Oregon’s education crisis: Candidates weigh in on school performance
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The hotly contested Oregon Republican gubernatorial race is heating up as candidates approach the May 19 primary. Education has emerged as a defining issue in the campaign, with less than a week remaining until voters head to the polls.
Republican gubernatorial candidates are currently in crunch time, traveling across Oregon to speak with as many voters as possible before the primary. During their campaigns, the candidates made stops in Central Oregon to address issues affecting local residents.
Federal education data indicates that Oregon ranks 36th out of 50 states in eighth-grade reading proficiency and 40th in math. This performance has drawn criticism from candidates.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan stated that Oregon's schools are among the worst in the nation for reading and math at the third and fourth-grade levels.
"We have to have good schools. We are worst in the nation for reading and math in third and fourth grade. Right now we're right at the bottom couple of states. Not good enough. Not good. Not even not even close to good enough," Drazan said.
One contributing factor to Oregon's educational challenges is its short school year. The state averages approximately 165 school days, which is about 15 to 20 days fewer than the common 180-day standard in the U.S.
Chris Dudley, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, highlighted the disparity this creates.
"If a kid from Washington and a kid from Oregon meet up right now, the kid and they both graduated high school, the kid from Washington has gone the equivalent of one full school year, more than the kid from Oregon," Dudley explained.
Part of the issue regarding the short school year stems from what counts as learning days. Currently, up to 30 hours of parent-teacher conferences can be counted as learning days, alongside up to 30 hours of professional development.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Danielle Bethell commented on how this policy impacts classroom instruction.
"One of the issues that we're facing in classrooms today is teachers are spending more time in their, continuing education space, not on academics. They're focusing more on social emotional learning, diversity, equity, inclusion, comprehensive sex education and other things that are not targeted to reading, writing and math comprehension and phonics," Bethell said.
Ed Diehl, also a Republican gubernatorial candidate, emphasized his intent to directly oversee public education should he be elected.
"As governor, I'll be the superintendent of public education. And with that, comes control over that education system. I am talking to teachers who are just as frustrated as we are talking to teachers who who are getting abused in the classroom and they feel helpless because there's nothing they can do," Diehl stated.
