Dear Students, Parents, Teachers, Oregonians.…

This campaign is about leadership today and building the leaders of tomorrow.  Oregon needs a Superintendent who will work with students, parents, and teachers.  One who will do what is right for Oregon’s children while making the tough choices needed to lead reform of a system that is not working.

We MUST put students first, create an environment of learning and provide children with the tools and technology necessary to succeed in life.

We MUST NOT be complacent with failure and the status quo.

Education today sets a foundation for jobs in the future.  If Oregonians want a strong economy, Oregon must have a strong school system.

Starving our schools of resources does not make sense, nor does repeating the patterns that have failed us for the past decade.  This challenge requires diligence, attention to detail, and a commitment to an approach that is based on the evaluation of what does and does not work.

On the “Quality Counts 2010” report card, published by Education Week, Oregon received 4 F’s and a national ranking of 43rd!  Two critical categories, “College Readiness” and “Accountability for Quality”, have held F’s for the past three years.  It is clear that many things are not working.  I believe these results alone warrant the reconsideration of our current superintendent.  Unfortunately these performance measures are only one symptom of the current problems and barely scratch the surface of a failing system.

A key factor in my decision to enter this race came in a much more localized example of system failure.  While on the House Education Committee in the Oregon State Legislature last year, during what was supposed to be an informational hearing on the closing of the School for the Blind, the Department of Education reported that, with the exception of a few issues which were being address, things were running smoothly.  The testimony from the school’s students, families, teachers, and friends told an entirely different story.  What we witnessed was gut-wrenching and what we heard was appalling.  Having been given the mission and resources necessary, Superintendent Castillo missed a valuable opportunity to walk side by side with these families during this tremendously difficult time.

My investment in public education doesn’t just stem from my academic background, which includes a Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate in Education.  It was instilled in me by the generations of family members who have been and are life-long teachers and educators. This combination has given me a solid foundation from which to dialogue with leaders on topics ranging from curriculum to administration; from the chalkboard to balancing the books.

It was this inspiration, education, and the fact that I have four children in Oregon‘s public school system, that I resolved early on to play an active role in the shaping of Oregon’s future and in 2001 was appointed to the Grants Pass School Board.  My service on the Board gave me the experience in linking real world triumphs with the frustrations of Oregon students and educators.   In my years on the Board I have grown to appreciate the hard work and resources necessary to keep students engaged in their own education; teachers equipped with the proper tools; and administrators uniformly apprised of needed information and resources.

Finally, through all of these lenses, I have witnessed firsthand how at both the federal and state levels our school system is wrought with bureaucracy.  I say it’s time to challenge the bureaucracy that stifles our teachers and leaves our students without choices.  Oregon stands at a critical time; we must look into the faces of our future and choose to walk with them.

It is time to transform the office of Oregon’s Superintendent of Public Instruction.

I am Ron Maurer and I am asking for your support.

Sincerely,

Ron Maurer, Ed.D