2016 OR Governor's race: on Education

Bob Niemeyer: Charter schools are the answer; throw out Common Core

Niemeyer: Charter schools are the answer at this point in time. Charter schools would allow for the creation of different kinds of schools that can use different teaching techniques to get through to children so that when they graduate and move out into the real world, they will have the skills necessary to be a productive member of society. The teachers of Oregon need to have all of the teaching techniques available for use on all of the students along with a place to send like-minded students to different charter schools. Teaching needs to be elevated back to a Profession instead of babysitting. And as a Profession, Teachers are more valuable than administrators. There has never been a such thing as a "Common Core" in teaching. Only "Common Goals". Common Core must be thrown out of our schools.

Kate Brown: Seamless public education from cradle to career

BROWN: It is my dream that all of Oregon's students have access to a seamless system of education that takes them from cradle to career. I want every one of our students to complete high school with a plan, whether that be college, post-secondary, job-training, or entering the work force. And that education system should prepare them for the jobs of the future. Of course, more of our students must graduate from high school, and that is why I have created a cabinet-level Education Innovation officer who will report directly to me, and will help me to identify the resources that we need to ensure that we raise our graduation rates. Finally, it is my hope that we will shrink the opportunity gap that, today, starts early and makes it harder every year for that student to catch up. We've started that work with our historic $7.4 billion investment in education, particularly early childhood education.

Bud Pierce: We need motivated, well-trained teachers

Students cannot succeed without good teachers. We need to support our teachers by creating teaching environments that encourage collaboration, peer mentoring and allow teachers to lead the way forward. We need motivated, well-trained teachers who are in front of their classes because they're the most qualified candidates for the job, not because they're high in seniority. We need to give them the authority to succeed and hold them accountable. We need more good teachers, and need to fix the PERS system once and for all to free up resources for the hiring of 2000 additional teachers across Oregon.

And we need more school days--more teacher time with students--whether that involves freeing up more resources or ending unnecessary "in-service" days that have proliferated in recent years.

Bob Niemeyer: Common Core creates a putrid educational system

In my opinion, Governor Kitzhaber's effort in 2014 to take the educational system out of the hands of school boards across this state was based on Common Core political contributions. As an engineer, that scenario is the only one that makes sense for why such a putrid educational system was ever considered.

So, what I really think about Common Core: The people that make up books that are sold to schools across the Nation have run out of ways to change the way children are educated that can be turned into money in their pockets.

Kate Brown: Make it easier to opt out from Common Core testing

"The audit of the Oregon K-12 education system underscored the need for accurate data across all student subgroups to evaluate student outcomes and make improvements at the student and system levels. But participation is crucial to success. Educators must engage with parents about the value of assessment and the potential consequences if parents opt out and student participation diminishes. We cannot afford to risk losing federal dollars, especially for students who have been traditionally underserved. As educators and policy makers, it is important to demonstrate for parents the connection between high levels of student participation in assessment and system accountability."