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Primary Conversations: Superintendent of Public Instruction
Incumbent Susan Castillo is facing state representative Ron Maurer in the race to become the state's superintendent of public instruction. This is two-person non-partisan race (with partisan overtones: Castillo was a Democratic state senator; Maurer is a Republican representative), so it will be decided in the primary.
The winner will have to face potential changes to No Child Left Behind, a dismal grade on the state's recent "Race to the Top" federal grant application, and a looming $2.5 billion budget hole.
Other issues have come to the fore in the course of the campaign, including guns in schools, high school diploma requirements, and how much "tension" there should be between the superintendent and school employees' unions.
What issues are most important to you? And what questions do you have for the two people who want to manage the state's k-12 system?
Tagged as: 2010 election · education · school
Photo credit: Sidereal / Creative Commons
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You must understand that the competition won by Delaware and Tennesee was graded according to how friendly the plan was to the teacher's unions, the most anti education force in the US.
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I would like to know if Ron Mauer would push for school privatization or will he try to boost the performance of public schools?
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As long as the anti education teacher's union hold sway over education the system will fail
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I have been watching our district reduce local staff for years. What percentage of state education dollars goes to the local districts, and what percent goes to the State Department of Education and the Regional Education Service Districts and why? Has Oregon been reducing services at those levels as well? With local districts already working beyond the classroom on curriculum and adopting textbooks, is there some redundancy in services here? If so, where should we be cutting back?
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I am tired of excuses why teachers can't even teach one language and simple math in our schools. I went to grade school and high schoolin a far more diverse environment with Mexicans, and displaced children from all over europe in the same class. The teachers taught us all and we all graduated with good educations My high school district was rated among the highest in the US we were a middle lower class population.
Isn't anyone concerned that European foreign students have to be moved ahead three years to keep them from being totally bored from learning things they learn when they were several years younger. Oregon students will be competing with the world against students who speak two or three languages and have 12 years of english even learning both British and American versions of english?
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I'm a veteran teacher of 36 years in Pennsylvania. Oregon, California, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Georgia - hey folks, it doesn't really matter.
Today's kids ARE different.
However, the REAL problem isn't the teachers, isn't the schools, but in my opinion, it's the PARENTS. When parents take responsibility to see that their children DO their mundane homework, GO to school, and show some RESPECT for their teachers and administrators, then the scores will get better. European students are smarter because their European parents seem to know how to parent a bit better.
There is definitely something "broken" when a skilled teacher is taken to task because s/he placed a hand on a student's shoulder to gently turn him/her in the right direction. Seen by the entire class, still the teacher was called into the principal's office and nearly fired because the child told a wild tale to his/her parents.
That's just plain WRONG, folks.
Observe classes in Japan, China, Austria, Germany. Ohhhhh yes, they ARE different!
So, I'm tired of excuses too, but not against the school system. There's some private school in the inner city of Chicago that graduates winners. Difference? RESPECT and compliance for rules goes a long way toward success in learning.
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In Sunday's Oregonian, Jeff Davis, supt. of Central Curry School Dist., advocated year-round classes, abandoning "the model from the 1920s when were an agricultural society." Do you support this? If so, how can we make it happen?
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This contest is easy, the incumbent is bought and paid for by the unions we can be assured that they are out for the welfare of the teachers and have no interest in "standing up for the kids". The children are being swindled and misled into believing that they are receiving an education. Teachers are well compensated and paid for a part time job. How about six weeks more of school per year for this salary, like the Germans have?
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Give me a break!
The kids who want to learn DO receive a great education.
The kids who don't want to learn would do a lot better to get their degree by computer and get out of the classroom so the students who DO want to learn could learn even more.
Two/thirds of the teachers' time is spent disciplining trouble-makers and their hands are tied even trying to discipline because most of the time these kids do nothing anyway. America's education is in a sorry state of affairs and it's NOT the teacher's fault the test scores are not higher.
Oh, and by the way, just in case nobody has noticed, NCLB has not worked and will not work even if it is called by another name.
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School safety is a huge issue, from some kids bullying or teasing others to gang activity, to guns or other weapons in school. What are you going to do to address all levels of school safety?
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I agree with memo's comments. Castillo has done nothing to improve services for special needs students, and in fact helped to close the Oregon School for the Blind. She says the state has processes for parent's to seek solutions when their child's needs are not being met, but that process is a farce. Just as the teachers' union puts its own needs above that of students, the "due process" that is available to parents is a sham. ODE does little to assure that the rights of students are met, and hearing officers are employees of the state. 90% of cases are ruled in favor of the districts. What does that tell you? We need an outside, independent entity to assure true due process in complaints and disputes with SDs over the education of special needs students.
I'm definitely voting against Castillo.
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If Susan Castillo isn't going to use the powers of the office to any greater effect than she has thus far, perhaps the students and state of Oregon would be better served if anyone else "borrowed" them for a time.
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Comments are now closed.
Oregon failed miserably in the first round of Race to the Top funding, and did not even apply for the second round. With this track record, why would anyone consider the incumbent?