Susan’s Introduction for Ways & Means -- April 23, 2002
Introduction
· Just completing my first 100 days – first impressions?
I came to the office of Superintendent with four priorities:
1. Close the Achievement Gap. While we have been making progress in our efforts to create success for every student; we have much work left to do. We are refocusing our staff and our work to more aggressively increase the achievement levels of those who have been falling behind.
2. Make Every Student a Highly Proficient Reader. We must ensure that all students in grades K-12 meet or exceed state standards in reading and writing. We have made great progress in the early grades; we need to expand our efforts to focus on all grades, all kids.
3. Create more success in Middle Schools and High Schools. We need to create schools that offer a more personalized and connected experience for students, helping every student prepare for their next steps in life—work, college, good citizenship. Partnership opportunity -- $25 million from Gates Foundation and Meyer Memorial Trust .
4. A well-run, efficient, and accountable Department. I’ll talk more about this goal in a moment.
In the presentations you will hear over the next few days, I want to direct your attention to two very critical areas:
First, the Oregon state assessment system. Our state testing system is done by the Department and is a high quality, cost-effective testing system . . . and our assessment system has been fully approved by the US Department of Education as meeting the requirements of No Child Left Behind.
Second, the Technology and Information Resources Division. Education today is dependent on data gathering and analysis in order to make good funding and policy decisions and to demand accountability. No Child Left Behind requires us to track and report on student achievement as never before. We must track and report on teacher quality, school performance, and a host of other data elements. Technology also offers us a path to cost-saving through greater efficiencies.
I know it is no secret that the Department of Education is a state agency in need of improvement. The talented and dedicated employees there acknowledge that more efficiency and focus are needed. One of my first actions was to pull together a no-nonsense management team of state government professionals, led by Mike Greenfield, to take a critical look at the operation of the Department. The Department of Education must function as a well-run state agency.
My next step was to create a hybrid team of managers and educators. This team is the management core of the Department, and the team is critical to managing the rest of the K-12 system. Oregon operates a multi-billion dollar school system, and the state expects (and deserves) a top-flight management team to direct that system. The team I’ve assembled is working to get the Department back on track, and I am confident that we have already made progress in my first 100 days.
We have our priorities set. We have a management strategy. We have a budget that is consistent with our priorities and strategies.
One final step is to build and maintain critical partnerships both inside and outside the education community. We are dependent upon human services and community resources for student success. We cannot do it alone. For example, as we work to reduce the drop out rate – students give many reasons for leaving high school and many of those reasons have little or nothing to do with school. It is a family and community issue in addition to being an educational issue.
I am committed to building the partnerships that will enable us to close the achievement gap, ensure that every student reads and writes at a high level, and that every student graduates ready to move on to their next stage of life.
We know that it is essential that the Department provide you and all Oregon’s citizens with accurate and credible information about the challenges and the many successes in our public schools. It is important in order for you to have confidence that the Department is managing our school fund effectively and that resources are getting to the classroom, not being wasted on administrative overhead. We know that you and all Oregonians need to be assured that our schools and the Department of Education are using our tax dollars in the best way possible to create more success for more kids in our state.
Questions?
Introduce
· Patrick Burk, Deputy Supt for Education Policy
· Mike Greenfield, Deputy Supt for Operations