Washington: Randy Dorn

Randy Dorn said a news release should be coming from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction later today.

But Dorn told me over by the sundial a couple hours ago that there's no money to process and grade the tests.

The 9th grade WASL (Washington Assessement of Student Learning) is optional, but 36,000 students had signed up for it this school year. The test is taking in the spring.

So, it's not as if he's getting rid of any mandatory testing, he said. A lot of students use it for practice. And Dorn said, if a student passes the test, it counts as if the student passsed the 10th grade WASL. (This isn't my strong suit, so I'm not sure about this.)

More on this later.

The Seattle Times has just called the races for lands commissioner and superintendent of public instruction, giving victories to challengers Peter Goldmark (D-Okanogan) and Eatonville's Randy Dorn.

Both races had been incredibly close since election night, but a new batch of ballots from King County pushed them over the top.

Goldmark leads incumbent Doug Sutherland (R-Tacoma) by 2 percent with 68 percent reporting, and Dron leads incumbent Terry Bergeson by 4 points with 62 percent reporting.

A recent poll from SurveyUSA shows close margins in the statewide races for superintendent of public instruction and commissioner of public lands, but clear leaders on two ballot initiatives and in the race for attorney general.

Incumbent Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland (R-Tacoma) leads Okanogan Democrat Peter Goldmark 45-43, and challenger Randy Dorn is ahead of incumbent Terry Bergeson 43-38 in the race for superintendent.

BLAINE - The two candidates for the office of superintendent of public instruction, Washington's only statewide non-partisan post, debated today at the Association of Washington Business' annual policy summit.