At a candidate forum on May 20, 2024, Chris Reykdal’s two opponents for State Superintendent both claimed that Washington students have suffered huge declines on national tests. At the same forum, Chris Reykdal claimed that only two states in the nation were performing better than our students.

Chris Reykdal stated: “Let's talk about Washington state on reading. In fourth grade, there are only six states in the country that are statistically outperforming us. By eighth grade, there are only two states that are statistically outperforming us.”

Adding fuel to the fire, on September 17, 2023, the Seattle Times claimed that Reykdal was a “cheer leader for mediocrity.” https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/cheerleading-mediocrity-is-not-good-enough-for-was-education-department/

Here are a couple of quotes from this Seattle Times editorial:

“To call Washington’s most recent education results lackluster would be putting it politely. Just 30% of 10th graders tested last spring were at grade level in math… In 2020-21, one-third of 8th graders were at grade level in math. Two years later, when the same group of students were in 10th grade, only 29.9% met that benchmark.”

“OSPI... appears to be aimed primarily at cheer leading mediocrity.”

In this article, we will review both national test results (the National Assessment of Education Progress or NAEP test) as well as state test scores to assess the performance of Washington state students. We will show that the situation is even worse than the Seattle Times article. Since Chris Reykdal took office in January 2017, Washington students have suffered record learning losses. These learning losses began even before the 2020 school closures.

How to view NAEP test scores for yourself
Here is a link to the NAEP test results page for Washington: https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile/overview/WA?chort=1&sub=MAT&st=MN&year=2022R3&sfj=NP&cti=PgTab_OT&sj=WA

Here is a chart on the 4^th Grade Math test. Historically, Washington 4^th graders have averaged 5 points above the national average – which was near the top in the nation. In 2019, Washington 4^th graders fell to the national average or 25^th in the nation. When Reykdal took office, about half of our Fourth graders were proficient in math. Currently on 35% are proficient:

The Eighth Grade Math score is nearly as disastrous. When Reykdal took office, Washington Eighth Graders were among the highest in the nation at 7 points above the national average and with 41% proficient. Currently, our Eighth graders are only 3 points above the national average and only 28% are proficient. Clearly our students are going in the wrong direction on the math tests.

There is a similar result for Fourth Grade reading. Before Reykdal took office, our students were 5 points above the national average with 40% being proficient. By 2019, our students fell to the national average with only 35% proficient. Currently, only 34% are proficient and the average score is only one point above the national average.

The Eighth Grade reading test is only slightly better. When Reykdal took office, our students were 6 points above the national average with 42% proficient and near the top in the nation. Currently our Eighth Grade students are only 2 points above the national average and the percent of Washington students who are proficient fell from 42% in 2017 to 32% in 2022 - one of the largest declines in reading scores the nation.

The reason Washington state students have historically performed near the highest in the nation is that Washington is one of the eight wealthiest states in the nation. It is therefore shocking that our student test performance has fallen to the national average.

Nevertheless, let’s look at State Comparisons to see how that has changed since Reykdal became our state superintendent. To get to the state comparison page for Washington, go to the above link and click on the State Comparisons tab.

On Fourth Grade Math, Washington is now 27^th in the nation. In 2015, Washington was 8^th in the nation. On Eighth Grade Math, Washington is now 18^th in the nation. In 2015, Washington was 8^th in the nation.

On Fourth Grade Reading, Washington is now 24^th in the nation. In 2015, Washington was 14^th in the nation. On Eighth Grade Reading, in 2017, Washington was 8^th in the nation:

Note that only two “jurisdictions” were higher than Washington state in 2017. One is called DoDEA which stands for the Department of Defense K12 Education which operates 163 schools with 66,000 students and 8,500 teachers. DoDEA has an average of 8 students per teacher.

The average middle school class size is 16 students per teacher which is much less than the US average of about 25 students per teacher. DoDEA has a high school graduation rate of 97% which is much higher than the US average of 80%. It would take at least a 50% increase in school funding for Washington state to reduce our class sizes to the DoDEA average.

In addition, note that Massachusetts and New Jersey students score significantly higher than any other state. These states are ranking second and third of all states in per capita income. Washington is ranked 8^th in the nation in per capita income. Washington therefore should be about 8^th in the nation in NEAP test scores.

Because of their higher income, Massachusetts spends about $3,000 more per student than Washington state and New Jersey spends about $4,000 per student more than Washington state. Thus, their average class size is about 10% to 20% smaller than Washington state.

Here are the results on the 2022 NAEP 8^th Grade Reading test. Washington is now 15^th in the nation in 8^th Grade Reading:

So during the forum on May 20, 2024, Reykdal was boasting about the fact that our students fell from 8^th in the nation to 15^th in the nation and suffered a record decline of 10 points on the 8^th Grade Reading test!

Knowing this, let’s take a closer look at what Reykdal actually said:

“Let's talk about Washington state on reading... By eighth grade, there are only two states that are statistically outperforming us.”

Notice Reykdal’s careful use of the word “statistically.” Reykdal is misleading thousands of TWV viewers by taking advantage of the fact that NAEP test scores have a statistical range of plus or minus 3 points. This means that there is a very small chance that if the test was given 100 times, our students might have gotten a score that was 3 points higher or 3 points lower. While our actual score was 262, there is a one in 20 chance it could have been 263 or 261. There is a one in 100 chance it could have been as high as 265 or as low as 259.

If our students got a score of 265, there would only be two states that outperformed us. These are New Jersey and Massachusetts. But there is also an equal tiny chance that our students would have gotten a score of 259 which would have placed us 30^th in the nation!

What is more truthful is that 95% of the time, our 8^th Grade students would get a score of 262 and be 15^th in the nation in reading – which is a huge drop from 8^th in the nation when Reykdal took office and is also a record drop of 10 points in NAEP 8^th Grade reading scores.

The Biggest Red Flag is NAEP Math Scores
Far more concerning than the record drop in 8^th Grade Reading scores, Washington students suffered a record decline on the 4th and 8th Grade Math tests. The reason this should set off alarm bells is that Washington is one of the ten most affluent states in the nation – and all standardized tests are known to be related to family income – with students from more affluent families performing much better than students from poorer families (also know as the Achievement Gap). Because of this factor, Washington students have always performed in the Top Ten states on the NAEP Math tests. On several occasions, our students have performed in the Top Five states as is shown by this graph:

You can see from the above graph that even before 2020, Reykdal’s policies had been a disaster. In fact, since Reykdal was elected, Washington student test scores on the NAEP Fourth Grade Math test have declined more than in any other state in the nation! Since Reykdal took office, Washington students have lost more than a year of math learning! Reykdal is literally the worst Superintendent in the United States and the worst Superintendent in the history of Washington state as is confirmed by the record decline in 4th Grade Math scores.

Record Decline in Students passing the Washington 8^th Grade Math Test

The Washington 8^th Grade Math test is important for several reasons. First, it can be correlated to the National 8^th Grade Math test – making it harder to rig. Second, it is a good predictor of students passing the 10^th grade math test. So it is a look into our future. Third, it includes students who have been subjected to Reykdal’s policies during his entire 8 years in office. These students have never known anything other than Reykdal’s policies.

When Reykdal took office, only 46% of students passed the Washington state 8^th Grade Math test. In May 2023, only 32% of students passed the 8^th Grade Math test. For the first time in State History, 68% failed the test. In many school districts, 80 to 90% of the students failed this test:

This is an appalling result. After speaking with several 7^th and 8^th Grade Math teachers about this problem, they claim that very high class sizes make it impossible for them to help struggling students. But in addition, they claimed that there has been a huge increase in Chronic Absenteeism. When students miss math classes, it is very difficult to impossible to help them get caught up.

Chronic Student Absenteeism has doubled since Reykdal took office
The number of students still enrolled in the schools but chronically absent from schools has doubled since Reykdal took office. In 2017, Washington was already near the worst in the nation with 17% chronic absenteeism - likely due to the fact that Washington state has among the highest class sizes in the nation. The average in Washington state rose from 17% in 2017 to 33% in 2022 and 30% in 2023. See: “Chronic Absenteeism: 2017–2023,” American Enterprise Institute, January 2024. https://www.returntolearntracker.net/

Chronic absenteeism is defined as the percentage of students missing at least 10 percent of a school year. In Washington state, this means being enrolled in the public schools but missing at least 18 days of instruction. Chronic absenteeism is strongly related to failing courses and later dropping out of school. It is also strongly related to mental health problems including anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, drug abuse and crime rates including the probability of being arrested later in life. Finally, it is strongly related to family poverty and unemployment later in life.

A very large number of these chronically absent students are almost never at school. The ability to recover from school closure learning loss will be severely hampered by current record rates of chronic absenteeism, making it one of the most pressing current problems in public schools. Here are the latest Chronic Absentee rates in selected school districts in Washington:

Note that a few school districts in Washington state have done much better than others in encouraging students to attend school. These include the Peninsula School District in Gig Harbor and the Seattle School District. We should take a closer look at these school districts to see how they are able to get parents and students back into the public school system when many other school districts have failed. To be clear, even 17% to 23% student absenteeism is not acceptable. In fact, it represents a serious threat to the current and future well being of our children. However, it is not as bad as school districts with 39 to 41 percent absenteeism. The Marysville school district is already facing bankruptcy and will almost certainly be forced to make huge budget cuts in the coming school year. What are parents, teachers and kids in this school district supposed to do?

Below is a table of 100 school districts in Washington State ranked by student enrollment. The table includes the poverty rate, the increase in the Chronic Absentee Rate and the decline in 8^th grade math scores:

Enroll rank	School District	Enroll 2022 - 23	Chronic Absence %	% Free Lunch	8th grade math spring 2019 % passed	8th grade math spring 2023 % passed
WA	STATE	1.07M	30	44	46	32
1	Seattle	50336	25	30	61	48
2	Lake WA	30591	21	10	76	68
3	Spokane	28612	29	58	39	29
4	Tacoma	26779	38	55	30	18
5	Kent	25207	35	56	28	39
6	Evergreen	22864	40	56	38	21
7	Northshore	22378	20	16	64	50
8	Puyallup	22869	33	42	46	27
9	Vancouver	21606	37	52	40	23
10	Federal Way	20713	39	73	29	19
11	Edmonds	19926	29	38	49	31
12	Bethel	20583	37	50	35	24
13	Everettt	19761	30	39	56	47
14	Bellevue	18651	15	21	71	60
15	Issaquah	19225	19	12	76	68
16	Kennewick	18579	30	59	39	23
17	Highline	17580	39	68	29	17
18	Pasco	18112	36	74	27	19
19	Auburn	17317	41	57	35	20
20	Yakima	15316	36	83	30	13
21	Mukilteo	15190	28	48	48	33
22	Renton	14564	31	51	41	27
23	North Thurston	14809	35	44	46	28
24	Central Valley	14119	31	42	51	40
25	Richland	13641	25	41	45	34
26	Clover Park	11760	34	63	36	19
27	Battleground	12155	27	37	46	32
28	Bellingham	11316	35	33	46	40
29	Central Kitsap	10941	28	39	56	31
30	Mead	10218	17	31	64	42
31	Marysville	9832	41	55	28	17
32	South Kitsap	8975	30	40	40	34
33	Sumner	10148	30	29	61	49
34	Olympia	9473	24	32	69	43
35	Shoreline	9142	24	29	63	47
36	Snohomish	9255	28	21	54	46
37	Lake Stevens	9353	27	29	51	34
38	Tahoma	8823	22	18	61	50
39	Peninsula	8858	23	21	63	46
40	Moses Lake	8518	32	63	34	22
41	Omak	5870	10	61	24	2
42	Franklin Pierce	7216	37	55	28	17
43	Wenatchee	7208	35	54	38	27
44	Camas	7119	18	16	74	63
45	Snoqualmie Valley	7010	20	12	69	51
46	Sunnyside	6268	30	80	45	19
47	Mount Vernon	6663	36	65	34	21
48	Tumwater	6681	29	33	51	35
49	Longview	6176	37	66	43	26
50	Monroe	5494	31	33	50	33
51	Eastmont	5879	32	65	37	22
52	Oak Harbor	5513	26	41	41	31
53	Walla Walla	5443	34	67	38	26
54	Univ Place	5511	22	40	64	42
55	Yelm	5565	29	46	50	40
56	Arlington	5420	29	38	37	25
57	North Kitsap	5295	30	35	49	40
58	W Valley Yak	5362	28	49	60	54
59	Cheney	5288	32	52	39	28
60	Kelso	4981	33	63	33	18
61	Bremerton	4512	39	61	25	11
62	Toppenish	4307	19	79	18	9
63	Othello	4555	23	82	28	15
64	Stanwood Camano	4705	30	30	56	30
65	Shelton	4345	46	64	32	20
66	Ferndale	4540	38	52	37	28
67	Sedro Woolley	4370	30	52	37	24
68	Mercer Is	3982	10	5	81	71
69	Enumclaw	4253	26	29	58	37
70	White River	4211	27	32	46	34
71	Fife	3854	27	48	29	23
72	Selah	3690	30	63	45	32
73	East Valley Spokane	3451	24	62	34	30
74	Grandview	3478	30	88	46	24
75	Bainbridge Is	3505	23	9	78	67
76	Quillayutte	3228	8 K12 INC	61	47	13
77	Port Angeles	3462	31	61	55	35
78	West Valley Spokane	3402	37	57	32	19
79	Centralia	3400	32	76	34	19
80	Burlington	3240	45	59	29	27
81	Ridgefield	3877	32	25	53	39
82	Lynden	3440	19	41	47	31
83	Wapato	3150	43	88	22	12
84	E. Valley Yak	3358	28	61	48	37
85	Aberdeen	3162	37	67	38	18
86	Ellensburg	3203	26	42	48	31
87	Quincy	3121	37	82	33	13
88	Riverview	3060	25	15	60	44
89	Steilacoom	3070	23	28	53	24
90	Chehalis	2869	30	49	50	30
91	Washougal	2802	36	38	53	33
92	Tukwila	2512	36	74	25	12
93	Pullman	2687	25	36	57	54
94	Ephrata	2667	32	58	51	35
95	Orting	2699	35	31	36	26
96	Prosser	2395	29	78	34	19
97	Clarkston	2459	39	54	32	22
98	Anacortes	2523	24	32	67	49
99	Sequim	2566	33	50	42	23
100	Lakewood	2535	41	44	37	17

 

Research on bringing parents and students back to public schools
Research indicates that listening to parents and working with parents and encouraging parental involvement is a major key. Instead, Reykdal has been engaged in a war against parents and local school districts – particularly by threatening school districts with loss of funding if they work with parents. Punishing parents and threatening school districts is the wrong approach. Instead, we need to listen to parents and encourage more parental involvement in schools. When kids and families feel school is physically, emotionally healthy and safe, then they feel a sense of belonging. When students have better connections with other students, and feel that the entire community is committed to their school and their future, they will feel welcome and will willingly become academically engaged and will actually want to attend school. Positive parental involvement is the cure for chronic absenteeism.

Conclusion: Washington Students have suffered record learning losses since Reykdal took office
Reykdal’s claim that our students are doing well is simply not accurate. Both National and State test results show exactly the opposite. Under the eight years since Reykdal took, our students have suffered record learning losses. These learning losses started occurring before Reykdal closed all of our schools. And these learning losses have continued to occur even after our schools were re-opened.

Because of the disaster occurring in our schools, a record number of parents (mostly wealthy) have pulled their kids out of our public schools since Reykdal took office. And the poor and middle class kids currently in our schools are suffering from a record rate of chronic absenteeism – which in turn has led to a record drop in 8^th grade math test scores.

In a separate report, we will review the record increase in the achievement gap – showing that the gap between poor kids and rich kids has widened dramatically under Reykdal. But the truth is that all of our kids have suffered under Reykdal. It is time for a change. We need a superintendent who will return to local control of our schools which in turn will lead to greater parent involvement and greater student engagement. As always, I look forward to your questions and comments.

Regards,

David Spring M. Ed.

David Spring at Proton Mail dot com

In May 2024, the Seattle School District announced that they were facing a $100 million dollar budget shortfall – which will grow to a $150 million dollar budget shortfall in the next couple of years.

To partially address this problem, they have proposed closing 20 elementary schools. As each elementary school has about 300 students, the plan to close 20 elementary schools will harm about 6,000 children.

The estimated savings for closing each elementary school is about one million dollars. It should be obvious that closing all of these schools will only address $20 million out of a soon to be $150 million budget shortfall. What is really going to happen is that eventually dozens of teachers will be fired and class sizes are going to go up – meaning that struggling students are less likely to get the help they need.

This is going to be difficult for parents to accept given that in the past 6 years they have seen their property taxes skyrocket by more than 60% - and just a few years ago, they were told that the “McCleary Fix” meant that there would be “ample funding” for our public schools. Clearly we have all been misled.

But it is our children who will be most harmed by closing local elementary schools. This is because the ability of children to learn is not only related to secure and stable family relationships – but also to secure and stable community relationships. The reason for small local elementary schools is to have schools very close to where children live. Ideally, each elementary school should have a playground where the family can walk to the school even when the child is three or four years old so that the child can get used to attending the school, playing on the playground and develop a positive secure attitude about the school.

Ideally, the family can also attend community events at their local school like attending plays and carnivals – even when the child is three or four.

In short, the local elementary school is not just a place for a bunch of classrooms, it is a place where a child is invited to join and participate in community events. Closing a local elementary school is like closing the life blood of the community. And it is harms the child’s ability to build a connection to their local community and their local elementary school.

Seattle School District administrators claim that closing small elementary schools will allow them to provide elementary schools with more resources. In fact, by increasing class sizes, children will have fewer resources as their teacher will have less time to spend helping them in areas where they are struggling.

A better option that is more understanding of each child’s need for connecting with their own local elementary school is to insist that our state legislature comply with their obligation under our Washington State Constitution to provide “ample funding” for our schools.

If the current batch of school board members and legislators turn their backs on thousands of elementary school students, then we as parents need to organize to elect school board members and legislators who will do a better job of honoring our kids and funding our schools – which is why we hope you will join our Washington Parents Network!

Regards,

David Spring M. Ed.

The best way to contact me is to email me directly using:

David Spring at Proton Mail dot com.

Allow a couple of days for my reply.

I look forward to hearing from you!

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