Washington head gives ultimatum to Jay Inslee and legislature

The high school graduation rate is improving in Washington, albeit still under the national average. But education funding still lags. Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn is now giving Gov. Jay Inslee and the state legislature an ultimatum: Start prioritizing education or he will run for governor.

“I’m going to give the legislature one more chance,” he told KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz Monday. “Are they going to do something this session? Is the court going to put them under a tougher court order?”

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Dorn said he’s also been “disappointed” in Inslee’s leadership on education and that if he runs, he would do so as an independent.

“Now if you talk about the environment, he’s all-in there, but the paramount duty of the state is education &#8212 ample funding of education &#8212 and a uniform system and make it fair,” he said, noting that white and Asian families are in the wealthier districts, while minorities and kids in poverty tend to be in lower-funded districts.

“And that’s a fairness and equity issue, and that’s a civil rights issue. I’ve been talking about it. It takes the air out of some rooms I go in, but I’m gonna talk about it,” he said.

Dorn said he’s still in his “option phase” and doesn’t need to decide whether he will run for governor until the filing deadline later this month, but that he’s “definitely considering it.” Dorn announced that he would not be running for a third term as superintendent in October of last year.

“I’m truly looking at my options,” he said. “And I’m leaning towards it right now.

“I think I’m at a point in my age where I’m really comfortable being Randy Dorn and I’ve run two terms for (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) as a nonpartisan race so I would be an Independent,” he added. “I don’t like the idea of the Republicans telling me what to do and think and I don’t like the idea of the Democrats telling me what to do or think. If I’m governor, I want to do what I believe makes common sense and what’s right for kids. That’s gonna be my focus.”