Teacher’s union sends racially-charged mailer backing OSPI Incumbent
Seattle, Wash… In a bid to maintain control over state schools, special interest groups are rallying around OSPI Incumbent Chris Reykdal. Public disclosure reports indicate that a coalition, led by the state teacher’s union, is spending $750,000 in the final days before the November general election to ward off the serious challenge by candidate Maia Espinoza. The expenditures include an onslaught of partisan advertising and now a mailer with racially-charged overtones.
Tweet from local on-air personality, Jason Rantz exposed the controversial mailer.
During the August Primary, another woman-of-color candidate was the target of similar mailers by special interest groups who were resoundingly denounced by candidates, and lambasted by the media. NPR asked, “Who takes responsibility for a racist political ad?”
The Espinoza campaign is calling on the state teacher’s union and Reykdal to apologize and denounce these tactics.
“I thought politicians and special interests had learned a lesson when it comes to campaigning and race, but apparently not,” said Monica Marchetti, Espinoza’s campaign manager. “The darkening of Maia and use of apparently multi-racial emojis is clearly out of touch, especially from the head of our state’s schools and teacher’s union. The message it sends to our students about the use of racially charged rhetoric and images is appalling.”
WA SUPREME COURT CLARIFIES DECISION, ESPINOZA VOTERS' PAMPHLET STATEMENT IS TRUE
OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON-- In a 6-3 majority decision, the Washington State Supreme Court issued an opinion in Reykdal v. Espinoza Thursday stating that “Reykdal could not meet his burden to demonstrate that Espinoza’s statement is false,” in his suit against Maia Espinoza, a candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI). The court has finally drawn to a close this protracted attempt by the incumbent to censor his opponent for exposing the questionable material he claims is age-appropriate.
The suit originated after Espinoza included the line "The incumbent ignored parents and educators by championing a policy that teaches sexual positions to 4th graders!" in her voters' pamphlet statement. While the court previously ruled in Espinoza’s favor, the full opinion was handed down Thursday stating that the incumbent SPI, Chris Reykdal, could not establish falsity in Espinoza’s claim.
“Reykdal has made a habit of painting Espinoza’s stellar record as untruthful all the while blatantly lying about the content of this bill. It’s sad that the chief of Washington’s schools has so little integrity,” said Espinoza’s campaign manager Monica Marchetti.
“This is a huge win for parents across the state,” said Espinoza, “we knew this statement to be true, and I’m happy to have this recognized by our State's highest court.”
Espinoza’s statement contains just one example of the curriculum content Superintendent Reykdal has come under fire for. Parents have raised concerns over several lessons in the curricula, approved by Reykdal, that include graphic material. One of the chief complaints has been whether or not materials are actually age-appropriate.
The opinion states that “The 3Rs Curriculum intends that fourth graders view and learn from the It’s Perfectly Normal book with their parents or guardians as a supplement to classroom instruction. Indeed, the handout encourages it. And while the record does not show that Reykdal personally intended to teach sexual positions to fourth graders, Espinoza’s candidate statement criticized Reykdal’s policy and its results, not his personal teaching. Reykdal’s argument that the handout is not part of the curriculum is also flawed."
Over the course of the State Superintendent campaign, several media outlets have billed the Thurston County Superior court’s ruling as final. The Espinoza campaign is now calling on reporters to correct the record after the Supreme Court overturned this decision, specifying that the statement was not false.
Marchetti went on to say that “it’s quite clear our statement in the voter’s guide was true but we’re glad the Supreme Court has finally put this issue to bed.” She also stated that “this lawsuit was never about the statement, it’s obvious Reykdal felt threatened and out of desperation, needed to lash out at his challenger because he can’t stand on his ideas or merit.”
Watch Espinoza's response in a recent Facebook live found here.
Maia Espinoza Welcomes a New Daughter as She Runs to Become the State’s School Chief
By ShiftWA.com
Those of us at Shift cannot recall another instance in Washington State’s history when a legitimate candidate for statewide office gave birth during the general election campaign. Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Maia Espinoza and her husband welcomed a new girl into their family last Tuesday. In her interview with Shift, Espinoza shares how the new baby makes her even more committed to improve Washington State’s schools.
Espinoza also shares her thoughts on the “very poor leadership” of the SPI’s office to assist local school districts as they prepared for a new school year of distance learning and transitioning back to in-person instruction. Espinoza strikes back at the controversial incumbent SPI (“It’s sad that the public schools in Washington are being run by a bully.”) who has resorted to personal attacks after his poor showing in the primary election.
A visual review of Washington state sex-ed curricula Chris Reykdal would like to hide
By Todd Herman @ MyNorthWest.com
Maia Espinoza, candidate for state Superintendent of Public Instruction sat down with Todd Herman to review examples of two sex-ed curricula approved for use in government schools in Washington state.
Follow along on video as Todd and Maia look at the teacher’s guides for kids as young as kindergarten, who are taught that “some boys” have penises and “some girls” have vaginas.
Continue to watch, as Todd and Maia look at some of the lessons for older kids, including a scenario called “Senior Challenge,” where graduating seniors have a contest to see who can have sex with the youngest student.
Warning: Some language in the discussion is graphic in nature.
Previously, this curricula had been directly linked from the state’s website, run by Chris Reykdal, who sponsored the legislation that forces schools to adopt curriculum similar to what Todd and Maia review in the video. After Reykdal lost in court to Maia Espinoza, who wrote in the voter’s guide that Reykdal’s approved curricula would teach 4th graders multiple sexual positions, the state website was updated and the links to the curriculum made harder to find. In the video, Maia Espinoza demonstrates they are still linked there. Reykdal’s office claims the update had been previously planned.
Chris Reykdal, Maia Espinoza square off in debate as superintendent race heats up
By MyNorthWest.com Staff
The race for Washington state’s superintendent of public instruction continues to ramp up, highlighted by a virtual debate between the two candidates Thursday evening, hosted by Washington State Wire.
Incumbent Superintendent Chris Reykdal garnered just over 40% of the vote in August’s Primary, followed by Maia Espinoza at 25%. With 35% of the vote up for grabs, both candidates stated their case Thursday.
For Reykdal, much of the focus was on improvements Washington has made to its education infrastructure in recent years, as well as strides it’s made in managing the ongoing COVID crisis under his direction.
“We’re a top 15 state in the nation in performance in math and English,” he said in his opening remarks. “We’ve made incredible headway in this state, but we’ve got real challenges ahead, and obviously COVID is one we want to work through and manage carefully.”
The picture of Washington’s education system Espinoza painted, though, was far less rosy as she described how she has been “disheartened by the rigidity of our system,” and how it continues to leave some students behind.
You can listen to the full nearly hour-long debate below
It’s Time to Reopen Washington’s Schools
Sensible reopening is our safest bet for keeping our kids mentally and physically healthy - Maia Espinoza
For American families, Labor Day marks the end of summer vacation and the start of a new school year. Parents should be relieved to know that after having to come up with ways to keep their kids engaged and learning amid a pandemic, their kids will again be supervised by expert educators. But not this year. This year, politicians in Olympia are encouraging public schools across Washington to keep kids at home because of a belief that we can’t manage risks associated with COVID-19. Meanwhile, private school students across Washington are being welcomed back to school for in-person instruction. Instead of safely managing risks in public schools that serve the majority of our kids, the person at the top of our state’s schools has decided he would rather wash his hands of any leadership duties and condemn an entire generation of Washington students who will be left behind academically and developmentally.
The failure to equitably reopen schools in Washington is an assault on working families and single parents and the public education system as a whole. The lack of leadership from Superintendent Reykdal has left local districts and parents to fend for themselves on a back to school plan, resulting in a majority of public schools in our state to resume 100% online. Incredibly, some school districts where face-to-face instruction is not permitted, school facilities are being utilized by private organizations providing in-person learning for a fee. Working families pay taxes to run these facilities and are now being asked to spend twice over to enroll their kids in the private programs housed there.
I will not stand for a wholesale privatization of our school system like the incumbent is allowing. Working families and single parents have been hung out to dry at a time when we are spending record amounts of money in education.
I was a single mom. I was raising my daughter, working to bring in money, and studying to complete my college education. If the state had told me I needed to not only do my own studying but also teach my daughter while holding down a job, it would have been impossible to balance it. I’ve heard from countless mothers who have had to quit their jobs in order to ensure the education of their child(ren). Right now, parents are doing their best given the situation, a situation in which the current Superintendent has shown no compassion for the reality facing working parents.
Our state should instead be helping these hero-parents, and that help needs to show up now--not when the legislature convenes in January. The good news is that there is more than enough money in our education budget to help parents ease their financial burden and give children the education they deserve. We can use funds to empower parents to make choices that they judge will help their children learn: technology, internet access, an additional computer, learning aids, and more.
But these investments in at-home education are not the final solution. We desperately need to safely and sensibly reopen our schools in a way that keeps students and teachers safe. Countries like Taiwan and Sweden never closed their schools at all by effectively managing the risks posed in the classroom. In places where schools have since reopened, simple steps like dividing students into pods to attend on alternating days and staggering lunch periods have led to success. Our state allows us to eat at restaurants in groups of 5, so why can’t we find a way to allow our students equal access to what is the state’s paramount duty - a basic education?
The alternative is horrific. The CDC found that up to 1 in 4 Americans considered suicide in June. The isolation of students and the overburdening of parents are clearly part of that equation. We have to release the pressure that is stressing our society by prioritizing the reopening of our schools, safely.
We have reached a point where it’s more dangerous and detrimental to keep kids at home, apart from their friends and deprived of educational resources. We are not going to live in a zero-infection Washington in the near future so we have to manage the risks. We cannot let our children down by allowing them to permanently behind our norms for development. Our kids deserve better and we should deliver it.
Uniquely NW News: Reviewing Trends To Watch From Washington State's 2020 Primary Election
On the race of Washington state Superintendent of Public Instruction:
“That’s a non-partisan position. But you’ve got Chris Reykdal the incumbent who was a Democratic lawmaker who seems to be facing a fairly formidable challenge from Maia Espinoza who has previously run as a Republican unsuccessfully for the state legislature. She’s making a real run for that position. He’s down in the 40’s (percentage of the vote), which is not great for an incumbent. So that’s one to watch.”
Court rules in lawsuit challenging voter guide statement
By AP
The state Supreme Court has ruled against state schools chief Chris Reykdal, who sued his reelection opponent, Maia Espinoza, for defamation.
The Seattle Times reports that in her official voter guide statement, Espinoza claimed Reykdal championed a policy that taught sex positions to fourth graders. Before the primary, and in response to Reykdal’s initial suit, a Thurston County Superior Court judge said the statement was false, and ordered it stripped from the guide. Espinoza appealed directly to the state’s highest court.
The decision this week reverses the lower court’s July ruling in favor of Reykdal, and orders the secretary of state to republish Espinoza’s unedited statement on its website, and in voter guide materials distributed for the general election, should Espinoza advance. Friday results from the Aug. 4 primary showed her in the top two, with Reykdal.
The lower court ruling contended Espinoza’s statement was false, and that Reykdal would likely prevail in a defamation case. The state Supreme Court’s ruling, relayed in a summary sent to the parties on Thursday, did not weigh in on whether the statement was true, only that Reykdal did not show a “very substantial likelihood of prevailing in a defamation action.”
Washington state law prohibits false statements about candidates in voter guides. But in order for language to be removed, a court has to rule that language is defamatory.
The legislature recently passed a law — that Reykdal supported — mandating “comprehensive sexual education.”
The law has yet to be implemented. Opponents mounted a successful effort for a referendum to repeal the law, and voters across the state will decide its fate in November.
Espinoza said Fridayshe felt “vindication” in that her statement was appropriate.
In a text message, Reykdal said, “This decision permits all future candidates to use the taxpayer funded voter guide to lie without accountability.”
Voter guides in Washington contain a disclaimer that the statements are not fact-checked.
Primary 2020–Espinoza to Challenge Reykdal for SPI
By John McKay at newstalk870.am
A former PLU grad, youth sports coach, school music teacher, activist, and current Director for the Center for Latino Leadership will challenge Superintendent Chris Reykdal in November for the right to lead Washington schools. Maia Espinoza nosed out fellow GOP challenger Ron Higgins to earn a spot on the ballot.
It's interesting to note that there's still pending legal action between the two. Reykdal sued Espinoza over a statement in her voter's guide information that Reykdal favors the new controversial sex ed program, "a policy that teaches sexual positions to 4th graders.”
Reykdal filed with a Thurston County Superior Court Judge who ordered that line removed. However, Espinoza countered right back with an appeal that has yet to be decided by the State Supreme Court.
Espinoza received 24% of the vote, another 20% went to West Richland's Higgins (former Marine Corp decorated veteran and decades of teaching and instruction experience plus numerous degrees) while Reykdal got just over 40 percent.
Sex ed, local control at heart of race for state schools chief
By Jerry Cornfield on HeraldNet.com
Of the challengers, only Espinoza and Higgins are raising money. Espinoza reported $62,761 in contributions as of Tuesday, nearly all of it from individual donors. Higgins tallied $8,401, of which about 40% is his money.
Espinoza, 30, of Lakewood, ran unsuccessfully for a state legislative seat in 2018. A moderate Republican, she is the founder and director of the Center for Latino Leadership and a former legislative liaison for the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs.
She said she wants schools to reopen but figures face-to-face instruction five days a week is unlikely with COVID-related restrictions for safety. Districts must receive resources to provide each student with what they need to learn regardless of where their instruction occurs.
Espinoza is a believer in school choice and backs vouchers or small scholarships for families whether their child is in public, private or parochial school, or is home-schooled.
“Our schools are like assembly lines attempting to produce copies of the same student, while we now have tools that allow us to tailor education and take advantage of teachers’ skills and students’ needs to help our kids reach their dreams,” she has said.
On the sex ed law, she said if is not repealed, “we need to look at creating additional options for districts to comply with state law comfortably.”
Candidate Espinoza rolls out list of endorsements
Press Release from Friends of Maia Espinoza.
Washington Superintendent candidate Maia Espinoza has been endorsed by several Washington state legislators.
Washington State Representatives Andrew Barkis, Dan Griffey, Morgan Irwin, Drew Stokesbary, Alex Ybarra, Tom Dent, Jim Walsh, Bill Jenkin, Chris Corry, and Senators Barbara Bailey, Keith Wagoner, Tim Sheldon, Doug Erickson, Jim Honeyford, Curtis King, and Judy Warnick have offered their full support and endorsement of Maia Espinoza.
Former State Rep. Jan Angel endorses Espinoza
Press Release from Friends of Maia Espinoza.
The Maia Espinoza for Superintendent of Public Instruction campaign keeps gaining momentum and has added Jan Angel, Former State Representative and State Senator to the growing list of endorsements.
Senator Angel joins many other local leaders like State Representatives Alex Ybarra, Tom Dent and Jim Walsh and State Senators Curtis King and Judy Warnick, just to name a few. They have all offered their full support and endorsement of Maia Espinoza in her race against incumbent, Chris Reykdal.
Monica Marchetti, Espinoza’s campaign manager stated “Our campaign is growing every day in support, and we are glad to welcome Former State Senator Jan Angel to the long list of people who have been inspired by Maia’s commitment and drive to Reimagine Education.”
State schools superintendent sues over voter pamphlet language
Washington schools superintendent Chris Reykdal, who is running for reelection this fall, is suing primary challenger Maia Espinoza for what his attorney called “a defamatory statement” in the blurb she has submitted describing her candidacy for the state voters pamphlet.
Reykdal is asking that Espinoza, a Lakewood business owner and newcomer to state elective office, remove a line from her statement that says: “The incumbent ignored parents and educators by championing a policy that teaches sexual positions to 4th graders!” The pamphlet is under review by the secretary of state’s office and is expected to go out to voters in July. The primary election is Aug. 4.
Espinoza says she believes her sentence is accurate because Reykdal supported a new comprehensive sex education law, and one of the curricula she says could be used under the law showed “different sexual positions, including masturbation.”
Specifically, in the first lesson for fourth graders, the book “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health” by Robie Harris, is listed in a handout that is part of the curriculum called Rights, Respect, Responsibility, which is distributed by the organization Advocates for Youth, said Espinoza’s campaign manager, Monica Marchetti. The book “includes images of sexual positions, masturbation, etc.,” she said.
Superintendent Candidate Maia Espinoza announces new endorsements
Maia Espinoza; who is running for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, after being galvanized by legislation championed by Chris Reykdal that forced schools to teach sexual positions to fourth graders has been endorsed by several Washington state legislators. Washington State Representatives Jacquelin Maycumber, Jenny Graham, Mary Dye, Senator Mike Padden, and Spokane County Treasurer Michael Baumgartner have offered their full support and endorsement of Maia Espinoza.
Baumgartner stated “Maia Espinoza is an education leader who will listen and won’t be beholden to special interests. You can count on Maia to put families and students first. She has my strong endorsement for OSPI.”
“Our children deserve someone who will put them first.” Maycumber said of her endorsement “Maia Espinoza is a woman of integrity.”
Maia Espinoza stated, “We need a Superintendent that respects local control and listens to the teachers and parents, that’s why I am running to reimagine our education system. I am very grateful for the support of these elected public servants in fulfilling that mission.”
Interview With KXRO News
As COVID-19 changes education systems, state school superintendent candidates push for local control
By Laurel Demkovich, The Spokesman-Review, Jul 1, 2020
OLYMPIA — Five candidates are running in Washington’s Aug. 4 primary against incumbent Chris Reykdal for Superintendent of Public Instruction, calling for more local control of schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The biggest concern among candidates is how to handle schooling during the pandemic, including reopening schools, ensuring all students have access to at-home resources and dealing with potential budget cuts. But candidates disagree on how to move forward.
Reykdal’s challengers include former teachers, an engineer, a school board director and a lawyer. Reykdal, who is running for his second term, has received the endorsement of the Washington Education Association, the state teachers’ union.
After Gov. Inslee announced school closures in the spring as COVID-19 cases were rising, Reykdal had to prepare districts for remote learning.
Some districts were well-prepared, Reykdal said, while others took longer to switch to remote learning.
Maia Espinoza, a top contender to face Reykdal in the November election, said schools were “ill-prepared” to handle distance learning. She said the approach to and curriculum for online learning was completely disorganized.
“We were really exposed to be quite vulnerable to a crisis like this,” Espinoza said.
Espinoza has raised about $30,000 for her campaign, significantly more than any of the other challengers to the incumbent. Reykdal has raised about $63,000.
Concerned mother, teacher and civic leader files for Superintendent of Public Instruction race
Maia Espinoza seeks to reimagine education in Washington
Lakewood -- Maia Espinoza, an entrepreneur, educator, and parent from Pierce County, Wash., filed for office this week to take on the role as the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Espinoza is running on a platform of student-centered policies and technology-empowered reform. “Teachers and families are suffering under an outdated system that hasn’t changed much since the Industrial Revolution,” Espinoza said.
“Our schools are like assembly lines attempting to produce copies of the same student while we now have tools that allows us to tailor education and take advantage of teachers’ skills and students’ needs to help our kids reach their dreams.”
Unpopular state mandates and school closures earlier this year helped expose the underlying problems in Washington’s school system and pushed Espinoza to run. “I am running because our kids aren’t receiving the education they deserve and because families and local districts aren’t being heard. Student outcomes are stagnating and the opportunity gap continues to widen,” she said. “Instead of coming up with creative solutions to these problems, my opponent is ignoring them and choosing to wage war on parents and teachers.”
Espinoza felt called to run after what she describes as a “series of failures” by the current first-term Superintendent. She first announced her intent to run just days after the passage of the now infamous Comprehensive Sex Ed legislation. “Thousands of teachers and parents were being ignored and targeted by this administration. I felt sick. I couldn't just sit by and watch it happen,” Espinoza said. “We’re going to send a message in November that our students and families deserve better than the status quo. I’m going to work with parents, teachers, and school boards to reimagine an education system which helps kids reach their dreams and achieve their highest potential.”
Espinoza is also known for her statewide nonprofit and community work. She’s a board member of Tacoma Arts Live, as well as the local homeless youth initiative, Coffee Oasis. Maia is the Executive Director and Founder of the Center for Latino Leadership, a civic engagement, education-oriented nonprofit. She is a German Marshall Scholar, and was the first Washingtonian to have been selected by the Brussels-based organization to participate in the global education forum.
Espinoza seeks to shake up education
By: Charles H. Featherstone
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald
OTHELLO — It’s an unusual time for someone running a campaign for statewide office in Washington.
But that hasn’t stopped Maia Espinoza from showing up where she can, even if it’s only to drop off a few pens and snacks to nurses that include an old friend at Othello Community Hospital as a way of saying “thank you” on National Nurses Day, which was Wednesday.
“It’s been all phone calls and video conferences,” Espinoza said.
Espinoza, a 30-year-old mother of two, a teacher and a business owner, is seeking to replace Chris Reykdal as the state superintendent of public instruction this fall. She said she was inspired to run for the office following the passage of the controversial sex ed bill earlier this year.
“That was what really made me say enough is enough, we’ve got to do something about education,” she said. “I don’t think sex ed is a top priority, and actually the data shows that half of our kids aren’t passing our state standards in math, or science, and 40 percent can’t pass English standards.”
“I think we can do better,” she said. “As the tech capital of the country, we’ve got the tools to do it.”
The measure, Senate Bill 5395, which was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee on March 27, mandates all schools adopt a comprehensive sex ed curriculum for K-12 students.
Espinoza said the real problem with the new law is that it takes away local control from districts, teachers and parents.
“The curriculum options in the bill are concerning to a lot of parents,” she said. “It’s OK to have options for school districts, but this is mandated statewide. Parents that look closely at those options aren’t happy with this.”
But more than simply opposing the recent sex ed law, Espinoza said she believes it is time to re-examine the entirety of K-12 education.
“I really want to take a fresh look at education in Washington,” she said. “American public education has not been updated since the industrial era; it was put together with a factory model, and we haven’t really looked at it since.”
Espinoza is also concerned that much of the money legislators appropriated for public education as part of the 2017 “McCleary Fix” has not achieved very much.
“We know that teachers got raises, and some of that was merited, but what have we gotten in terms of student outcomes? Nothing,” she said.
Espinoza also helps run her family’s manufacturing supply business, is the executive director of the Center for Latino Leadership, and is a part-time music teacher at her children’s school, the private Holy Family School in Lacey. She’s only been a teacher for a few years but said she fell in love with it enough to start working on a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction.
“I see all the kids, kindergarten through eighth grade, a hundred kids in a day,” she said.
She also ran, unsuccessfully, for a seat in the Washington state House in 2018, in the 28th District. The position is currently held by Rep. Christine Kilduff, D-University Place.
Maia Espinoza Challenges the Divisive Chris Reykdal and the Status Quo to become Washington’s Superintendent of Public Education
Originally Published on ShiftWA.Org
Maia Espinoza has announced that she is running against the divisive Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal and is this week’s Newsmaker Interview. Espinoza shares her thoughts on the controversial Sex Education bill that passed the legislature this year (and the subsequent Referendum 90 campaign), the “embarrassment” of our state’s lack of preparedness to use technology to educate our students during COVID-19 , and the financial impact of teachers’ pay raises.
Why are you running for Superintendent of Public Instruction? How will you run the office differently than current SPI Chris Reykdal?
I am running for Superintendent of Public Instruction to update and improve our public school system in Washington State. My office will be very different compared to the current administration because we are reimagining education, the status quo is no longer an option. It’s clear from our state’s own metrics that communities are not receiving equal funding and student outcomes are not improving. As demonstrated by extended school closures, Washington’s public schools were not prepared for a crisis and it is the students who will again suffer the consequences. The 2020-2021 school year will be radically different than in years past and our state deserves school leadership with a vision toward the future.
During the 2020 legislative session the Democrats pushed through Superintendent Reykdal’s controversial sex education bill (SB 5395). What are your thoughts on the bill? Do you support the Referendum 90 campaign’s objective to repeal the legislation?
State officials were flooded with contacts from Washingtonians who are against this bill and not even a trickle from those in favor of it. I see this as a case of forcing western Washington’s values upon the rest of the state, by means of a party-line bill. People in eastern Washington don’t object to people in western Washington educating their children on this subject as they see fit. They trust western Washington districts and parents to know best. Why won’t state authorities defer in the same way to parents and districts throughout the rest of our state?
Local school districts know their communities and their needs better than anyone. The parents in those districts have done their homework and evaluated their options. State authorities have a legitimate and necessary role to play in setting objective standards for grade levels, proficiency, and other clearly measurable outcomes. That said, there is no reason for state authorities to come in from the top down and tell districts and parents how to handle an issue like this.
It doesn’t make sense for SPI Reykdal to treat this particular issue as his top priority at the same time that more than 50% of students can’t pass state standards for science and math and around 40% can’t meet our standards for English. Improving educational outcomes for students should be our top priority, not partisan agendas. I do support referendum 90 in the sense that I didn’t support this bill’s passage. However, if the bill remains intact and I am elected, I will work to provide districts and parents with additional curriculum options.
Following the legislature’s action to comply with the McCleary court decision, many school districts gave their teachers large double-digit pay raises. Now these districts are again facing financial difficulties because of these pay raises. What needs to be done to bring stable financing to local school districts?
We have a duty to deliver good educational opportunities to the students of our state. For a long time, we were underfunding our education system. McCleary called us to right those wrongs and make good on our promises, which was good. Even within McCleary, it did not at first look like teachers would get what was allocated for them by the legislature, and I campaigned for teachers to get what they were owed. They perform an amazing public service to our children, and I want fairness for them.
The problem now is that many school districts provided raises beyond what was allocated, they overspent and over-committed. Certainly the districts have a responsibility to support their teachers, but they also have responsibilities to the communities they serve, and the taxpayers within them. In order to bring stable financing to local school districts, we must reassess the budgeting mechanisms districts rely upon and not bailout overblown district budgets.
Upon seeing the voters supporting I-967 (the car tab initiative) on election night, Superintendent Reykdal sent out his infamous tweet (which he later deleted) in which he told Democrat lawmakers that they should punish counties who supported the measure. What did you think of the tweet and was it appropriate for the SPI to want to take revenge on counties whose voters were seeking relief from multiple tax increases?
I’m inclined to say that everyone on Twitter occasionally sends a rash tweet they quickly come to regret. I don’t want to use that tweet for partisan bashing of Superintendent Reykdal but the hard part is that he seems to have sent that tweet exactly in the spirit of the partisan bashing of districts that didn’t support his agenda.
What we can say for sure is that this wasn’t a tweet that was delicately worked through a PR firm or something like that. It reads as a rash, off-the-cuff comment that likely reflects the visceral animosity within the superintendent towards these tax-conscious districts. Rather than a hand offered in reconciliation, his first instinct seems to have been to punish them for their policy differences.
Superintendent Reykdal has already used his office to punish districts that coincidentally don’t support his agenda with unequal funding. Consider that Seattle gets more money for migrant students than eastern Washington, where most of the migrant workers actually live. The existing imbalance isn’t enough for him. In this tweet, I think we see a vengeful agenda of bleeding political opponents dry until they fall in line.
How do you assess the readiness of our state’s education system for COVID-19? Do you have any initial thoughts as to how the state can improve its preparedness?
The response to COVID-19 has been an embarrassment for our state. Technology runs through Washington. From huge firms like Amazon and Microsoft to the scrappiest little startups, we love tech here. For us to have all of the talent and resources that we do right here at home and yet be so unprepared and under-resourced to respond to a crisis like this one is unforgivable. Technology is never going to fully replace meaningful, face-to-face instructions with teachers. Anything we can offer now is an imperfect solution, but we can at least offer so much better. We are now nearly two months into this crisis and most of our children still aren’t learning.
We need to think about what we can do to reimagine education and diversify the offerings available to our students so that we are never caught flat footed like this again. You can’t exactly plan for a bizarre act of God crisis precisely because it is bizarre. But we can be ready more broadly. We can invest in supplemental and complementary education materials that can be used online both during a crisis, after the crisis, and in the next crisis. We already have American companies producing educational technology that is employed elsewhere in the world while we here rely on antiquated systems.
When our children return to school in the fall or later, we need schools to be radically different and radically better. No longer can we treat old models from the Industrial Revolution, with schools as factories, as the way of the future. We need to reimagine an education system that fits the way we live now and appropriately accounts for the future.
We talk a lot about equality of opportunity for our students. Right now, we are two months into a crisis in which parents who are trying to work and aren’t trained as educators are being asked to teach their children on the side. This reality is just driving students who were already behind the pack even farther behind. We need meaningful standards and systems of support for all students. We need teachers who will support parents in helping students meet standards. We need technology and new ways of thinking to improve the toolkit we are using to lift up our communities. If we can execute on those points, we can reimagine an education system in Washington that doesn’t settle for half of students failing but instead strives for all students succeeding.
Parents, students and educators are still reeling from the news of statewide school closures. Faced with no in-person instruction for the remainder of the year and possible disruptions come fall, candidate for state Superintendent of Public Instruction Maia Espinoza is calling for a radical funding shift to support the educational needs of students in Washington.
“Parents are out of work and Congress provided funds to help. Why aren’t we doing the same for students who are out of school? Virus or not, the paramount duty of the state is to educate children and that still isn’t happening,” Espinoza said.
She is calling on the governor, education leaders and local districts to calculate cost savings from school closures on things like power bills and transportation in order to immediately provide cash payments to families.
“The money is there and it should be going to educate students. Parents are now the primary educators in the home and they should be given the financial resources to do it,” Espinoza said. “Teachers can still get paid as we adapt to distance learning, but families deserve their portion of education money back in cash so they can equitably and effectively educate their children.”
Espinoza’s proposal would be restricted to the state portion of education funding. It would calculate the cost savings per student for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year and provide that savings directly to families to educate students at home.
Local parent, Nina Tatum said, “I could really use the extra money right now to pay my internet bill and for me to buy another tablet. My kids like the learning games on the computer but with 4 kids and only one computer, it makes it really hard.”
“We’ve heard from the current administration that we haven’t moved toward online learning in this crisis because of equity issues. My plan helps solve that problem. Parents should receive a $2,500 cash payment per student which can buy technology, supplies, educational material, whatever is needed to give that student and family a fighting chance at an education this year. Funds might be released as a check or prepaid debit card,” said Espinoza.
“Failing to provide students with monetary support for their education tacitly acknowledges that education funding in our state does not follow the child, it only supports the system.”
School closures highlight failure of public school system to fully embrace online learning
By: Maia Espinoza
Originally published in the Spokesman-Review
Microsoft, Android, Amazon – our state is home to some of the most innovative online inventors in the world. Yet, expenditures on technology in public education have only worked to maintain the status quo rather than elevate the quality of education available to our students.
With the dramatic scenario we face today of statewide school closures for the remainder of the year, those in charge are just now discussing options for online learning. Why? It’s because of a lack of leadership and courageous advancement in our education policy. EdTech has kept up with technological advancements, but leadership for our schools has not. We find ourselves now scrambling to transition online and unfortunately, we missed the boat. Students will be left behind, severely hampered by inequities in accessing the education guaranteed by our state’s constitution.
The lack of online curriculum options has been attributed to “inequity” according to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Essentially, if we can’t ensure every student has equal access to the internet, online education shouldn’t be available to anyone. This line of reasoning is inexplicable, especially considering this administration recently settled on an online-based Migrant Education Program for a population which is especially susceptible to the Educational Opportunity Gap - Washington’s arguably most disadvantaged students. Why do we have online options for some students but not all?
Online education organizations and internet providers have stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic by offering free subscriptions and free internet for low-income households. This is good news for vulnerable families, but despite a more than 100% increase in recent educational budgets, our public school system was clearly not sufficiently preparing for the future, let alone a crisis.
Money isn’t the problem. Consider how much cheaper an online textbook is, the cost difference between online versus paper assignments. They’re certainly more environmentally friendly not to mention the convenience factor. If the excuse for our lack of innovation is about equity, why don’t we allocate resources for students that need it most in the same way we provide free and reduced lunch? I argue we should be finding ways to lift all students up rather than continue to make excuses for why we can’t keep up.
In fact, 40.4% of Washington’s students fail to meet the state standards in English and 51.1% fail to meet the standard in math. These results demonstrate the need for a significant change in our public education. Technology can’t replace the essential human interaction that teachers provide, but computer-based learning is proven to be more effective and efficient at skill-training students.
By expanding the use of EdTech and computer-based learning in public schools, educators are freed up to do more of what they do best. With technology, grading is streamlined, data illustrates where the class is struggling, and students can be put in charge of their own educational goals and content focus. Imagine a foreign language class where kids choose any language they’d like to learn and can advance at their own pace, building on their existing knowledge each day.
This global health crisis has shown that our public school model is outdated. With students prevented from coming to school, teachers and parents are frantically trying to figure out how to keep their students learning and occupied. Some students view this as an extended spring break and the results may be disastrous for educational outcomes. Integrating technology, familiarizing parents and teachers with online tools to support students’ learning would have been prudent in general and beyond helpful in the current context.
It is evident that our state’s top public education leadership failed us, it’s time for a new direction and updated policy. Students, teachers and families should not suffer because of a lack of foresight. Our schools can be future-builders and innovation centers if we let them. We deserve a forward-looking, responsive and modernized public education system. The status quo is no longer an option. We must reimagine education.
Called to Serve Future Generations
Sometimes we are asked to serve, other times we are called to it. I've been asked to run for a some things but as I've promised, I will never run for the sake of getting elected. I am determined to affect change!
I have decided to step up to challenge Superintendent of Public Instruction, Chris Reykdal. Last session, he put forth a bill to mandate a controversial, comprehensive sexual education starting in Kindergarten statewide. Today, the bill was signed into law over the objections of thousands of parents. Reykdal said it was his administration's top priority and called parents and educators against it "flat-earthers" and "Holocaust deniers."
This is not the first strike against the incumbent. For me, it was simply the last straw. I've dealt with this administration on school funding and equity issues, and as a young person, parent and teacher, I continue to be frustrated by the lack of leadership and innovation in our public school system. Listen to my interviews with Dori Monson of KIRO Radio and Todd Herman of KTTH.
Todd goes on to discuss education issues regularly and will often mention me and this campaign as he does in his recent article. While schools are out of session, the constitutional mandate to educate children remains. Todd asks, should we have to keep paying property taxes?
The current crisis shutting down schools has illuminated an outdated public education system. Despite record funding increases, our schools were not preparing for the future let alone a crisis. Educational outcomes have remained flat. Last year, over 50% of students couldn't meet the state Math standard.
We must take back public education in Washington State. We should demand a better return on our investment into public education. We can do this while reaffirming local control, listening to parents, freeing up teachers, and by putting the needs of students first.
As a mom, educator, and small business owner, I believe that I have the experience and passion to use the creative power of our communities to improve our state’s education system. I hope you will join me.
Online Resources for Parents
With schools in Washington closed for the next 6 weeks, many organizations are offering accommodations to keep kids active and occupied. We’ve compiled this list of 18 online resources to keep kids learning throughout school closures.
ICYMI: Comcast offering 60 days of free internet to low-income households.
Resources for Teachers affected by school closures related to COVID-19
Are you a teacher wanting to make sure your students continue learning during school closures? Thank you! While it’s true that not every student will have reliable access to the internet, learning shouldn’t stop for every student. Instead, extra accommodations should be made for students that need it.
6 weeks is a long time for students to suddenly stop their educational progress. So we’ve compiled this list of a few resources for educators that help students continue their learning during the school closures related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Join Us in Reimagining Education
Dear Friends,
As I have said, I’m not one that seeks to run for political office just for the sake of running. I step up to serve when and where there is a need. After this legislative session and extensive work to improve the educational outcomes of students around the state in my role as executive director of the Center for Latino Leadership, I see a big need.
After thoughtful consideration and conversation with friends and family, I have decided to seek election this year as the head of our state’s public schools.
Our children’s future cannot wait, parents cannot continue to be sidelined, and teachers need to be free to educate.
As a mom, educator, and small business owner, I believe that I have the experience and passion to harness the creative power of our communities to improve our state’s education system.
The sad reality is that the incumbent has overseen the most significant influx of money in our state’s history and squandered it. We continue to fail too many students with a persistent opportunity gap. We continue to fail families with an outdated model that doesn’t meet their needs, and offload more and more to our already overworked teachers.
We need a change. Instead of deriding parents as flat-Earthers, or advocating punishment for those that voted for tax relief, we need a school’s leader that will actually put students and families first. We need a creative and courageous leader who will demand accountability and look to the future instead of defending a broken system. I will be that leader.
I’m asking for your help to spread the word and join me in re-imagining an education system that meets the needs of students, families and teachers. I want your ideas, I want to hear your concerns. We cannot delay addressing Washington’s failing school system any longer.
I hope you will join me.