Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.
Frederick Douglass

PPS faces literacy challenges, including low proficiency rates and racial gaps, and Oregon's math and reading scores are among the nation's worst. (1)  ***

As of October 2024, only***:

• 55.4% of PPS students are proficient in English and language arts, 

• 46.4% in math, and 

• 40.3% in science. (2)

Please take a moment to digest that information: almost half of our students are below grade level for reading and language arts, more than half are below in math, and close to two thirds are below grade level in science. That is abysmal and it must change. ***

“I’m proud of the fact that our growth has remained steady. I’m not proud of the fact that we’re still in a crisis,” Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong said. “Anytime that we don’t have 100% of our students reading at grade level, it’s a concern—it’s a crisis, really.” 

As a School Board Director:

• Partnering with programs to bring reading and math support into every school will be my priority

• Funding this will be a priority, as many parents cannot afford to hire private tutors, nor should they be expected to. 

• Teaching all students to read, and having all students be confident readers, writers and mathematicians, must be a PPS top priority. 

• Recognizing that some schools are able to fund math and reading support through their PTA is a good start. PPS must match the efforts and bring reading and math support to every student.

Not every student is an athlete, or interested in athletics or team sports. But books and reading can be a portal to a new world for so many kids. One of our own kids has had her nose in a book since before she could walk. Celebrating reading and literacy has been a priority for our family from the beginning. And for 3 years now, I have coached 3 separate OBOB (Oregon Battle of the Books) teams, volunteered at OBOB Regionals in Salem, and volunteered at OBOB States (also in Salem). Childhood literacy is so important.

(1) https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2025/01/oregon-math-reading-achievement-among-the-nations-worst-new-scores-show.html

(2) https://www.wweek.com/news/schools/2024/10/03/portland-school-districts-see-slight-rise-in-test-scores-but-theyre-still-dismal/

*** Though it is probably impossible to avoid all high-stakes standardized testing that gives us these results, we should agree to educate the public and public officials about these tests’ seductive but harmful, unhelpful aspects, and push (as OEA and others have done) to use more meaningful instruments, such as formative assessments, to gauge student learning.