Erin Jones and Chris Reykdal, the two candidates running for the nonpartisan Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), are both former teachers, progressives and longtime education advocates, with very different backgrounds.

At an Oct. 18 candidate forum at Northwood Elementary in Mercer Island, the two discussed their upbringings, goals and ideas to address some of the most pressing issues in the state of Washington: how to fully fund basic education, close opportunity gaps, make standardized testing more effective and less stressful, recruit and train teachers and connect students to their passions and successful careers.

Reykdal said the overarching goal is “crystal clear”: a 100 percent on-time graduation rate. He said one of his goals would be to make OSPI more data-driven, translating that data into research and policy changes. Jones defined her goal as “vision, voices and visibility.” A former basketball player, she said she wanted to be an example to students that you can be a “baller and an intellectual.”

Jones also said that the focus in schools should be on teaching and learning, not testing and measuring. Reykdal agreed, noting that standardized tests were not designed to dictate a student’s future, but to provide insight and information about the progress of students, schools and districts.

Reykdal is a former school board member and state legislator. Born and raised in Washington, Reykdal said that public school helped him break the cycle of poverty.

“[School was] where I didn’t feel like I was that kid on weekends using food stamps,” he said. “I was just a kid who was loved and supported by his teachers.”

Both of his parents had an eighth-grade education. He went on to be the first in his family to go straight to college, later earning a graduate degree in public administration with focus on finance and performance management.

“My passion is connecting kids to what they’re passionate about, but also making sure that we’re accountable in what we do with your tax dollars to get better results,” he said.

Jones is also passionate about creating more pathways for student success, and closing opportunity gaps for marginalized students.

Adopted and raised in the Netherlands by parents who were teachers at the American School of the Hague, Jones said her goal was to go to college in the U.S., become a lawyer and work at the United Nations. That was until she realized that “race was a factor” in America and kids like her were not getting a good education. She decided to become a teacher, and has won several prestigious teaching awards. If elected, she would be the first African-American woman to hold statewide office.

“I’m going to make sure in my lifetime that zip code and race and home language are no longer the greatest predictors of a student’s success in school,” she said.

Jones later worked as assistant state superintendent under Randy Dorn, testifying in the 2012 McCleary case. The outcome of that case is driving the funding discussion, as the court concluded that the state Legislature has failed to fulfill its paramount duty to “make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders.”

School districts rely on local levies to fill the gaps left by inadequate state funding, including teachers’ salaries, though levies are intended to support a community and the extra things it wants to do in its schools, Jones said. For districts with high property values like Mercer Island, the levies are more effective in generating money. That is not the case in other districts around the state, Reykdal said.

Reykdal said that as superintendent, he would help facilitate the hard decisions that face state politicians. The solution will likely involve using some capacity of the state property tax, he said, but there are changes that can be made to the tax system to make it less regressive. Reykdal said he would also support loan forgiveness and scholarship programs for good teachers, calling the teacher shortage a “national crisis.” Jones said it’s vital that the state pay teachers a living wage.

On her website, Jones writes that she will advocate with state lawmakers in the opening days of session to request a freeze on the current levy amounts. But she also noted that closing opportunity gaps isn’t just about raising more money.

“We could throw another billion dollars at Seattle Public Schools, and if we don’t do the work differently, that billion dollars isn’t going to close gaps,” she said.

One potential solution is public-private partnerships, and she gave examples of those in action. TAF Academy in Federal Way partners with Boeing and Microsoft to offer a STEM education to students of color, ELL students and girls, she said. Reykdal agreed that schools should be tapping into their communities and the private sector for other resources, including mental health counselors in schools (in Mercer Island, these services are funded 90 percent by the city and 10 percent by the school district).

TAF is a public school, but the candidates touched on charter schools as well. Reykdal noted that charter schools are currently still illegal, but that having elected boards could address that issue. Jones agreed that the public needs to oversee public money spent in charter schools, but that another solution is needed, if not charter schools, for the “black and brown children that are suffering in this state.”

The two also answered audience questions about dyslexia and school start times. On the latter, Jones said it’s important to “follow the data” that kids learn better later in the morning, and allow for some flexibility and creativity in scheduling. Reykdal said more districts should experiment with later bell times, but that it’s not an Olympia-centric issue.

On the former, Reykdal said it’s “exactly the role of OSPI” to mine research and best practices to help kids who face these types of learning challenges. Jones said it’s important to train teachers to identify dyslexia early.

Washington is one of only 13 states that elects the position of superintendent of public instruction. Learn more about the candidates at www.erinjones2016.org and www.chrisreykdal.com.