SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (AP) — Gov. John Kitzhaber says Oregon’s public schools are stuck in an old-fashioned way of doing business, and improving education “requires the courage to change.”
Kitzhaber spoke Tuesday to an audience of school teachers and administrators in a back-to-school speech in Springfield.
He says every Oregon child should graduate high school and 80 percent should get at least two years of post-college education or training. But he says the goal will never be accomplished “if we hold tight to the status quo.” Kitzhaber says the debate about education is focused too much on funding for K-12 schools and not enough on student achievement.
This year Kitzhaber persuaded state lawmakers to approve a framework for creating a powerful birth-to-college oversight board to recommend education funding and policy in Oregon.
