I am running for us all. 

I have three kids in PPS, all currently at Abernethy Elementary School. My 5th grade twins head to Winterhaven and Hosford Middle Schools next year so I am about to have three kids in three schools. I am running for all the kids that I know and love. My soccer kids. My OBOB (Oregon Battle of the Books) kids. The kids I see at school in the mornings. The kids I see wandering the neighborhood, whom I don’t know but inspire me to make our schools the best they can be. The kids I know are wandering all the Portland neighborhoods, all of whom deserve safe and successful schools to go to.

I am running because I believe in an educated electorate and in public education. We are systematically dismantling public education in this country, both at an active federal level and a more insidious state level. From the passings of Measures 5 and 50 in 1990 and 1997 to the chronic underfunding and budget crises, to the Oregon kicker, our public education is in crisis and our students pay the price.

I am running for our democracy. It’s critical for our democracy and our future that our children are educated. And it’s important for our children that they have a safe school to go to that prioritizes their education. Prioritizes means funding, it means recognizing the importance of art and science, of music, of movement through PE and recess.

I am running on the ideas of supporting students and also supporting teachers. They are on the ground, responsible for one of society’s most vulnerable and cherished: our children. They devote their lives to educating, loving, and protecting our children. Teachers must be listened to and protected in their own right. That means adequate health care coverage for them and their families. It means a salary that allows them to save for their future. And it means class size caps so they can do the jobs they have chosen to do.

I am running for all of us.