CHAD MAGENDANZ IS RUNNING FOR OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

CHAD MAGENDANZ STATEMENT

A recent The Seattle Times headline read, “Cheerleading mediocrity is not good enough for WA’s education department,” but our current chief of schools is still “the guy who high-fives kids plodding along in the slow lane and assures everyone that all is well.” (9/17/2023) Today’s hearing on Initiative 2081(Parent’s Bill of Rights) showed that parents across the state are building momentum for school reform, but we’re still being encouraged to “just move along, nothing to see here.”

WA lawmakers hear debate on parental rights initiative – Washington State Standard (2/28/2023)

Even with 5,906 of 6,635 (89%) signing in PRO for I-2018, those currently in charge of our public education system insist that all is well. They claim that the parent’s rights movement is a conservative issue, when the majority (57%) of those signing the Let’s Go Washington initiatives were Democrats and Independents, not Republicans. Parents across the political spectrum know that despite the record 105% increase in state spending for public schools that we negotiated for the McCleary remedy, academic achievement has been on the decline.

Our state is now ranked #1 for Best Teacher Salary and Compensation, but our academic achievement is only average compared to the rest of the nation. In fact, in the same survey we ranked #23 for School Quality. Frankly, we should be doing better.

Have you seen the [un]Divided interview?

With a commitment to refocus public education on academic achievement, I announced my 2024 bid for Superintendent of Public Instruction a month ago at the Roanoke Conference. Since then, I’ve been travelling the state and conducting many interviews. One of my favorites was the [un]Divided podcast with Brandi Kruse. If you have a moment, you can watch it by clicking the thumbnail below.