After just a few days’ silence in response to the newest communiqué from the Trump administration that would have an effect on kids, Chris Reykdal, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, got here out swinging.
“We is not going to be intimidated,” he mentioned Thursday in a 12-minute videotaped statement that pushes again exhausting on a letter commanding Washington colleges, and people throughout the nation, to stop all “race-based” applications — or threat shedding federal funding.
That is welcome management from Reykdal, however it doesn’t come with out threat.
The Appearing Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights within the U.S. Division of Training, Craig Trainor, mentioned in a Feb. 14 “Dear Colleague” letter that efforts to help the “nebulous objectives” of variety and fairness are tantamount to racial discrimination and, thus, unlawful. Any program utilizing race in its decision-making round hiring, monetary help, scholarships, or self-discipline would even be within the crosshairs, he added.
It’s value mentioning that federal {dollars} comprise solely 7% of Washington state’s whole Okay-12 training funds: about $258 million for particular training, $288 million for low-income college students, and extra for varsity feeding and grant applications.
That’s not an insignificant amount of cash, however a lot of it comes by way of formulation set by Congress, which might require an act of Congress to repeal. Reykdal, a former highschool historical past instructor, additionally factors out that presidential government orders — on “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schools,” as an example — usually are not legal guidelines.
Many have faulted Reykdal’s management on scholar outcomes, which have fallen for almost a decade. Throughout the identical interval, colleges have taken on extra accountability for righting societal imbalances — offering meals, psychological well being providers and even primary well being care for teenagers.
Some level to this divergence as proof that training has misplaced its manner, its main sense of mission. However it’s completely doable to care for youngsters’s well-being and construct up their mental muscle tissue on the similar time. Many colleges show it daily.
Wherever one lands on that query, one factor in Reykdal’s message to Washington, D.C., ought to resonate with all residents of Washington state: Again off.
The federal authorities has by no means made good on its promise to cowl 40% of particular training prices right here — not even shut. Nor has it evinced a lot curiosity in public training general, which has all the time been a matter of native management. Solely now, to make politically motivated noise, does it weigh in.
The superintendent is true. Washingtonians is not going to be intimidated.
