OLYMPIA — “Our colleges, universities, and apprenticeship programs are the economic engine of Washington state and the key to good jobs,” said Rep. Dave Paul (D-Oak Harbor) after being selected by his fellow lawmakers to chair the House Postsecondary Education & Workforce Committee.
“Every student and worker in Washington state needs access to affordable and high-quality educational opportunities after graduating from high school,” Paul said. “That’s the pathway to boosting wages for workers, reducing workforce shortages for key industries, and fostering economic resiliency.”
Rep. Paul has extensive experience in this area after serving six years on the committee and teaching in the higher education system for more than 25 years. When he’s not working as a lawmaker, Paul teaches and serves as Director of Community Relations for Skagit Valley College. In 2024, he was selected as the Teacher of the Year at the Whidbey Island Campus of Skagit Valley College.
While he was Vice President of Student Services at Skagit Valley College, Paul helped lead several key initiatives to improve student outcomes. Several of these initiatives have now been expanded statewide, including establishing an emergency funding system to assist students and creating Guided Pathways to improve advising and better connect students to educational programs and family-wage jobs.
“My top legislative priorities as chair,” Paul said, “include expanding access to college and workforce training by improving FAFSA and WASFA completion rates; better supporting first-generation students; and connecting more Washingtonians to careers in high-wage, high-demand fields.”
Paul’s background includes helping non-traditional students navigate an evolving job market and experience in the K-12 system such as serving on the Oak Harbor Educational Foundation and his local school board while living in Ohio.
Dave Paul grew up in Enumclaw with a mother who worked as a para-educator and small business owner while his father was a union shop steward. Paul graduated from Seattle University before earning his master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio and his doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His wife, Rachel Anderson Paul, is an educator at Western Washington University.