykdal has developed leading a state agency. Such is the advantage of incumbency.

Olson also has staked out troubling positions against what he dubs “controversial social issues like critical race theory, DEI and all that horrible stuff.” He also has said he wouldn’t mind if state higher education collapsed. Those ideas play well with a conservative base and earned him support from groups like the right-wing Moms for Liberty, but they aren’t the sort of agenda toward which Washington should pivot.

This story was originally published September 29, 2024 at 5:00 AM.