FAQ

What’s unique about ONE?

  1. Cross-education ecosystem focused. Bringing groups of educators, administrators, school board members, community leaders, and advocates together. Building bridges with State and business leaders.

  2. State policy won’t fix all our problems. Policy has a place and money matters, but systemic problems really get solved with people, practice, and culture for improvement and excellence.

  3. Looking up and out. While much of the education landscape is reeling from budget uncertainty and taking one step at a time, there is a needed capacity boost to create intentional spaces to “look up” to see the system as whole and “look out” long-term and building the path starting now.

Is this Network focused on the 2027 State legislative agenda?

The focus is not simply on an upcoming legislative session, but rather a comprehensive education transformation plan.

What’s the focus then?

We are more focused on the people and practice, rather than singularly focused on the policy. ONE is intended to create a comprehensive base of people – local leaders – who are practitioners co-defining and co-owning what the system transformation efforts need to include.

We focus on solutions that aren’t simply new money requests and new laws, but rather long overdue updates to systems and structures. With expected and continued resource constraints, this Network is reading the tea leaves and recommending redesign of the system to work better for students. It will create a transformation agenda to make the most of current assets and additional resources.

Is the Oregon Network for Education Excellence intended to be a long-term effort?

  • Launchpad, not an anchor: We think our greatest opportunity right now is to catalyze bold ideas building on Oregon strengths and other models.

  • 2-year commitment to support capacity of existing education ecosystem: ONE represents a 2-year commitment to build local leaders’ capacity to build and sustain long-term changes throughout the education system. Sustainability of change efforts ultimately hinges on leaders, building and sustaining systemic change in and with their communities and driving together toward a shared future-focused north star. That can occur over the long-term by embedding the lessons learned and processes that ONE co-develops with local leaders into existing structures.