President Jan introduced our featured speaker, State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, a former school board member and state legislator, who has led our state’s public school system since 2017 - from early learning through K-12 to graduation requirements.

He provided a brief analysis of the state of the K-12 school system in Washington via a series of charts:

· Percent of the State Budget Spent on K-12 Public Schools: 2013 = 45% - 2025-27 =43%

· Enrollment Figures: 90,500 students in 2016 with 80,900 in 2023 – which he explained was mainly due to lower a birthrate in our state though homeschooling and private school enrollment also plays a role

And he mentioned that lower enrollment mean less state funding is available

· WA now spends about $18,000 per student

· Where WA students rank nationally in Reading and Math – lower than most states at the 4th Grade Level but about in the middle for 8th Graders

· Where our state ranks in Investment in K=12 as a percentage of the state’s total economy = 40th

Superintendent Reykdal also addressed the recent issue that has been receiving attention around the state about where our state’s students rank compared to Mississippi’s per their recent gains especially with 4th Graders, which he said has “been bludgeoning me everywhere I go.” He said Mississippi has made impressive gains especially in reading and has moved ahead of Washington’s 4th Grade students. He said this is due to Mississippi holding students back a grade until they meet certain assessments and that by 8th grade, many of the gains they had seen then dropped.

· He made the case that K-12 Education must be fully funded and expanded especially for special education which has the largest gap

· “Math is the biggest worry for kids, it’s a problem”

· And that College Completion should be funded with universal access to Dual Credit and Two Years of College by the state. This will help address that the state is still 8% away from meeting the goal set by the legislature for college completion.

He concluded with a cooking analogy for the opportunity in front of us, “all of the ingredients are ready but we are not turning on the stove” (per not funding pre-K and post-secondary degrees).

President Jan opened the meeting at the Washington Athletic Club after a few minutes of Table Talk answering the question: “When you think about your K-12 education, which teacher stood out to you most and why?”