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Supt of Public Instruction - Current Law

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 35,233,818,000
Net change from current biennium 2,071,206,000 Increase
Percent change from current biennium 6.2% Increase

Operating Budget: Summary

Appropriated Funds

2023-25 Appropriations Appropriated Funds Expenditures
Amount Estimated Balance   2021-23 Actual 2023-25 Estimated 2025-27 Proposed
2,776,186,000 207,547,000 General Fund - Federal 3,032,990,857 2,568,639,000 2,572,389,000
903,198,000 903,198,000 Elem & Sec Sch Emerg Rel III Acct - Federal 1,152,054,521
1,354,000 1,354,000 Coronavirus St Fiscal Recovery Fund - Federal 332,036,582
9,529,000 General Fund - Private/Local 1,832,306 9,529,000 9,537,000
(2,414,000) Educator Certification Processing A - Nonappropriated 3,796,050 2,414,000 2,671,000
K-12 Criminal Background Check Acct - Nonappropriated 4,032,981 49,000
Washington History Day Account - Nonappropriated
Surplus/Donated Food Commod Revolv - Nonappropriated 14,281,159
356,000 356,000 Info Tech Invest Rev Acct - Nonappropriated 125,000
(100,000) Financial Education Pub-Pri Partner - Nonappropriated 100,000 100,000
(148,144,000) Federal Food Service Revolving Acct - Nonappropriated 107,538,972 148,144,000 148,249,000
(2,048,000) Miscellaneous Program Account - Nonappropriated 78,704 2,048,000 2,048,000
29,167,511,000 771,457,000 General Fund - State 25,725,227,569 28,396,054,000 30,501,521,000
1,830,088,000 1,664,000 Education Legacy Trust Account - State 1,663,776,000 1,828,424,000 1,862,424,000
Common School Construction Account - State (73,000,000)
188,285,000 WA Opportunity Pathways Account - State 131,231,832 188,285,000 191,028,000
4,572,000 Charter Schools Oversight Account - State 2,851,061 4,572,000 4,785,000
16,079,000 3,100,000 Workforce Education Investment Acc - State 6,120,693 12,979,000 10,511,000
900,000 900,000 Opioid Abatement Settlement Account - State
1,211,000 Dedicated Cannabis Account - State 857,644 1,211,000 1,293,000
135,000 135,000 SW Info Tech Sys Dev Rev Acct - State
Pension Funding Stabilization Acct - State
213,000 Performance Audits of Government - State 213,000 213,000
34,899,617,000 1,737,005,000 Total Appropriated Funds 32,178,831,931 33,162,612,000 35,233,818,000

Non-Appropriated Funds

Capital Budget: Summary

  Appropriated Funds Expenditures
Amount Estimated Balance   Actual Estimated Proposed
3,707,420 420 Common School Construction Account - Federal 3,792,580 3,707,000 5,207,000
671,496,240 9,113,240 State Building Construction Account - State 805,812,967 662,383,000 1,409,487,000
823,741,600 600 Common School Construction Account - State 134,036,748 823,741,000 727,715,000
575,000 Model Toxics Control Stormwater Acc - State 575,000 263,000
51,700,000 Climate Commitment Account - State 51,700,000 66,568,000
755,000 755,000 School Constr & Skill Ctrs Bldg - State 56,435
1,551,975,260 9,869,260 Total Appropriated Funds 943,698,729 1,542,106,000 2,209,240,000

Operating Budget: Program Summary

Program Title Actual Estimated Proposed
Actual Estimated Estimated Proposed Proposed
State Office Administration 102,972,119 129,220,514 46,547,217 133,136,000 135,666,000
State Board of Education 5,486,357 3,687,535 1,269,826 2,217,000 2,232,000
Professional Educator Standards Brd 12,881,559 17,093,794 12,271,795 19,999,000 20,029,000
General Apportionment 10,562,543,053 10,969,668,083 5,029,699,642 11,361,592,000 11,417,140,000
Pupil Transportation 723,569,801 820,305,000 428,879,015 821,769,000 815,124,000
School Food Services 475,687,435 555,399,418 134,310,171 518,311,000 518,300,000
Special Education 1,844,100,038 2,164,143,692 1,112,445,842 2,487,426,000 2,549,145,000
Educational Service Districts 32,537,493 43,841,721 18,864,319
Levy Equalization 264,659,520 197,129,176 87,625,912 207,369,000 207,369,000
Elementary & Secondary School Impro 4,044,686 4,149,173 1,530,212 5,658,000 5,758,000
Institutional Education 14,962,775 16,478,000 10,131,715 18,800,000 19,823,000
Educ of Highly Capable Students 32,961,309 34,209,999 14,872,685 35,205,000 35,360,000
Education Reform 169,958,793 171,057,649 97,810,495 49,576,000 49,663,000
Transition to Kindergarten 48,718,000 32,731,141
Grants and Pass-Through Funding 1,071,216,719 654,261,153 177,139,297
Transitional Bilingual Instruction 286,660,211 315,115,918 140,827,629 361,275,000 373,569,000
Learning Assistance Program 733,679,743 807,675,592 332,707,020 840,879,000 848,255,000
SPI-Charter Schools Apportionment 65,739,842 79,373,222 34,277,153 90,040,000 99,869,000
SPI-Charter School Commission 1,641,790 1,860,846 768,444 2,429,000 2,815,000
Compensation Adjustments 515,232,000 735,788,000
Annual Total 16,405,303,240 17,033,388,484 7,714,709,531 17,470,913,000 17,835,905,000

Operating Budget: Change from Preceding Biennium

Actual Estimated Proposed
Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent
3,582,715,452 12.5% (7,416,452,757) (23.1%) 10,558,719,985 42.7%

Employment Summary

  Actual Estimated Proposed
  2022-23 Actual 2023-24 Estimated 2024-25 Estimated 2025-26 Proposed 2026-27 Proposed
FTE Staff Years 480.0 504.9 519.1 559.6 572.1