Editorial: Reykdal best choice for state schools chief

Published 1:30 am Sunday, October 9, 2016

By The Herald Editorial Board

During his two terms as Superintendent of Public Instruction, Randy Dorn has taken an increasingly vocal role in advocating for K-12 education and the state’s more than 1 million students as the Legislature has struggled to meet a court mandate to increase education funding and end an over-reliance on local school levies to provide a significant portion of teachers’ salaries.

Dorn, who will step down after eight years, has even tried to force the issue by suing several school districts, including the Everett district, over that reliance on school levies, a practice made necessary by legislative inaction and done with that body’s approval.

The next superintendent will have to continue that advocacy as the Legislature returns to work this January. But even assuming the Legislature is successful in meeting a deadline to resolve the issues by 2018, the next superintendent will have even greater responsibilities to make the best use of funding provided and assess the needs that remain, in addition to the position’s traditional responsibilities.

Voters chose two well-qualified candidates from a primary field of nine in Democrats Erin Jones and Chris Reykdal, both with strong backgrounds in education and a keen understanding of the challenges ahead.

Jones, a Tacoma resident, currently works as a teaching coach and program administrator with the Tacoma School District. And she won a national Milken Educator Award in 2007 for her work as a literacy coach at a Spokane high school.

Reykdal, of Tumwater, has served three terms in the House of Representatives, most recently as vice chairman of its Education Committee, and is an administrator with the state Board of Community and Technical Colleges. Previously, he taught for three years at a Longview high school.

Reykdal and Jones are agreed on the need for increased funding, believing that the $3.5 billion estimate for additional spending in the next biennium is just a first step. But Jones argues that funding ought to be based more on each school’s individual needs rather than on equal funding among all schools.

Undoubtedly, there will be a greater need among many rural and higher-poverty schools in order for student achievement to catch up with better-funded districts, but the immediate need is for the Legislature to assure ample funding for all districts and end the over-reliance on local school levies for basic education. The next superintendent can then make the case for additional spending in those districts most in need.

Reykdal can bring his legislative perspective — and past relationships — to advocate for needed changes, and we believe he might meet with more success than has resulted from Dorn’s confrontational style.

Though the decision will be out of the superintendent’s hands, Reykdal believes the legislative solution will involve reform of the levy system and new revenue, including a tax on capital gains.

On other education issues:

Both candidates support statewide testing but would seek a more limited schedule of tests and don’t want to see high school exams used as a graduation requirement.

Both have said they’ll uphold the state law that allows charter schools and will serve those students, though Jones said she voted against the initiative in 2012. Reykdal shares the same concerns we have expressed about the Legislature’s current funding solution for charter schools and believes it may not survive a court challenge.

Reykdal’s time with the state board for community and technical colleges also provides insight and should foster some partnerships that increase opportunities for vocational and technical training programs at school districts.

Both candidates’ personal lives and their accomplishments as educators should be held up as inspiration for the children they seek to serve. Jones is the first African-American woman to run for statewide office. Reykdal, born and raised in Snohomish, said it was public education that allowed him and his siblings to break the cycle of poverty.

Both candidates have much to recommend them and share equally impressive endorsements, but we believe Reykdal has the necessary experience to help implement the funding solution that comes out of the Legislature, make the best use of that support and help make Washington a leader in public education.