Chris Reykdal, Washington’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, talks to reporters, Wednesday, May 24, 2017, in Olympia, Wash. (AP File Photo/Ted S. Warren)
(OLYMPIA, Wash.) — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal wants to make it easier for students to take college-level courses in high school.
He’s not talking about the difficulty of such classes, but rather the cost of taking them and their transferability to colleges and universities.
The biggest problem, Reykdal says, is the differing standards across the state. “There’s 295 districts, there are more than 40 public [and private] higher education institutions, and all of them have different rules for what classes they’ll take and what will count for a major.”
He’s asking the legislature to create a uniform standard. “Chemistry 105 [should be] Chemistry 105 everywhere.”
Reykdal also wants the state to recognize college-level courses as “basic education” so the cost of taking such classes to families is reduced or eliminated.
Lawmakers will consider his proposals when they convene in January.
