Our kids need us: WA State Superintendent discusses billion-dollar K-12 funding crisis [Video]

OLYMPIA, Wash. – In a press conference Monday morning, Washington Superintendent of Public Education Chris Reykdal announced his proposal to fill the current $4 billion gap in state funding for Washington’s K-12 public schools.

As superintendent of public instruction, Reykdal, who is up for re-election, is required to submit his proposal to Governor Jay Inslee for the next two years, whether he wins in November or not.

In recent years, the state has fallen into a big financial hole, and Reykdal made it clear on Monday that he wants to fill that costly gap.

“In short, I want to close the four-billion-dollar gap. I don’t accept no as an answer and I don’t accept people that say that’s too much money, you can’t do it,” Reykdal. “My answer is we will do it, it’s just a matter of how long that will take.”

From high inflation to a reliance on …