Less than 50% of Washington state public school students are at grade level in science and math

The grades of Washington public school students are cratering across the state, with the vast majority of students well below failing, as the massive exodus to private schools continues into a new year.

Earlier this week, the 2023-2024 K-12 Report Card was released by Washington’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and revealed that, according to standardized testing, only 50.3 percent of students were considered on track in English, 39.7 percent in Math, and 43.5 percent in Science.

By comparison, in the 2022-2023 school year, the scores were 50.7 percent on track in English, 39.1 percent in math, and 42.9 percent in science, showing no real improvement.

In response to the dismal numbers, Superintendent Chris Reykdal, who is running for re-election, asked Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee for $3 billion to attempt to boost K-12 schools across Washington. However, this is unlikely to have much of an impact as Washington is currently spending well over $18,000 per student, one of the highest amounts per student in the US. The average spend on New York City public school students is $21,112 per year.

The Seattle Times recently called out Reykdal, writing, "Anyone with even a passing interest in education understands there is widespread dissatisfaction with Washington’s public school system," noting its "status quo of lackluster student outcomes and spiraling fiscal problems." Due to a massive budget crisis and declining enrollment, Seattle Public Schools is working on a plan to close 17-21 of the schools in the district.

However, private school enrollment in Seattle is booming. Private school enrollment for Seattle K-12 students hit an all-time high in 2023, holding a quarter of the city’s total number of K-12 students, according to census data released this month.

Seattle now ranks second among the country’s 50 cities with the largest K-12 enrollment, trailing only San Francisco, with approximately 30 percent of K-12 students enrolled in private schools. Seattle’s percentage is almost double the national average of only 12.8 percent of K-12 students enrolled in private schools.

Inslee, Reykdal, and teachers' unions kept public schools shuttered for in-person learning for more than a year in response to the COVID pandemic, even though private schools had reopened much earlier. Rather than address the obvious learning loss, in May 2021, Inslee signed a bill to force Critical Race Theory (CRT),  as well as hyper-sexualized gender theory into the classrooms and universities which ate up time for other core subjects.

Additionally, many public schools have been removing higher-level learning programs including advanced placement courses to address “equity” concerns.

The latest challenge for Washington public schools is violence, that has many parents yanking their children. Districts like Seattle and Bellevue banned police officers from campuses in response to the George Floyd riots of 2020 and have seen a massive increase in violence.