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Transforming

Public Education
in Oregon
Laying the Foundation for a Secure, Prosperous Future

March 2, 2010
My Fellow Oregonians:

In offering this budget and policy framework for the future of Oregon’s system of public education, I want
to assure all Oregonians – parents, teachers, students, administrators, unions, employers and legislators –
that while the proposals I have embraced form a vision for moving us forward, they are not a final destination.
Rather, they form a line of sight to our future; a future that we must ultimately “see” together.

Since our state and our nation have just gone through a tumultuous decade of education “reform” – one
which has left us weary and suspicious of words like “performance” and “assessment,” it is important that
we have a common understand of what I am proposing and of what I am not proposing.

I am the son of parents who taught in Oregon’s system of public education. I have enormous respect for
teachers and for the work they do. I was raised in a family that believed that public education was the
cornerstone of a democratic society and that teachers are the heart of public education. I was raised with
the belief that public education is the level of education to which all of our people will have access; it is
the vehicle through which the American Dream – the promise of opportunity – is most directly fulfilled.

I know how hard educators work and I know that work is made more difficult because our public schools
at all levels do not have the resources they need. Securing those resources is a central priority for me. In
this incredibly challenging fiscal environment, however, I believe that the task of winning public support
for more funding will require making a much more transparent connection between the dollars we are
investing in public education and the results we are getting in terms of student performance.

I also think that part of any educator assessment at the school and district level should include, among
other factors, a measure of student growth and ability to learn. My desire in creating these measures is
rooted in the belief that by doing so we will not only help students learn but we will also be able to raise
additional resources and better direct resources to the schools and educators that need them the most.

I know that words such as “performance” and “assessment” have taken on meanings that make educators
nervous. And that is understandable given the recent assaults by those who have used these words in an
effort to weaken public education. But we shouldn’t allow real progress to be hijacked by those by those
who are hostile to educators and to public education.

So let me try to explain what I mean about assessment using an analogy from my own profession. A doctor
who is caring for a population of predominately young, healthy people will have better “outcomes” than
a doctor who is caring for a population of older people with chronic illnesses like diabetes or congestive
heart failure. When measuring the “performance” of these two doctors, those factors which are beyond
their control must be taken into account. But whether two doctors are treating different populations or the
same population, in order to grow and improve, it is important to understand what they are doing and
what progress they are making. And that can’t be understood unless there is measurement of the results.

By the same token a teacher with a class of English speaking students who come from families which
are actively involved with and supportive of their children’s education is likely to have better outcomes
than a teacher with a class where some students are still learning English and some have entered school
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with a significant achievement gap due to social and/or economic deprivation in their childhood. When
measuring the “performance” of these two teachers those factors which are beyond their control must
likewise be taken into account.

Taking such factors into account by measuring the progress and learning of the student will allow us to
understand the how far each educator advanced the student, regardless of whether that student met
a single, fixed standard. Any assessment of educators based on student performance should include a
measure of student progress and learning as well as a range of other factors, not merely whether students
reach a certain benchmark.

While I am talking about having districts develop assessments for educators that include student performance
indicators such as growth and ability to learn, this is not so-called “merit pay.” While such data is important
for accountability, it should not be tied to increased or decreased pay. And, of course, educators themselves
must be at the center of determining these factors and developing such an assessment.

Educators will also be instrumental in helping construct a transparent, investment-based approach to


budgeting based on student performance.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) created an onerous framework of standardized testing requirements and
measurements which has diverted a significant amount of teacher time away from class preparation,
teaching, innovation and addressing the needs of individual students. Furthermore, NCLB embraced
a punitive approach that punished low performing schools and, often, the very students who needed
the most help.

We can do better. We can make the transition to a system which allows us to measure the student
outcomes we are getting from the public dollars we are spending on education. We can wisely use
that data to determine how we can better invest our resources, ensuring that learning opportunities
for students are improved and that professional development for teachers is supported in ways that
invigorate the excitement of the classroom and stimulate the learning process.

While local districts will ultimately be accountable for student performance, the legislature must likewise be
accountable for responding to local needs and to provide the assistance necessary to bring help to those
who need it. In other words, my plan will give to state policy makers a responsibility they have never shared
with local districts – accountability for meeting the goals they have embraced for our educational system.

I am not talking about adding a new set of measurements and assessment to the old ones; but rather
working with educators to align and simplify our testing regime. We can get the essential information we
need to understand student achievement while lessening our reliance on high-stakes testing. We need
to liberate teachers from the onerous burden of measuring and testing throughout the school year and
create more time for preparation, teaching, and the unique innovations for learning that teachers bring
to their students.

I recognize that this may require seeking a federal waiver of NCLB. I have done that before and I am
prepared to do it again. We should not accept that the status quo is somehow written in stone; we should
not allow our goals and aspirations to be thwarted by outdated and ineffective systems and structures.

System change on this level will naturally lead to some uneasiness. But I believe that it is better than
clinging to a status quo that in too many ways is failing our educators, our future and most importantly,
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our children. We must have the courage to chart a new course. I believe that the steps I have proposed
are essential if we are to secure our future – and the long term stable support for public education on
which that future largely rests.

No governor can accomplish these changes alone and given the importance of education all Oregonians
must be a part of the effort to move us forward. I am committed to a deliberative and inclusive process
to create a plan to phase-in the changes I have proposed. We will implement only the essential elements
through Executive Order, budget and legislation in 2011 – and little will change in our current distribution
of funds at the beginning of this endeavor. This will ensure that we have a platform for ongoing dialog
about how to fully implement the plan and to design the necessary transition from our current system to
a new one; it will allow each of us to clearly understand the specific changes that will be needed and to
have a role in shaping them.

Finally, I want to make it clear that nothing in my policy initiatives should be construed as a criticism of
the dedicated men and women in whose hands we have entrusted the education of the next generation
of Oregonians. It is the system in which they seek to carry out this charge that has failed to evolve with a
changing world – and has inadequately supported their extraordinary hard work and dedication. Educators
are the best qualified people to lead this transformation and I am asking for their partnership – as well as
that of all Oregonians – to make this crucial endeavor a success.

Sincerely,

John Kitzhaber

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Transforming Public Education in Oregon
Laying the Foundation for a Secure, Prosperous Future

In order to successfully transform Oregon’s economy, we must make it possible


The central challenge facing
for more Oregonians than ever before to attain higher levels of education. Studies
Oregon today is to transform
show that an increasing number of jobs in the immediate economic recovery and our economy into one that is
longer term future will require some amount of post-secondary education. If we strong, resilient, internationally
can’t provide a workforce for those good jobs, our economic future will be in competitive and insulated from
serious doubt. the boom/bust cycles that have
plagued us in the past. This
A broad vision for meeting these new workforce requirements is captured in the will necessarily require similar
transformational changes in a
Oregon Business Plan in a formulation referred to as “40-40-20:” 40 percent of
number of other major systems
Oregon adults should have a bachelor’s degree or higher, another 40 percent
including public education; public
should have at least an associate’s degree or other technical credential, and the finance; health care; energy; and
remaining 20 percent should have a high school diploma that represents a high community development.
level of academic and work or vocational readiness skills.

To achieve this goal will place unprecedented demands on the capacity of our
current education system (pre-K through 20) and will require not only a different
and more integrated operation of the education enterprise, but also a unified,
transparent, student-centered budget framework that allows policymakers to
understand existing and planned expenditures, to make informed choices, and
to hold institutions accountable for results. At a time when massive multi-billion
dollar budget shortfalls are projected for at least the next two biennial cycles, we
must do everything we can to find more dollars for education, and showing our
educational success through transparency will be a powerful statement to the
public that public education – the very cornerstone of our democracy – should
be the first priority for additional funds.

Transforming the Education Budget Process


If broadly defined, education (early childhood to post-secondary education)
accounts for sixty percent of Oregon’s general fund budget. And yet the budget
framework through which we allocate public resources for education views early
childhood investments; primary and secondary education; community colleges and
the Oregon University System (OUS) as separate competing entities rather than as
part of an interdependent continuum.

Currently the budget for OUS is developed by the Board of Higher Education;
the community college budget is developed by the State Board of Education; the
K-12 distribution formula is set in statute; and the budgets for early childhood
programs are developed through yet other disconnected process. These isolated
education budgets move independently through the legislative process. Funding
is based largely on enrollment (not even on attendance). Therefore, the fiscal
health of our schools, colleges and universities is related to the number of students
enrolled, not on how well those students are served. This budgeting system – as

Kitzhaber 2010 | Transforming Public Education in Oregon. Laying the Foundation for a Secure, Prosperous Future 1
well as the incentives within it – must be fundamentally changed if Oregon is to achieve its long term
educational objectives.

First, our current fragmented budget allocation process must be replaced by a unified, transparent
budget in which the focus is shifted from enrollment-based funding of institutions to outcome-based
funding of the success of students as they move along the continuum.

Second, we must replace our current segmented budget development and governance process
with one that recognizes the interdependent nature of the entire enterprise of education. The
State Board of Education and the budgetary functions of the Board of Higher Education would be
replaced with a new Oregon Education Investment Board which would assume responsibility for
the development of the unified, transparent education budget; and for developing performance
expectations at each stage of the Pre K-20 continuum.

Third, the position of State Superintendant of Public Instruction would be moved to an appointed
position within the Executive Branch as the State’s Chief Education Investment Officer. The functions
of the State Department of Education would likewise be transferred to the Executive Branch to serve
this new performance based investment strategy.

Finally, we must move to a long term (ten-year) budget framework that allows us to account for
how and when our investments pay off; giving us the capacity to understand how investments
and programs at one education level inherently affect outcomes at another. The system will assist
in determining the needs and measuring growth for all students, particularly those with special
needs. It will allow both legislators and citizens to look beyond the budget numbers to actual
student results. This, in turn, will allow us to make transparent and justify the need for educational
improvements that require additional funding as part of a ten year effort. We will be in the position
to ask not only for more money for student achievement, but to describe how we will invest those
resources to increase student performance.

These changes in the way Oregon budgets for and invests in education must be accompanied
by a number of important structural changes in our approach to early childhood programs and
investments; in primary and secondary education; and in post-secondary education.

Connecting Early Childhood Education and Development to K-12


Programs for meeting the developmental needs of children from the time they are born until
they enter Kindergarten are absolutely essential for future academic success. We know that many
children are exposed to a set of easily identified social, economic and medical risk factors which
can compromise their ability to take full advantage of the educational opportunity. We also know
that with the right programs and resources we can intervene and reliably avoid predictable and
significant issues later on in development – issues that inevitably place a much larger burden on
K-12 and other social service budgets.

Although we have a range of programs and significant public investment for this age range (birth
to 5), goals have not been unified and our efforts have been scattered across several agencies,
thus lacking coordination and coverage. Correcting these problems and committing ourselves to
a sustained strategy of early childhood investment must be a foundational element in achieving
our long term educational objectives.

Kitzhaber 2010 | Transforming Public Education in Oregon. Laying the Foundation for a Secure, Prosperous Future 2
The key policy initiatives for early childhood include: World Class Training and
Support for Educators
u Aligning systems and resources for healthcare, family support,
Success in the classroom begins and
child care and Pre-K education to maximize our investment across
ends with our educators. As I have
the range of risk factors for young children. It would also include traveled across Oregon, meeting with
approaches to early identification and prevention. teachers and community leaders, I have
been reminded of a clear fact: Oregon’s
u Building on work currently underway, establish an Early Childhood educators are a fantastically dedicated
Coordinating Council in the Governor’s Office. The Council would and instinctively innovative group who
lead the way to align efforts, measure progress and ensure work everyday on shaping the future of
accountability, ensure efficiency in resources and maximize federal our state. Ensuring that we can grow,
support, and revitalize our educators
dollars for these efforts.
means a commitment supporting
u Creating uniform standards for early care and education programs, new pathways for training, continuing
education, more time for our teachers
including workforce training to ensure Oregon’s early childhood
to collaborate with and mentor each
professionals have sufficient training and consistent quality to other, and yes, relying on the right to
prepare Oregon’s children for Kindergarten. collectively bargain at the local level. The
Oregon Mentor Program for beginning
u Evaluating outcomes and committing ourselves to excellence in all
teachers and administrators, although
early childhood programs. Commitment to excellence is essential new, shows promising results, but efforts
to success, and to our ability to confirm that desired outcomes have need to be expanded to reach mid-
occurred. This would include linking Pre-K and K-12 data systems, career professional as well.
ensuring that we have access to superior data on outcomes, and using
prospective population measurement techniques to continually assess
the opportunities to improve and the barriers that stand in our way. Effective Assessment
u Providing increased opportunities for early learning and education, Last fall, the Oregonian profiled high
performing middle schools and
and need based incentives to enable parents to enroll children in
described the kind of assessment
quality programs. that was occurring. At those schools,
“teachers hold regular grade-level or
u Creating incentives for integration of services and supports in
subject-area team meetings that focus
local communities. This may include integration of early learning, on measurements of what students have
mental health, healthcare, parent education and other early learned and how teachers can adapt
childhood supports. their techniques to reach more children.”
This kind of “measuring” is not simply
u Creating incentives for new, expanded and retrofitted public teaching to a test; but rather using
buildings to include integrated early childhood services. various kinds of assessments as a
means of evaluating and improving
Transforming Primary and Secondary Education the teachers’ own teaching.

A strategy of sustained early childhood investment can significantly reduce We need to move primary and secondary
the number of children who arrive at school burdened with an achievement education in that direction -- encouraging
schools that are already doing so to
gap. To build on this foundation, we must also advance some important
keep it up; and helping schools that are
policy initiatives and structural changes in the enterprise of primary and struggling to make the transition. More
secondary education itself which include: money is part of the answer – but it is not
the entire answer. And the reality that to
u Putting a high priority on a good supply of highly qualified new improve overall funding for education
teachers, providing better support and retention for early career in Oregon, we need to demonstrate to
teachers, and creating opportunities for mid-career professionals the voters that we’re getting the most we
can out of the money we already have.
to refresh and renew themselves.

Kitzhaber 2010 | Transforming Public Education in Oregon. Laying the Foundation for a Secure, Prosperous Future 3
u Creating – with the leadership of teachers – a fair and meaningful
teacher/administrator evaluation tool linked to student performance
and growth. Unlike “No Child Left Behind” which relied on standardized
testing and failed to account for where students started – we must
create a model in which teachers help develop valid criteria to measure
learning and progress, and adjust methods. The goal is to recognize
excellence and deliver resources and professional development where
improvement is needed.

u Restoring instructional time by eliminating redundant high-stakes


standardized testing. Our educators now deal with an endless maze
of overlapping high stakes tests that often poorly measure real growth.
As a result, critical class and preparation time is lost.

u Providing local districts the flexibility and latitude they need to create
incentives for innovation at the building and classroom level while
holding them accountable for results. Local schools and teachers are
doing amazing work, which needs to be encouraged; developed and
shared with other schools throughout the state.

u Developing a new Oregon high school diploma that means students are
prepared to enroll in post-secondary education without remediation.

u Engaging in innovative financing so that our schools can be retrofitted,


creating a healthier learning environment with much lower energy costs.

The innovation and advancement of education takes place at the district


We Must Support and Retain
level in local schools. In exchange for increased accountability the state More Teachers
will provide important assistance to school districts including technical
Oregon loses approximately 37% of new
support and sharing successful models from other parts of the state. This teachers within the first 5 years. Teacher
will require the capacity to direct teachers and administrators to current turnover costs Oregon approximately
research, curriculum, and data; to bring other forms of assistance into $45 million per year. A teacher’s influence
schools and classrooms, at the invitation of districts; and to centralize some on student achievement is 20 times
greater than the effect of any other
of the services currently offered through Education Services Districts.
variable, including class size.

There is also overwhelming evidence showing the benefits of year round


educational services. A robust year round school system could offer all
students – regardless of achievement level – an increased diversity of
course selections, or simply increased access to course selections that will
improve learning opportunity. Years ago the summer break was designed into
our system so children could help with the farm. New economic realities –
namely the need for a more highly trained workforce – means we cannot
afford to lose students to an achievement gap during the summer. We
will create incentives to pilot year round school in two willing school
districts in Oregon.

Kitzhaber 2010 | Transforming Public Education in Oregon. Laying the Foundation for a Secure, Prosperous Future 4
Connecting High School to Postsecondary Education
To achieve Oregon’s “40-40-20” educational objective, we must dramatically
increase the number of high school graduates who complete at least
two years of post-secondary education. There are a number of key policy
initiatives which can accelerate this process. These include:

u Expanding opportunities for high school students to earn credit


towards community college and university degrees and certificates
while working toward an Oregon Diploma.

u Guaranteeing access to at least two years of community college or


Oregon university education for students earning the Oregon Diploma.

u Expanding the number of magnet high schools, especially in math


and science, health care and environmental studies.

Transforming Post-Secondary Education


Ensuring that all children are ready to learn when they enter kindergarten
and that they gain the proficiencies necessary to earn the new Oregon
Diploma will provide them with the foundation for securing a place in the
economy of the 21st century. To achieve Oregon’s long term educational
objectives, however, will also require a series of important policy initiatives
and structural changes in our system of post-secondary education.
These include:

u Viewing our community colleges and universities not as separate Connecting to Jobs
competing entities but rather as part of a common post-secondary Linn-Benton Community College
capacity for giving Oregon high school graduates the pathway to anticipated that within the next five years,
economic, social and civic success. This will require a “post-secondary Oregon would experience a shortage
coordination” function either as a replacement for the Board of Higher in the field of industrial maintenance.
Food processors, metals manufacturers
Education or as part of the Oregon Education Investment Board.
and hospitals all need these multi-skilled
technicians to keep their systems running.
u Shifting the state role in Oregon postsecondary education from one
Retirements and growth point to a
of owner/regulator to one of major investor in programs and initiatives shortage of workers.
of statewide and regional importance.
LBCC brought local manufacturing and
u Granting Oregon universities the operational flexibility they need to industry leaders together to develop
provide high quality instruction and to increase the graduation rates a Mechatronics Program to cross-train
students in computerized electrical,
for more Oregon students.
mechanical and instrumentation
u Shifting state investments from enrollments to student performance processes. Employers helped set the
curriculum and completion requirements
and other expected results, guided by the goal of “40-40-20” and
and also provide some scholarships,
focusing instruction on student achievement. equipment and program funding.
Students know that success in the
u Guaranteeing transfer of credit among all Oregon public colleges program qualifies them for employment
and universities. in high demand jobs.

Kitzhaber 2010 | Transforming Public Education in Oregon. Laying the Foundation for a Secure, Prosperous Future 5
u Investing in a pattern of degrees and certificates that connects directly
to high demand Oregon jobs and the employer-certified skills related
to them.

u Designating county and regional credentialing centers connecting


those seeking work to the education and training needed to qualify
for available jobs.

u Supporting additional resources for research infrastructure for facilities


and matching grant programs that will make Oregon industries more
competitive and leverage more federal dollars.

Starting Now
This is purposely an aggressive agenda to improve education throughout a student’s educational
experience from birth until earning a degree or certificate. It reflects what we know we must
do to transform our education system in Oregon – and we must get started even in the face
of predicted revenue shortfalls. In fact, our current fiscal realities make it even more urgent
to advance this agenda now. That said, this is not intended to be accomplished all at once, it
will necessarily be phased in over four to eight years within the ten-year planning and budget
forecast horizon this blueprint recommends.

In this context, we can create not only the education system we need for the future, but also the
pathway and reasons for the additional financial resources tat will be required to support this
plan. Our immediate goal will be to create stability for school operations; and to ensure access
to post-secondary education. But for this plan to be fully implemented, however, we must also
ensure that the additional resources and investments that will be necessary are well understood,
planned for, and realized.

Working with teachers, administrators, students, parents, business leaders and other Oregonians,
the Legislature can launch this plan in 2011. Once in motion, the Governor must be a leader in
working with school districts, teachers, administrators, parents and students all over the state to
support the development of a robust new education system for Oregon. Our future prosperity
depends on it.

Kitzhaber 2010 | Transforming Public Education in Oregon. Laying the Foundation for a Secure, Prosperous Future 6
Contact Us

Kitzhaber 2010
PO Box 4593
Portland, OR 97208

Phone: (503) 217-6222


Email: campaign@johnkitzhaber.com

Paid for by Kitzhaber 2010

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Kitzhaber 2010 | Transforming Public Education in Oregon. Laying the Foundation for a Secure, Prosperous Future 7

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