Rep. Chad Magendanz, R-Issaquah, has been named as the ranking Republican on the House Education Committee. Magendanz, who represents the 5th Legislative District, moved up from assistant ranking Republican after 31st District Rep. Cathy Dahlquist, R-Enumclaw, resigned her committee position.

“We’ve got a lot of ground to cover in the coming months and years before we reach our goal of fully funding basic education,” said Magendanz.

In its 2012 McCleary decision, the Washington state Supreme Court ruled that the state isn’t living up to its constitutional “paramount duty” to fund K-12 public schools. The court set a 2018 deadline for the Legislature to comply.

“The path to full funding will certainly involve more money, but I also want us to look at reforms to our education system,” Magendanz said. “Reforming teacher compensation, reforming the way we use levies for school districts – these, and more, should all be in the mix as we strive to give our students the best possible schools.”

Magendanz is a former president of the Issaquah School Board. He sits on the Quality Education Council, the Joint Select Committee on Article IX Litigation, and Gov. Jay Inslee’s work group on education funding.