Our Why
Oregon’s public education system has systemwide problems getting in the way of systemwide student growth.
Make it make sense.
Oregon’s education system is designed to achieve the lackluster statewide education outcomes that we have.
This system has not been transparent and accessible for most people to be able to improve it, despite the fact that Oregonians have a the crucial authority to shape it through elections.
We can’t fix what we don’t understand.
Did you know that as Oregon prioritizes an Early Literacy Initiative Success Initiative to improve reading and writing by third grade, that elementary students in the state are the least likely to have access to school librarians, which research demonstrates is correlated with higher academic achievement?
This is by design in State policies and funding systems and can be re-designed.
Oregonians elect State legislators who set the goals, funding levels, spending expectations, and outcomes for Oregon public education.
These guide how Department of Education (ODE) runs the system, which includes school districts, education service districts, community-based organizations, tribes, and providers of early learning and post-secondary transition support.
Oregonians elect the Governor who, for the past decade, is also charged by the Constitution as Superintendent of the state’s public school system.
The Governor delegates day-to-day responsibilities to the ODE Director. The State Board of Education works alongside the ODE Director like a district’s school board does with a superintendent. The Board is nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the Oregon Senate.
Collectively, the policies and rules these State actors develop and carry out trickle down into what district superintendents, school boards, school- and community-based educators have to implement and with funding that mostly is decided by State policy.
Given education system outcomes in Oregon, it’s clear the system itself needs a review and refresh from a community-based lens, starting with the education leaders who can inform and plan with their own communities.
A state policymaker lens happens every two years during the legislative session, but a community lens has not occurred since the current system was designed over 34 years ago.
Who’s responsible?
And for what?
Shared understanding.
Many believe Oregon’s education system needs big changes to improve student outcomes, but are not on the same page of what needs to be fixed and by whom.
Image: Jono Hey / Sketchplanations
And few have insight into root causes and how State decisions on policy, funding, and practices contribute to problems and solutions. Because of this lack of access, information, and insight, we are not on the same page about what Oregon’s education problems are and how to fix them.
For example, some say that the State doesn’t fund education enough. Others say there’s plenty of funding compared to other states, so our problem is inefficient local spending or lack of State oversight to support districts. Still others say it’s not about money as much as it is about low expectations of students and adults in the education system. Others say that the State hasn’t been focused enough on key priorities, or has created too much red tape. Many agree that these are all problems to some extent.
If the education system in Oregon is an elephant, then each of us have a good sense of our view of the elephant. The opportunity now is to tell the big picture of what the elephant looks like, as a system, and how to advance it from stagnation towards a 10-year growth and improvement plan.
Fragmentation isn’t helping.
Oregon’s state-led education system is like a box of Legos dumped on the floor.
We have great pieces, we might have some big missing pieces, and we don’t know what exactly we’re doing with these pieces.
There’s a lot of on the line for student success and finite resources.
And urgency to get clear on what our pieces and gaps are, and what we are building.