Scappoose Middle School

Everyone needs skills and knowledge of their choosing to be healthy, happy, and successful, no matter the path they choose. We the People are responsible to ease thier path with STEAM, vocational, and technical programs, and with access to childcare for all Oregon families. Unfunded mandates need to be phased out or funded, since they harm every other school program.
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Public education is not a business. It’s not about net present value – which is a big, negative number. We do it despite that, because we also love and care for the people who will inherit our world. We have discussions about what education includes and how to pay for it. As a community, however, I absolutely want us to make it happen. We’re just talking about the details, about what, where, when, and how. The cause, why we do it, is clear. Education isn’t about giving people fish. It’s about teaching them to fish. How much do we want them to learn? How well do we want them to be able to adapt to changing times? How much do we care?

In addition, I favor in-person schools as the best way to build our communities. While distance learning was invaluable during the height of the COVID epidemic, it atrophied our connections. In person, we’re in the room together and can see each other head-to-toe. We can notice body language and facial expressions that pixels on a screen obscure and hide. Tone of voice is clearer. And we can have real conversations not limited by the command-and-control aspects of Zoom and other online platforms. On a related note, I’d like cell phones to be banned during classes in order for everyone to be fully present. In-person schooling deepens our connections with each other and is essential to a happy and healthy community.

Intelligence is great but by itself does nothing. Higher intelligence is just potential for gaining knowledge a little faster and maybe a little deeper than others. Gaining knowledge and skills still requires effort, and experience is irreplaceable. Public education is the heart of gaining knowledge and skills for everyone.