State Superintendent Chris Reykdal Begins Term as National Association Leader

OLYMPIA—November 13, 2025—Tomorrow, State Superintendent Chris Reykdal will begin his term as President of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).

CCSSO is a nonpartisan, nationwide, nonprofit organization that supports state education chiefs   across the country with leadership, advocacy, and a national perspective on key educational issues. CCSSO’s Board of Directors manages the overall business affairs of the Council and is the governing body of the organization. 

Reykdal was selected by other state education superintendents, commissioners, and secretaries as CCSSO’s President-Elect in 2024.

“I’m honored to be selected by my peers to serve as the President of CCSSO,” Reykdal said. “This is a critical moment for public education. Young people are navigating a world that is changing rapidly, including the large-scale impacts that are coming from artificial intelligence. To best serve our students and our nation, education leaders will have to double down on learning content and strategies that focus on quantitative reasoning, data literacy, and much more. While America’s literacy rates rank among the world’s best, our skills in mathematics are average.”

“Our schools must reenvision the way we deliver instruction, the learning pathways we provide, and what it looks like when students graduate from our schools fully prepared for their next step in today’s world,” Reykdal continued. “Across the country, state education leaders are working together in bipartisan ways to focus on these and other key issues facing our students.”

“We simply must move beyond overly simplistic ways of evaluating student learning and instead shift our thinking to the multiple ways students demonstrate that they are on track to achieve success in the pathway they choose,” Reykdal said. “I look forward to a year of innovation with national unity behind the belief that states are best equipped to lead teaching, student learning and evaluation, and overall transformation.”

Reykdal has served as Washington’s Superintendent of Public Instruction since 2017. His leadership of Washington’s K–12 public education system centers on transformation, accountability, transparency, and equity. Reykdal is steadfast in the belief that a strong public education system is the foundation of a thriving democracy, and he looks forward to serving as the President of an organization that works diligently to protect and advance public education in all 50 states.