In a familiar tune, state superintendent calls for more public education funding ahead of Legislative session

In his annual address ahead of the legislative session, state superintendent Chris Reykdal made an “impassioned” case for updating the state’s “regressive” tax system to funnel more money into public schools.

A common complaint from his office, Reykdal said schools remain underfunded when accounting for inflation, an issue exacerbated by falling enrollment that determines schools’ funding allocations from the state.

“It’s broken, and it’s time for Democrats to admit that. It’s time for Republicans to drop the rhetoric that say all taxes are bad,” Reykdal said. “We have vital services in the state that have to be paid for. The economy will continue to grow for the next 100 years, but the share of it going to public services will shrink if we do nothing.”

Reykdal’s comments come weeks after Gov. Bob Ferguson unveiled his proposed supplemental budget to guide legislators in the short session that begins Monday. Ferguson’s proposal includes around $800 million in spending cuts to in part address a $2.3 billion shortfall. The proportion of funding set aside for K-12 is about the same, still the 43% Reykdal said isn’t enough to fully fund public schools.

The schools chief pointed to past apportionments from the Legislature as evidence of underfunding, as well as the percentage of Washington’s gross state product that is spent on K-12 education.

In the 2019-21 biennium, the Legislature earmarked 51.6% of the state’s spending to K-12 education. From 2025-27, the percentage went down to 43.2%. That said, the total amount spent on public schools has consistently increased over the years, from $9.8 billion a decade ago to $18.9 billion projected in 2027. When adjusting for inflation, that $9.8 billion would have the same value as $13.4 billion today.

“Yes, public school investments have grown, not at the pace of the rest of state government over the last decade, but certainly have grown,” Reykdal said.

Still, when comparing Washington’s education funding to the other 49 states in the union, Reykdal said lawmakers have some catching up to do. In 2023, the Legislature apportioned 2.58% of the state’s gross product to K-12 education, compared to the national average of 3.1%. That’s a gap of around $4.2 billion Reykdal said should be spent on public education.

“We’re a low invested state,” Reykdal said. “We have the capacity to do that without impacting the economy the way other states have been able to invest.”

On how to fill that gap, Reykdal was conservative with details.

He teased a plan in the works that seeks to boost funding for education while also reducing property taxes, though he didn’t share specifics about where additional revenue would come from.

“We need tax reform,” Reykdal said. “The wealthiest don’t pay an equitable share. Our middle class families pay too much in particular.”

In a pivot from his previous position on income taxes, Ferguson said he would support a so-called “millionaires tax” on the income of those who make more than $1 million a year. Reykdal said the tax was “one idea.”

“There are taxes on payroll that are an option. There are folks who want wealth taxes and higher capital gains,” he said.

He said he would have more information in the coming months, with a fleshed out plan to share with lawmakers by next year’s session.

“It’ll be next year at this time, if not sooner,” Reykdal said. “It will describe how we can invest in our schools more equitably, so that high poverty communities get more resources, and it will have a revenue component to it. It will challenge everyone to think differently around how we tax.”