Reykdal is seeking a $3 billion cash injection for WA public schools in the next budget

Chris Reykdal, superintendent of public instruction, wants to significantly increase spending on Washington public schools in the next state budget.

How large? Try $2.9 billion.

A third of those new dollars would go entirely toward special education funding. An additional $695 million to recruit and retain classified personnel at higher pay. And $350 million is being sought to cover inflationary material and supply costs.

Those are the highest amounts in the 2025-27 budget request that Reykdal sent to Gov. Jay Inslee, who will consider them as he prepares the spending plan he will unveil in December. This document will serve as a template for the next governor and the state legislature's budget writers in the 2025 session.

“No matter how you look at the numbers, Washington is currently underfunding K-12 education by approximately $4 billion per year,” Reykdal wrote to Inslee on Monday. “I know you and lawmakers will have to make some very difficult decisions, but our students and families need the state to step up and reaffirm the importance of public education.”

According to Reykdal's office, Washington is spending about $30.6 billion from the general fund — the pool of state tax money used to finance day-to-day operations — on public schools in the current two-year operating budget. That amounts to 43%, down from the peak of over 50% in 2019, he wrote.

He notes that the state is currently failing to meet its constitutional obligations to cover the full cost of basic education, which he said begins with fully funding special education.

He's seeking $1 billion for special education – $300 million in the next fiscal year and $700 million the year after that. This would allow the cap on state funding for special education programs to be lifted and to cover those services for people up to age 22. Reykdal also wants to track the increasing number of students needing special services.

Student transportation is another area for which the state does not provide adequate funding. Reykdal is calling for $152.5 million in the next budget to “provide reliable transportation to and from school for special riders, including special education students, homeless students and students in foster care.”

Materials, Supplies and Operating Expenses (MSOC) financing is not keeping pace with inflation. Reykdal is targeting $350.7 million in the next two-year cycle to address a cost increase of nearly 9.5%.

“The purchasing power of school districts has declined due to inflation,” he explains in the budget request. “When districts do not have sufficient resources to cover the cost of basic services, they must make cuts elsewhere – in programs, staffing and other areas.”

He is pushing for $695 million to consolidate the ranks of the classified workforce, which he describes in the request as “the foundation of a functioning K-12 education system.” This group of employees includes paramedics, healthcare workers, office workers and IT technicians.

The bulk of the new dollars would go to these four areas. But Reykdal is seeking funding for several other services and programs because, he told Inslee, “schools are now expected to do everything from feeding and educating students to supporting, protecting and promoting their development as well as their physical and mental health.”

And that's in addition to the additional dollars needed to maintain existing programs, where costs are rising.

For example, 70% of students will receive free meals this school year. According to the budget request, an additional $17.4 million is needed to sustain the program.