Facing one of the lowest school graduation rates in the entire country, Kate Brown struggled to defend her education record yesterday as students returned to school. Instead of apologizing for her administration’s failure to provide a quality education for Oregon children, Brown endorsed much of Republican gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler’s education plan, demonstrating that even Brown believes Knute Buehler is the candidate with big ideas this election.
Here's more, from The Oregonian:
Gov. Kate Brown kicked off the school year Monday by welcoming Madison High School’s freshman class and securing their shouted promise that all 342 of them will graduate from the Northeast Portland school by 2022.
Statistically, that is unlikely to happen. As the governor noted, nearly 1 in 4 Oregon high schoolers doesn’t graduate on time; that’s one of the worst rates in the nation.
…On Monday, Brown echoed for the first time two of Buehler’s education-related campaign pledges: to extend Oregon’s skimpy school year to the national standard of 180 days and get all students reading by third grade. She also said she wants to expand free preschool for low-income 4-year-olds and decrease class sizes in kindergarten through grade three.
She decried Buehler’s plan to trim pension costs and benefits as unfair to teachers, saying “they invest the best years of their lives in our children.” But she offered no specifics on how she would pay for the enhancements she wants.
Kate Brown has had years to fix Oregon schools, but they’re only getting worse under her failed leadership. By endorsing Knute Buehler’s education plan, Copy Cat Kate Brown revealed that she has no policy ideas of her own, and proved that Buehler is the candidate with the bold ideas to fix Oregon’s struggling schools.
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