The two men dueling to be Washington state’s next governor agree that the delivery of public education could improve if the person overseeing the system was appointed rather than elected.
Both Democrat Bob Ferguson and Republican Dave Reichert endorse the idea of eliminating the superintendent of public instruction as an elected job and putting a person to helm education policy in the governor’s cabinet.
Last week, Ferguson went further, saying he will work to amend the state constitution to remove the post as an elected position “at the end of the next full term,” which would be January 2029.
Chris Reykdal, who is seeking a third term as Washington’s superintendent of public instruction, has backed the idea of transforming the post to a non-elected job for several years. His opponent in this year’s race, David Olson, opposes doing so.
Ferguson penciled his commitment into an education plan released on Sept. 9, the eve of his first face-to-face debate with Reichert.
In that plan, he also vows to “eliminate duplication of efforts at the state, regional, and local levels of the education system” and “break down education silos and ensure that state services are coordinated and focused on the continuum from cradle to career.”
Ferguson’s campaign did not respond to interview requests or reply to emailed questions on his proposal.
The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction channels funding to schools, implements state education laws and sets curriculum standards for more than 1 million public school students. It oversees the state’s 295 school districts, six state-tribal education compact schools, educational service districts and the Washington Center for Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss.
When asked by the Seattle Times Editorial Board about eliminating the elected post, Ferguson, the three-term state attorney general, and Reichert, a former congressman, each said making it part of the executive branch would give governors a more direct hand in developing policy and distributing funding than they have now.
It is not a new idea. Former Gov. Chris Gregoire pushed for it unsuccessfully in 2011. She envisioned appointing a secretary of education to oversee the state’s multiple boards and entities responsible for education from early learning to college. The person would serve subject to confirmation by the state Senate.
Then-superintendent Randy Dorn opposed the move. So too did the Washington Education Association, the union representing teachers, and the statewide associations of school district directors, principals and superintendents.
Gregoire argued — as have others since — that Washington residents view the governor as being directly responsible for education, but they’re not. If the public was going to hold her accountable, she wanted to be made accountable.
Reykdal views the change as a step toward improving the efficiency and efficacy of education in the state.
“The Legislature has given their policy authority to too many boards and agencies that often create inconsistent education policy and duplicate efforts,” he wrote to Gov. Jay Inslee and lawmakers in January 2021. “The executive branch needs singular leadership to write rules and carry out education policy, and the Legislature needs to assert (or delegate power to an executive) clearer expectations and accountability of local school districts.”
In 2022, former state Sens. Reuven Carlyle and Sam Hunt, both Democrats, introduced legislation to make the change and Reykdal testified in favor. It received a hearing but did not advance out of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee.
“We have such a radical addiction in our state to decentralization that we have a lack of accountability,” Carlyle said in the hearing. Education is in its own silo and a governor’s authority is “very modest,” he said.
Olson, Reykdal’s challenger in the Nov. 5 election, isn’t on board. He said on Sept. 9 that he opposes the idea.
“I believe the position is too important to be a partisan appointment,” he said. “I believe the people should decide who fills the OSPI position, not a partisan elected governor. When Reykdal is in serious jeopardy of losing his seat, it’s clear the people should have the say. Not the governor.”
Jerry Cornfield writes for the Washington State Standard, an independent, nonprofit news organization that produces original reporting on policy and politics. Reporter Grace Deng contributed to this report.
