Oregon's Schools

Do we even need to look at the statistics to know that Oregon’s schools stink? My son attends West Linn High, supposedly one of the best schools in the state and it STINKS! Yeah, it’s pretty. They have a lot of really nice stuff. The teachers play ping-pong. It’s a really expensive, very cool school. But the education is AWFUL and it’s beyond me why we put up with it. Not only that but we continue to hand them more money every time they ask.

So if one of the best schools in the state is this bad, I wonder what the rest of the schools in the state are like? Geez, it’s hard to even imagine.

I sat next to Bill Bradbury at a forum a couple days ago. The audience asked the panel what we would do about schools. I gave my answer. Crickets. Bill gave his answer. He said the schools are underfunded and we needed to give them more money. The audience erupted with applause. Wow. What’s wrong with people? We’ve been giving, and giving, and giving money to the schools for how many years now? At least 20 years that I can personally remember. And have schools gotten better or worse? WORSE!!! So Bill…you super duper smart guy…WHY THE HELL DO WE WANT TO KEEP GIVING THE SCHOOLS MORE MONEY??!!! And…why is everyone applauding him??!! Just because he’s Bill Bradbury and you recognize his name and he’s some kind of rock star?

Ok…Here’s a question for you. If the price was the same, say…$100 per year and you HAD to pay it or you and your entire family would go to jail in China, would you send your child to a public school, or a private school? I’m pretty sure everyone is saying “Private school”. Why? They’re better in every way. There are reasons for this.

I want to make every single K-12 school in Oregon better than a private school and I can do it. “How?” you might ask? Because of rule #1. Oregonians are in charge and we can do anything we want.

We’re going to find the best private and charter schools in the country, we’re going to find out what makes them the best and we’re going to improve on that. Then we’re going to build Oregon’s schools system based on that. We’re going to kick the union’s butts out of the process and bring the teachers in directly to give them direct input on how we’ll rebuild our schools. Oregon teachers will be the best compensated, best treated in the country. Their jobs will be 100% better than what they have now because everyone’s focus will be on the kids and the kids alone. Parents are going to be directly involved in building this system at the local level so not every school will necessarily be the same, they will reflect the needs of the community.

The purpose of Oregon schools will be to: ensure our children enter adulthood with a world class education; to give them the skills necessary to succeed at life; prepare them for their secondary education. We want a 100% graduation rate. HEY! Stop saying it can’t be done!!! Go vote for Dudley if you want to have that kind of attitude! (He has the most money)

Oregon’s secondary education will be no different. We need to take a close look at it and see what we can do to make it better and more accessible.

EVERY SINGLE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE WILL BE GUARANTEED A COLLEGE EDUCATION if I am elected Governor.

But it’s not going to be “free” (a liberal term. I prefer “paid for by the tax payer, or the college graduate when they get a job”). I’m paying for half of my daughters college education. Their mother is paying the other half. My kids will pay back my half to me and my wife. I teach them that when something is “free”, it has less value to them, and they don’t work as hard for it. They also know that if their grades fall below a certain threshold, the funding stops. I want to do the same thing for every high school graduate in Oregon. Only not with my own money. I don’t have enough.

So…I’m sure I’m going to get people yelling at me “education should be free!!”. Well, nothing is “free”. The government doesn’t just print money even though some Presidents would like you to believe that. The money actually comes from your parents, or your neighbors, or that guy who dresses up, gets into his car, takes off, is mysteriously gone for the same amount of time every day, and comes back looking really tired, then does it again and again and again. Yeah, the people who work make things “free”. Like the “free” public schools our kids go to. They’re not really “free”. So let’s stop using that ridiculous word.

Look at it like this. If we have 100% tax paid for college for everyone, we pay for college our entire lives, whether we go to college or not. We end up paying for students to go to college to learn things like fiber arts, and all kinds of silly things that won’t help them contribute back to society or better themselves, it will only help them get credits to graduate and get that piece of paper. And once again, the education seems “free” to the student so it’s value is much less. We are hurting our students and our society with this method. I know this because my daughter’s going through it right now.

If we give each student a no or low interest loan that they MUST pay back, their education will be worth MUCH more to them. They will take classes that will help them get a better job rather than just get a piece of paper and they learn to be self reliant rather than to rely on someone or the state to take care of them.

I want the best for all Oregonians. We need the best schools in the world. Both primary and secondary. We can do it because WE ARE IN CHARGE AND WE CAN DO ANYTHING WE WANT. No one can tell us no. Lets stop throwing money down a pit and create a great school system in Oregon. And lets do it NOW rather than wait around. It’s going to happen someday. Why wait? Seriously. Why? I’ll get on the job right away. You can have the best school system in just a couple years if you elect me Governor. I’m not going to screw around. I have no one to represent but YOU.