2026 Legislative Candidate Questionnaire
Cindy Ryu
Candidate for
State Senator
32nd Legislative District
1.
Legislative priorities
Seattle Council PTSA: What will be your top three legislative priorities regarding K-12 public education during the 2027 legislative session and why?
Cindy Ryu: While the prototypical school funding formula builds an estimated budget based on staff-to-student ratios, local school boards ultimately decide exactly how to deploy these resources, hire staff, and manage their funds to meet community needs. I know we need to adjust our funding model, give additional flexibility at the local schools level, and fully fund education by fixing our upside-down tax structure. Let’s work together on these policy and funding updates. 2. Use of AI in automated systems is increasing in schools and at home - we must address data privacy, transparency, and appropriate guardrails and human oversight for student rights, discipline, and safety just as we considered SB 5956, HB 2225, and other bills in the 2026 Session. 3. Digital equity is an increasingly important issue and I will support improving their access to surplus technology hardware in schools even as we work to increase broadband availability through deployment of BEAD funding over the next 4 years and address affordability .
2.
State budget priorities and revenue
Seattle Council PTSA: As the Legislature develops the 2027–29 state budget, how would you prioritize K–12 public education alongside other state needs? What changes, if any, to state revenue policies would you support to ensure adequate and sustainable education funding?
Cindy Ryu: In the Senate, I will be a fierce advocate for fully funding our public education system. We must ensure students are in schools with well-paid and well-trained teachers, support staff and mental health counselors equipped to provide the resources students need to succeed in their education. We must provide safe campuses where all students can learn. If efforts to fully fund our schools, including special education, MSOC and transportation costs fall short, I will work within the legislature and Democratic caucus to implement progressive revenues while uplifting the voices of parents, educators, and students and ensuring that we keep education funding as a top priority.
3.
Levy reliance and regional funding inequity
Seattle Council PTSA: What changes, if any, would you support to reduce school districts' reliance on local levies and address funding inequities between districts?
Cindy Ryu: I am willing to raise the levy cap until we’re able to fix our upside-down tax code to more fully fund schools. We have been working toward significant tax reform for decades, and so I will continue to support progressive taxes. The state’s budget shortfall only highlights how Washington’s tax system, built nearly a century ago, is failing to meet the needs of our rapidly growing state. Our unfair structure is contributing to ever-growing income inequality. Nearly a million more people have made Washington their home over the past decade, driving up demand for vital services like schools, housing, healthcare, and childcare. These essential services are disproportionately funded by working families, while the ultra-wealthy pay the least under our regressive tax system. The gaps between working families and the gains by the wealthiest in our state have resulted in not enough funding for our schools, a safety net that is at risk every time revenue collection drops or costs go up, and average Washington residents struggling to make ends meet.
4.
Special education funding
Seattle Council PTSA: Do you believe the current state funding formula, including the special education multiplier, adequately covers special education costs? What specific changes, if any, would you support?
Cindy Ryu: I served on the House Appropriations Committee for 8 years and had direct input on the state’s Operating budget. In the committee’s Democratic Caucus, we discussed the special education funding multiplier extensively, but could not increase the multiplier as much as we wanted to. In the Senate, I will continue to advocate for reducing this funding gap.
5.
Materials, supplies, and operating costs (MSOC)
Seattle Council PTSA: Do you believe the state's current MSOC funding formula adequately covers school districts' operating expenses, including utilities, insurance, and technology? What specific changes, if any, would you support?
Cindy Ryu: MSOC funding formula needs to keep up with the real costs not tied to the number of students in the building, but we still need to fix our upside-down tax code to more fully fund schools. Having been an insurance agent for 24 years, I understand the increased insurance rates and so I would like to explore a risk pool for school districts similar to what the Association of Washington Cities offer through its Risk Management Service Agency on which Board I served as Mayor of Shoreline.
6.
Transportation funding
Seattle Council PTSA: What is your assessment of the state's current STARS transportation funding formula? What specific changes, if any, would you support?
Cindy Ryu: I understand the STARS transportation formula is based on data surrounding the amount of students that rely on school bus transit, the geographic area a school serves, ridership rates, and other factors. While, in theory, this formula was created and implemented to create a fair funding formula that could be used state-wide, it fails to recognize unique characteristics some school districts face. I would like to see a transportation funding program that is more closely aligned with the actual costs school districts face instead of a complex formula that does not accurately address the funding needs of each school district.
7.
Student mental and behavioral health
Seattle Council PTSA: What specific funding or policy changes, if any, would you support to ensure schools have sufficient counselors, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and other mental and behavioral health professionals to meet students' needs?
Cindy Ryu: Our school system has not been fully funded since the 2018 lifting of the McCleary decision contempt order. We urgently need to address the way that our state funds our schools and I believe the Millionaire’s Tax is a step in the right direction and a big leap forward away from the uncertainty that comes with our current land trust model. A fully funded school system includes mental health counselors in every school, well trained counselors and staff that are able to earn the trust of students and work with them on personalized mental health strategies.
8.
School safety
Seattle Council PTSA: What does a safe school environment mean to you, and what specific policies or investments would you prioritize to create it? Please address both physical safety and the conditions inside schools, including discipline, student support, and staff capacity to respond to student needs.
Cindy Ryu: With increasing uncertainty and division in our society, schools must be safe spaces both physically, socially, emotionally and psychologically for students and staff. I support an approach to school safety that pairs physical security with mental health support, establishes partnerships between schools and communities, and ensures schools have the resources to train and support staff.
9.
Early learning
Seattle Council PTSA: What is your view of the state's responsibility to expand access to quality early learning, and what would you do in the 2027-29 budget to address unmet needs in communities like ours?
Cindy Ryu: Our state government has a large role to play to ensure that there is equitable access to early learning. For far too long, the quality of one’s education has been heavily influenced by their zip code, skin color, and socioeconomic status. Implementing a state-wide early learning program would allow our state’s newest generation to start off on the right foot and break down barriers that have historically disadvantaged BIPOC communities. I would like to see what the revenue from the Millionaire’s Tax looks like after implementation and see if there is enough of that funding to be allocated towards early learning, otherwise I would be supportive of a separate budget line item to make it a reality.
10.
Prototypical school funding model
Seattle Council PTSA: The state calculates school funding through the prototypical school funding model, including staffing allocations and student-to-staff ratios. What specific changes, if any, would you support?
Cindy Ryu: Similar to the STARS transportation formula, the PSM can be a useful tool to gauge how to distribute education funding, but it still falls short and leaves the need for supplemental funding to address the individual needs of each school district, and so yes, it needs to be changed. I would like to see a program that compiles the updated and realistic costs of student safety resources, special education, multilingual support, and other factors that go into the funding needs for each school.
11.
Millionaires' Tax Revenue
Seattle Council PTSA: Do you support Washington's Millionaires' Tax? Why or why not? If you support it, how do youbelieve the revenue should be allocated, particularly for K–12 public education, and whatspecific changes, if any, would you propose? If you oppose it, what alternative revenue sourcesor funding changes would you propose to meet the state's K–12 education funding obligations?
Cindy Ryu: I am proud to have supported the Millionaire’s Tax, which will help alleviate the tax burden on working class families and bring more reliable funding for our state’s education system. Washington’s tax system has placed a disproportionate burden on working folks and this law is a critical step to creating a more fair and equitable revenue system. I look forward to seeing how the revenue generated by this new law allows us to provide greater support to our neighbors that need it the most, close funding gaps for our schools and teachers, and better equip the workers who provide essential social services. By asking our state’s top earners to pay their fair share, we can make more robust investments in our communities and help lower and middle class families get a leg up.
12.
Family and student participation & accountability
Seattle Council PTSA: How would you ensure that students and families have meaningful opportunities to participate in education policy decisions at the state and district levels? What specific steps would you support to ensure that adopted policies are implemented effectively and that districts are held accountable for following them?
Cindy Ryu: Families and students should have a real say in decisions that affect them, not just a seat at the table in name only. That means public forums people can actually get to, family advisory committees, and outreach to parents, teachers, and community groups, especially the folks who don’t usually get heard. For families where English is not their first language, student engagement is vital for them to feel connected, and so I support age-appropriate participation of students in their governance. I’d also push for clear guidelines on how policies get put into practice, honest public reports on how the district is doing, and regular chances for the community to weigh in.
