Why we need David Olson as WA State OSPI Director
Educate. Advocate. Mitigate. Activate!
The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, or OSPI, is the state education agency for WA State. The agency is bound by the State Legislature to implement state laws regarding education. OSPI is sixth (behind the Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, and Attorney General, respectively) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Washington. The current Superintendent of Public Instruction is Chris Reykdal, who, along with the Democrat State legislature, has completely gone off the rails.
In April 2023, the Washington State legislature passed SB 5599, ending parents’ rights in Washington state. It was the first and worst bill in US history to undermine the sacred relationships between parents and their children!
5599 allows the state to legally hide runaway children from their parents if the parents don’t consent to their child’s “gender transition” or abortion (no allegation of abuse is required). The bill allocated $7.5 million of taxpayers’ money to provide grants to school-linked organizations to pay for gender transition and abortion procedures.
During hearings on the bill in Feb. 2023, more than 4,700 public comments were received, with 98% in opposition to the Gender Transition bill. Yet, the bill passed on a party-line vote and became state law on July 23, 2023.
As a result, Let’s Go Washington filed a Parents Rights Initiative (I-2081) and began collecting signatures. The Initiative requires that parents be kept informed about materials their children are taught in K-12 classrooms and information about medical services public schools provide to their children. The Initiative turned in 423,399 signatures (100,000 more than required).
On March 4, 2024, the Parents Rights Initiative passed in the House 82 to 15 and 49 to 0 in the Senate.
Democrats had no choice but to vote for the Initiative, if they had allowed it to go before the voters it would have passed by huge margins, and they would not be able to amend it for 2 years. By voting in favor, they can vote to “fix” (repeal or destroy) the Parents Rights Initiative in 2025.
Then on June 5, 2024, Chris Reykdal, issued a most shocking Democrat crafted press release in which he advised school districts to Ignore The Parents Rights Initiative. Contrary to OSPI testimony in February 2024, Reykdal now claims that provisions of the Parents Rights Initiative are in conflict with unspecified state and federal laws. Hmm…
Reykdal has no authority to advise school districts to ignore state law, and it also appears Reykdal violated his Oath of Office in making this statement. While judges have the authority to put a law on hold while they review it, no one in the Executive Branch of state government has the authority to violate a law, or ask school districts to ignore a state law.
SOLUTION: Replace Chris Reykdal with David Olson as OSPI Director.
David Olson earned the WAGOP Endorsement at the 2024 State Convention, with 54% of the grassroot delegates. Olson is an active School Board member and understands the importance of parents rights and local control of our schools.
Olson is a retired naval officer, and is a champion of parent and family voice in their children's education. This includes parents serving on curriculum assessment committees, parent advisory committees, and more. Studies show when parents and families are involved, and engaged, it has a significant impact on student success.
Olson’s top priority as Superintendent will be student learning. Student success has collapsed, especially amongst students of color. Washington has a highly educated population, and this means many students learn outside schools, creating an important buffer against bad policies. Where students are most dependent on schools, we see a total failure!
As Superintendent of Public Instruction, David Olson will restore local control to school boards, and work to change the funding model to help pay for critical needs for underprivileged kids.
PLEASE VOTE FOR DAVID OLSON in the upcoming August 6, 2024, Primary Election and in the November 5, 2024, General Election. This generation and future generations of families and children depend on it!
Bill Bruch
Bill Bruch is the WA State GOP Election Integrity Chairman, WAGOP Executive Board Member, 4-Term Skagit County GOP Chairman, Citizen Journalist, Blogger, Business Owner, “2021 Citizen Activist of the Year” award by the Olympic Conference, 2020 WA State House Representative Candidate, Former Council Member, and WA State 2016/24 RNC National Convention Delegate.
Related Links:
David Olson for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
State Superintendent tells WA State school districts to ignore Parent’s Bill of Rights Law
‘Unprecedented’ Ballot-Initiative Drive Pushes ‘Common Sense’ Conservative Reforms on West Coast
2024 WAGOP State Convention Report