Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate visits Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Chris Reykdal, D-Tumwater, believes that education should not be a partisan issue and, if elected, says he will work to make it not one.

Reykdal, who currently serves as a representative for Washington’s 22nd Legislative District, stopped by Moses Lake on Thursday and introduced himself to locals. He is among nine candidates who have filed for the office, according to the state Secretary of State’s website. Incumbent Randy Dorn is not running for his seat.

Reykdal was born and raised in the Snohomish area, east of Everett, to parents who only had eighth-grade educations. He says public schools gave him the chance to excel, which inspired him to dedicate his life, in some way or another, to public service and education.

After graduating from Washington State University in 1994, Reykdal was employed as a teacher and eventually served on a school board. He would also go on to get his master’s degree in public finance/public administration from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

“It’s been 14 years now that I have been on the state Board for Community and Technical Colleges, where I was the deputy executive director for awhile,” Reykdal explained. “There is 34 colleges encompassed by the board, that includes Big Bend, Wenatchee Valley College, all those are a part of that one system. So in that role I was in charge of $1 billion a year in state funds.”

Reykdal successfully ran for the state House of Representatives in November 2010 and recently decided not to seek a third term when the opportunity to run for superintendent of public instruction presented itself. The lawmaker says it is time to do three things in Washington’s schools to change the dynamic for all kids: fund the school system more equitably, make standardized testing “make sense again” and emphasize Career and Technical Education (CTE).

In regard to funding the school system in a more equitable way, Reykdal noted that local property taxes are often times to heavily relied upon.

“You’ve got exceedingly high tax rates because of that. Like here in Moses Lake for example, because you are not leveraging a lot of commercial real estate. So it really falls heavily on homes’ values,” Reykdal said. “Whereas in the Bellevue and Seattle areas for example, they have huge leverage, huge real estate leverage, because of commercial real estate. So their rates are very, very, low. So from a tax rate system it's not a very equitable system. “And then it creates enormous amounts of money per child in King County and not very much money per child in rural Washington.”

He says if he is elected he will be attempting to deliver a bipartisan approach to the issue that addresses levy reform.

When it comes to standardized testing, Reykdal believes there is altogether too much time spent on the testing itself. He stated that standardized tests currently are primarily being used to deny kids growth and, in some instances, making it so they don't graduate.

“We are actually taking kids after 11 years of public schools and getting them right close to the finish line and saying, ‘you didn’t pass this standardized test,’” he remarked. “So it really needs to be brought back into a very rational world where we use the assessment to empower teachers and students.”

In emphasizing CTE, having already been involved in the Board for Community and Technical Colleges for 14 years, Reykdal says he has witnessed the power of giving students already in K-12 a pathway to the middle class without necessarily receiving a university degree.

With about 70 percent of jobs requiring applicants to have more than a high school diploma, but less than a baccalaureate degree, he says there needs to be an emphasis on offering CTE courses that give students core credits so they graduate on time, but can also lead to work, or to acceptance to a technical/community college.

“If we did those three things we could really impact the graduation rate in this state. It’s hovering at about 78 or 79 percent right now for on-time graduation. It’s right at the national average. The national average is about 79 or 80,” Reykdal pointed out. “So we are average when it comes to that and we could be so much better in a state with this many resources.”