Greetings! 

 

Below are several key achievements since I was elected Superintendent. All of them took partnerships (especially the Legislature), and the real work of educators in our 295 local districts:

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• Our graduation rates are at an all-time high, with the fastest gains coming from native youth, students with disabilities, and low-income students;

• We brought back civics as a graduation requirement;

• College remediation rates are at an all-time low in both the 2-year and 4-year institutions;

• Two-thirds of our high school students take at least one college course while in high school and a record number of our students are graduating high school with an Associates Degree;

• We’ve ensured free school meals to over 300,000 additional students (700,000+ total);

• We are at an all-time high in the percent of kids who are kindergarten-ready;

• We built regional mental health networks for students, and youth anxiety and suicide is declining in Washington state;

• We now have Career and Technical Education (CTE) graduation pathways and 52% of our graduates have taken two or more CTE courses (it was 38% when I took office);

• We have doubled the number of our students in acceleration programs;

• We are a top 15 state in the nation when it comes to the National Assessment of Education Progress;

• We are diversifying our educator workforce at the fastest pace in our state’s history and are introducing teacher residencies and teacher apprenticeships;

• We raised average educator salaries by 39%;

• We advanced a first-in-the-nation living wage for paraeducators to the Legislature (secured first $72 million in 2024);

• We secured $300 million on an annual basis for additional physical, social and emotional health staff statewide;

• We expanded healthcare to tens of thousands of school employees;

• We increased K-12 investments by over $5 billion per year or $4,500+ per student;

• A record high 50,000+ students are engaged in dual language learning as early as kindergarten, including tribal languages;

• We have increased funding to support students with disabilities to a record high (from $1.1 billion per year to $2.2 billion), and we have the highest number of students with disabilities learning in general education classrooms;

• We provided learning devices to more than 300,000 students in need;

• We delinked high-stakes testing from graduation;

• We developed a new school accountability system;

• We ensured that local timber revenue stays with local school districts; and

• We grew our school construction funds for small and rural districts to its highest level ever.​​