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Supt of Public Instruction

State Constitution, Article III, Sections 1 and 22; RCW 28A.300

The Superintendent of Public Instruction is a constitutional officer elected by the state's voters for a four-year term. The state Constitution charges the Superintendent to supervise "all matters pertaining to the public schools, and perform such duties as may be prescribed by law."

Agency Mission

The Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) works to ensure that Washington’s public education system is centered on closing opportunity gaps and is characterized by high expectations for all students and educators.. To this end, SPI provides technical assistance in finance and curriculum matters to educational service districts and school districts; monitors and consults in such areas as basic education, the student testing program, curriculum development, special needs programs for special student populations, and educational technology; issues certificates for all teaching and support personnel for the K 12 system; administers the child nutrition, student transportation and state school construction programs; gathers and reports school information to state and federal authorities; prepares specifically requested reports each year; disseminates and coordinates the state's education reform efforts; provides the Legislature, Governor's Office, and other entities of state government with information for policymaking and budget preparation; implements state and federal laws pertaining to education by adopting rules and monitoring programs as required; coordinates the audit resolution process for audits of federal programs; apportions and distributes monies to local school districts; approves and monitors the budgets for the nine educational service districts (ESDs) and the 295 school districts; and advises county treasurers of estimated maximum levy capacity for individual school districts. SPI's responsibilities also include serving as a voting member of the State Board of Education; Professional Educator Standards Board; Washington State Charter School Commission; Paraeducator Board; and representing the interests and needs of education by serving on various state boards including: Board of Natural Resources, Washington State Work Force Training and Education Coordination Board, and Northwest Regional Education Laboratory (Board of Directors).
Request 34,704,077,000
Net change from current biennium 112,447,000 Increase
Percent change from current biennium 0.33% Increase

Operating Budget: Summary

Appropriated Funds

2021-23 Appropriations Appropriated Funds Expenditures
Amount Estimated Balance   2019-21 Actual 2021-23 Estimated 2023-25 Proposed
(968,938,000) General Fund - 968,938,000 88,087,000
3,000,364,276 1,000,525,276 General Fund - Federal 1,778,177,129 1,999,839,000 1,901,349,000
(6,000,000) Common School Construction Account - Federal 6,000,000 3,000,000
1,864,643,000 Elem & Sec Sch Emerg Rel III Acct - Federal 267,824 1,864,643,000 365,624,000
374,553,000 374,553,000 Coronavirus St Fiscal Recovery Fund - Federal
9,514,000 General Fund - Private/Local 1,992,803 9,514,000 9,530,000
(2,127,000) Educator Certification Processing A - Nonappropriated 4,912,775 2,127,000 2,454,000
K-12 Criminal Background Check Acct - Nonappropriated 2,931,925 52,000
Washington History Day Account - Nonappropriated 4,212
Surplus/Donated Food Commod Revolv - Nonappropriated 15,667,463
Info Tech Invest Rev Acct - Nonappropriated 2,420,495
(100,000) Financial Education Pub-Pri Partner - Nonappropriated 2,945 100,000 100,000
(147,918,000) Federal Food Service Revolving Acct - Nonappropriated 350,622,834 147,918,000 148,180,000
(2,048,000) Miscellaneous Program Account - Nonappropriated 529,842 2,048,000 2,048,000
25,941,064,000 General Fund - State 24,527,417,585 25,941,064,000 29,010,061,000
(1,514,312,000) State Building Construction Account - State 1,514,312,000 1,218,463,000
1,664,451,000 Education Legacy Trust Account - State 2,012,047,880 1,664,451,000 1,615,088,000
(303,347,000) Common School Construction Account - State 303,347,000 141,691,000
154,744,000 WA Opportunity Pathways Account - State 78,127,035 154,744,000 184,733,000
3,882,000 Charter Schools Oversight Account - State 2,217,411 3,882,000 4,016,000
7,420,000 Workforce Education Investment Acc - State 2,103,577 7,420,000 8,186,000
1,070,000 Dedicated Cannabis Account - State 985,892 1,070,000 1,202,000
Pension Funding Stabilization Acct - State 2,399,014
213,000 Performance Audits of Government - State 9,501 213,000 213,000
Dedicated McCleary Penalty Account - State
33,021,918,276 (1,569,711,724) Total Appropriated Funds 28,782,838,143 34,591,630,000 34,704,077,000

Non-Appropriated Funds

Capital Budget: Summary

  Appropriated Funds Expenditures
Amount Estimated Balance   Actual Estimated Proposed
6,000,000 6,000,000 Common School Construction Account - Federal 2,463,562
1,326,764,490 1,326,764,490 State Building Construction Account - State 947,331,202
301,819,110 301,819,110 Common School Construction Account - State 163,595,900
102,900 102,900 School Constr & Skill Ctrs Bldg - State 2,291,279
1,634,686,500 1,634,686,500 Total Appropriated Funds 1,115,681,942

Operating Budget: Program Summary

Program Title Actual Estimated Proposed
Actual Estimated Estimated Proposed Proposed
State Office Administration 253,057,640 93,032,252 34,083,982 110,078,000 108,668,000
State Board of Education 1,442,429 3,035,241 618,447 5,233,000 8,893,000
Professional Educator Standards Brd 15,750,431 12,581,054 9,594,444 21,241,000 21,266,000
General Apportionment 10,126,631,688 10,217,677,317 4,049,843,425 10,889,945,000 10,789,176,000
Pupil Transportation 532,473,838 602,187,809 301,832,383 708,449,000 700,623,000
School Food Services 384,575,995 588,199,201 77,674,476 402,929,000 404,929,000
Special Education 1,714,272,696 1,690,216,546 718,723,394 1,909,511,000 1,906,646,000
Educational Service Districts 23,269,000 28,753,248 10,434,290 33,667,000 32,784,000
Levy Equalization 342,749,962 307,371,374 62,290,065 307,270,000 283,287,000
Elementary & Secondary School Impro 3,299,535 3,752,244 729,718 4,851,000 4,951,000
Institutional Education 17,345,688 13,822,904 7,537,538 15,456,000 15,155,000
Educ of Highly Capable Students 31,426,882 30,963,317 10,239,678 34,256,000 33,201,000
Education Reform 162,507,121 173,539,230 85,076,264 190,895,000 187,661,000
Grants and Pass-Through Funding 32,962,617 975,353,419 342,178,430 543,471,000 114,081,000
Transitional Bilingual Instruction 254,891,767 259,898,375 98,133,700 296,579,000 284,253,000
Learning Assistance Program 678,849,297 700,128,014 224,557,117 745,994,000 717,358,000
SPI-Charter Schools Apportionment 42,200,312 57,505,366 25,245,601 90,276,000 93,687,000
SPI-Charter School Commission 1,309,735 1,230,619 388,204 1,810,000 2,229,000
Compensation Adjustments 474,926,000 845,238,000
Annual Total 14,619,016,632 15,759,247,532 6,059,181,157 16,786,837,000 16,554,086,000

Operating Budget: Change from Preceding Biennium

Actual Estimated Proposed
Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent
4,272,668,789 17.4% (6,948,741,991) (24.2%) 11,522,494,311 52.8%

Employment Summary

  Actual Estimated Proposed
  2020-21 Actual 2021-22 Estimated 2022-23 Estimated 2023-24 Proposed 2024-25 Proposed
FTE Staff Years 427.9 432.9 466.7 379.4 389.0