Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Old Capitol building; home to OSPI

The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, or OSPI, is the state education agency for the State of Washington. The agency is bound by the Washington State Legislature to implement state laws regarding education, including the 1993 education reform act which mandated the controversial WASL standards based assessment. The Superintendent of Public Instruction 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.[1] The current Superintendent of Public Instruction is Chris Reykdal.

Like all members of executive branch, the Superintendent of Public Instruction was established as a partisan position by the Washington State Constitution in 1889.[1] However, an initiative to the people in 1938 made the position nonpartisan. Initiative 126 passed 293,202 to 153,142 and is codified as Chapter 1 Laws of 1939.[2][3] Pearl Wanamaker became the first nonpartisan superintendent when she was elected in November 1940.

The agency is headquartered in the Old Capitol Building in Olympia.[4]

Superintendents of Public Instruction[5]

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Name Years
Rev. B.C. Lippincott 1861
Dr. Nelson Rounds 1872-1874
John P. Judson 1874-1880
Jonathan S. Houghton 1880-1882
Charles W. Wheeler 1882-1884
R.C. Kerr 1884-1886
J.C. Lawrence 1886-1888
J.H. Morgan 1888-1889
Robert Bruce Bryan 1889-1893;

1901-1908

Charles W. Bean 1893-1897
Frank J. Browne 1897-1901
Henry B. Dewey 1908-1913
Josephine Corliss Preston 1913–1929
Noah D. Showalter 1929-1937
Stanley F. Atwood 1937-1940
Pearl Anderson Wanamaker 1941–1956
Lloyd J. Andrews 1956–1960
Louis "Louie" Bruno 1960–1972
Frank (Buster) Brouillet 1973–1989[6]
Judith Billings 1990–1996
Teresa "Terry" Bergeson 1997–2008
Randy Dorn 2009–2016
Chris Reykdal 2017 – present

References

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  1. ^ a b "Washington State Constitution". Washington State Legislature. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  2. ^ "Initiatives to the People". Office of the Secretary of State. Retrieved 26 Oct 2020.
  3. ^ "Chapter 1, Initiative Measure No. 126, Non-Partisan Ballots" (PDF). Laws of Washington. 1939: 3–4.
  4. ^ "Contact Us." Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved on June 16, 2009.
  5. ^ Lind, Carol J. (1976). Territorial/State Superintendents, 1861 to Present. Olympia, WA: Superintendent of Public Instruction.
  6. ^ Brouillet, Frank B. "An Oral History" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-12-22.
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