Education

The public school system of Washington is directed by the superintendent of public instruction, who is elected for a four-year term. The superintendent is president of the state board of education and supervises the state department of education. The state's compulsory attendance law requires children aged 8 to 18 to attend school.

The first school in the Pacific Northwest was opened at Fort Vancouver in 1833 for children of army personnel and employees of the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1837 Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife, Narcissa, opened a school for Indians and settlers' children near what is now Walla Walla. In 1854 the first school legislation of Washington Territory (established in 1853) provided for tax-supported public schools.

The University of Washington, at Seattle, was established as the Territorial University of Washington in 1861. It adopted its present name in 1889.