It's all over in May: Susan Castillo vs. Ron Maurer

Kari Chisholm FacebookTwitterWebsite

This time of year, we're all focused on primary elections - Democrat vs. Democrat, Republican vs. Republican.

But there's one statewide election that is guaranteed to end in May, and features a straight-up head-to-head Democrat vs. Republican race: The election for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Ronmaurer-susancastilloRon Maurer, a Republican state legislator from Grants Pass, is challenging Susan Castillo, the incumbent superintendent.

Castillo has been a fairly quiet statewide official, but she's been getting things done. We now have new statewide diploma standards that emphasize reading, math, and science. She's brought public and private resources to bear to close student achievement gaps. Oregon is now using online student testing, so that teachers see the results right away, when it can make a difference in the classroom. And, of course, she's consistently advocated at the legislature for school funding, for full-day kindegarten, and smaller class sizes.

BlueOregon readers probably know a lot of that. But you may not know much about her opponent, Rep. Ron Maurer. Despite the critical importance of Measures 66 and 67 to school funding, Maurer opposed both measures. And he told the Oregonian's Betsy Hammond that "he accepts that Oregonians are not going to dramatically increase funding for education and would advocate for ways to improve schools without more money."

Oregonians may or may not support increased funding - I think they will - but isn't that what leadership is about? Making the case, building the support, doing the hard work?

In fact, in 2008, Maurer told the Grants Pass Daily Courier that K-12 should be the first target for spending cuts in the state budget. Seriously.

As we've seen in Texas, education can get pretty seriously screwed up when right-wing ideologues get their hands on the school system. Make no mistake - Maurer's your basic right-winger. He thinks abortion should be outlawed, even for the victims of rape and incest. He wants to allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense legally-prescribed contraceptives. In 2007, when the Oregon House voted to extend employment protections to gays and lesbians, Maurer voted against. And he stood with the insurance companies against health care for 80,000 Oregon children.

And he told Project Vote Smart that his preference would be to "slightly increase" or "maintain status" of every category of state spending - while saying he would "slightly decrease" or "maintain status" of every category of state revenues. For a guy who says he's an educator, he's not very good at math. You can't say spending should go up and revenues should go down and expect to balance the budget.

Susan Castillo and Ron Maurer are the only two candidates in the race. That means that the race is guaranteed to be over in May. So, if you care about who leads our school system at the state level, it's time to get involved now.

Donate to Susan Castillo. Become a fan on Facebook. Visit her website.

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    And before the fact-checkers jump on me: Yes, I know that it's technically a nonpartisan race. All the more reason that it's important to know who's running - and what their values are.

  • Kurt Hagadakis (unverified)
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    And let's remember that extreme, failed, right wing ideology can constantly reappear in areas that are actually on solid footing. Kremer's hangers-on in the State race have been letting it be known that PPS is one of their idealogical targets, while, just coincidentally, passing around literature that claims that "there is good evidence that abstinence only education works".

  • richard (unverified)
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    Nearly 20 years of deomocrats perpertrating failed CIMCAM standards based reforms and you're touting the "statewide diploma standards" as an accomplishement of Castillo? Good for you.

    How about student acheivement? You forgot to mention actual results? Oh that doesn't matter when all you're interested in is sustaining the Democrat/OEA status quo death grip on our flounding public school system.

    How about the Cultural Compentency program for teachers?

    There's a fine piece of accomplishment.

    I like how you try and suggest Castillo has closed the achievment gap by saying she "She's brought public and private resources to bear to close student achievement gaps." You don't really say she has closed the gap.

    Because she hasn't. In fact when she organized an achievment gap conference she rejected an offer from the top national expert on the achivement gap to speak for free.

    Yeah online testing is being used. But it's being provided by "big fat evil corporations" who are profiting from it. Ever heard that before?

    All the while Castillo has worked with the OEA to obstruct online charter schools and spent $4 million attempting to set up the state as the only operator of online education.

    Castillo represents the status quo and offers nothing but preserving it at the expense of students and our public schools.

    But here you are delivering the OEA cooked up pitch that Castillo is "making a difference in the classroom".

    How? By advocating more funding for the same ssytme and people runing our public school system to preserve the mediocrity they perpetrate.

    Yes it's vote for DEMOCRAT Castillo. Because the boogieman running against her might lead genuine reform and improve results.

  • Need A Challenger (unverified)
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    It's unfortunate that there isn't a better candidate to challenge Supt. Castillo. I've heard from a variety of teachers, administrators, and union people that the Superintendent has been less than stellar.

  • richard (unverified)
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    Of course she has been less than stellar. But the union will not allow any real reformer.

    Maurer is an outstanding candidate who would bring immediate change and benefit to our public school system by exposing the chronic cross interests and dysfunction preferred by the OEA et al.

    Unfortuately, BlueOregon regulars also prefer to sustain the status quo versus improve our schools. Here you are with the usual rhetoric trying to cast as susccessful what is clearly failure.

    That's what you do.

    And that's why we have a Sam Adams, a state of the art jail which never opens, one failed boondoggle after another and lousy systems and programs no one is ever held accountable for.

    What do you call it? "Our Oregon"

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    This is an important election. I’ve three issues significant to me that will decide my vote.

    First, which candidate will best promote state and local district funding for high school students to study abroad? This requires no additional funding, just shifting the use of existing funds. Local school districts may already have authority to do this. If so, it would be nice to have a superintendent of public instruction to say so. If not, HB 2719 from the 2009 session, or some variation of it, could create such a program. Which of these candidates would support HB 2719 going forward?

    Second, which candidate will best expand Mandarin programs across Oregon? How would each get more Mandarin immersion programs started?

    If either of these candidates does not understand the importance of more high school students studying abroad or of expanding Mandarin programs, they should not be our Superintendent of Public Instruction.

    Third, which candidate will most aggressively pursue the development of online education in Oregon? I’d like to see Oregon become an international leader in online education (see here). This is an economic opportunity. Online learning can improve the quality of education, expand educational opportunities, and cut costs. It can be used in existing classrooms, as a completely independent, self-paced form of education, and in a variety of hybrid blends in between. I made a rough estimate that online educational programs could save (as in reallocate to other educational uses) $240 million per year statewide (here).

    For example, when will high school students in every school in Oregon be able to take a Mandarin course for credit online?

    I’m waiting to see how these candidates address these issues.

  • myswandive (unverified)
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    Wow, this post feels like it was taken straight out of Castillo's PR release. I too wish there was a better progressive challenger for Susan. As someone who works with a lot of Dept of Ed folks, I can tell you that many of her "accomplishments" have happened despite her lack of leadership.

    I am not a huge fan of Maurer's in the health care arena - he is certainly a staunch conservative. But I've also seen him be an honest debater in the legislature, and someone who is willing to work with those he disagrees with, unlike MANY of his R colleagues. To my mind, ideology matters a lot less than leadership qualities, management style, and ability to hire competent staff as state Superintendent. Castillo might say more things that I like to hear, but her results have been passive and ineffective. I am taking a leap of faith & voting for Maurer in the primary.

  • Admiral Naismith (unverified)
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    Yes it's vote for DEMOCRAT Castillo. Because the boogieman running against her might lead genuine reform and improve results.

    ROFLMAO!!!!!

    As if the Republican platform on education ever since Reagan has been anything other than "People without educations are more likely to grow up to be Conservative Republicans; therefore, trash the schools and the libraries!"

    For more than half of my life, the GOP "ideas" on education have been limited to reducing funding; eliminating extracurricular activities; actively encouraging disrespect for teachers to drive good ones out of the system; creating controversies about books they want removed; attacking science education as an insult to "religious faith"; attacking Spanish and other language classes as an immigration issue; tools to allow the rich to buy their way out of the public school system...anything to make schools worse and kids dumber.

    Republicans don't believe the Government should be involved in education. If Maurer had his way, he would close all public schools, replacing them with an upper income tax cut and a few vouchers to pay for sending kids to private Christian schools. The only reason he doesn't say so out loud and in public is that he knows the majority of Oregon won't buy that.

  • Kurt Hagadakis (unverified)
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    As if the Republican platform on education ever since Reagan has been anything other than...

    They've had a very comprehensive program in place, since then, to educate minorities, too. It's called the all volunteer military.

  • richard (unverified)
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    Admiral, Your'e only ROFLMAO at our school children. Your stereotyping boogieman making with OEA rhetoric serves only to sentence our children and public schools to further fester in mediocrity and failure. Just as failed ESL sentences students to unnecessary years of learning English. Every active Republican I know in Oregon has better ideas to preserve and improve our public schools. Your tired pretense of defending public education from Republicans is simply unethical. As you know, but lie about, there is no GOP agenda to weaken public education or close public schools. Quite the contrary. It is your progressives who perpetually trash our schools with lousy programs and even close libraries as they did in Jackson County. Their reopening at half the cost was with harsh opposition from union progressives who would have had the libraries remain closed. Versus having them fully open with private staff at half the cost. The leaders who reopened the libraries were also mischaracterized just as you do Republicans.

    The political and meddling progressives have caused problems throughout the Oregon Public School system and without any accountability. Your version of GOP "ideas" on education are routine lies and lunacy.

    Funding has been and is levels where genuine reform could easily bring about progress.

    But this is what the status quo lobby cannot allow. For any Republican success in our school system would undermine the fraud by progressives.

    The elimination of any extracurricular activities has been a direct result of union progressives causing enormous payroll/benefit cost increases. It's union progressives who support tenure and preservation of lousy teachers at the expense of our children. Your other litany of gibberish is chum to fool voters again. Anything to keep schools under union progressive control.

    Republicans and Maurer have never been about closing anything but failed public schools which progressives insist stay open in perpetuity. Your asinine description of attempts to close all public schools is the usual progressive sleazy politics.

    Try a look at the track record of progressives controlling Oregon public schools. What a farce. ESL, whole Language, failed reading approaches, lousy math programs, small schools- no wait big schools, "Strategic Plans", CIMCAM, standards based (outcome based education) fads, cultural competency requirements, social justice agendas, on and on and on with piled up PERS cost madness rotting it all. Ever seen a teacher contract? Are those pro public school agreements? Really?

    I would be "ROFLMAO" if you and yours weren't so disgusting in defending the status quo.

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    I too wish there was a better progressive challenger for Susan. ... I am taking a leap of faith & voting for Maurer in the primary.

    Sorry, but that's absurd. It's like voting for Ralph Nader because "Al Gore and George W. Bush are the same" -- a statement that was clearly borne out to be utterly and completely ridiculous.

    Actually, it's worse. It's like wishing you could vote for Ralph Nader, but voting for George W. Bush because Al Gore wasn't progressive enough for you.

    Whether or not you wish there was another candidate running against Castillo is irrelevant. There isn't one. Perhaps you should have run, or recruited someone to run, or whatever - but filing day has passed, and we've got a simple choice.

    Ideology matters. Values matter.

    Ron Maurer may be a highly effective leader, but that just means he'll be more effective at going in the wrong direction.

    Sorry, but that's not argument that works for me.

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    I am taking a leap of faith & voting for Maurer in the primary.

    p.s. It's not a primary. It's the general election. No second chance in November.

  • backbeat (unverified)
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    Is she a "brassy babe" too, Kari?

  • LT (unverified)
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    Richard, I have a challenge for you.

    The article says this:

    And he told the Oregonian's Betsy Hammond that "he accepts that Oregonians are not going to dramatically increase funding for education and would advocate for ways to improve schools without more money."

    OK, can you or any other of Ron's supporters list "ways to improve schools without more money"?

    I do mean a specific list:

    1) 2) 3) etc.

    For instance, what about auditing how schools spend money on central office administrators (or would it cost too much money to hire auditors)? How many administrators below the local Supt. get pay packages which include a salary of over $100,000 plus benefits? How many districts give such administrators a car allowance? Why is that a better use of dollars than putting them into actual schools?

    I have heard Maurer would like to change TSPC. That might be worthwhile hearing about, if he goes into details.

    But enough already with the vague rhetoric.

    You said "Every active Republican I know in Oregon has better ideas to preserve and improve our public schools."

    Can you list any of those ideas? Or are we supposed to guess?

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    Together the R-legislators have presented unified opposition to K-12 school funding. Our school years are the shortest in the country. Our classrooms are stuffed with 35 to 40 children.

    We can expect a "Back to Basics" budget from Maurer and claims the Republicans can fund our schools at the 2007-2009 levels with a no-cuts budget. The candidate's real agenda has little to do with public edcucation. Sadly, this is another Trojan Horse attempting to challenge the heart of public education.

    The anti Measure 66/67 folks prefer draconian cuts in public education. Oregon voters backed the Measures and choose to keep public schools on life support.

    A well educated and well trained work force improves our economy. Invest in the future. Vote for Castillo.

  • Walter Meier (unverified)
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    LT: Can you list any of those ideas? Or are we supposed to guess?

    I can help with that:

    Republican ideas to preserve and improve our public schools

  • Kurt Hagadakis (unverified)
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    Preserve? Sounds like dedicating a nature park to the preservation of Dutch Elm Disease.

  • msmelharmon (unverified)
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    Kari: "p.s. It's not a primary. It's the general election. No second chance in November."

    So wait---are we voting on this race in May (it's all over then) or in November?

    I'm confused.

  • Steev (unverified)
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    "OK, can you or any other of Ron's supporters list "ways to improve schools without more money"?"

    Mre importantly, can Castillo? She can't even do it when we gave her 20% more in 2007.

    Next point.

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    Ms. Mel -- It's over in May.

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    Steev: Mre importantly, can Castillo?

    "Hey, liiibraallls, my guy cen make muny appear outta thin aerier!!!!!"

    "Really? Prove it."

    "Welll.... cen youuuuu? Duuurrrrrrr...."

    Way to prove you're too stupid to vote, you clueless teabagger.

  • Steve Buel (unverified)
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    <h2>It is a shame we have two weak candidates for this important position. Maurer doesn't get the importance of supporting education and Castillo has bought into the reform movement which not only wastes a fortune but also has done pretty much nothing to help education, and in many cases it has made it worse. Take a look at the new reading initiative which was reported today in The Oregonian. Another disaster. I could cry.</h2>
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    OH please...

    "Castillo has been a fairly quiet statewide official, but she's been getting things done. We now have new statewide diploma standards that emphasize reading, math, and science. She's brought public and private resources to bear to close student achievement gaps. Oregon is now using online student testing, so that teachers see the results right away, when it can make a difference in the classroom. And, of course, she's consistently advocated at the legislature for school funding, for full-day kindegarten, and smaller class sizes."

    Meanwhile back in reality.. We have a 56% High School passing rate within four years.. Govenor is proposing a 9% Cutt in education funding due to the budget shortfall.. Yep.. Susan got things done.. but I am not sure the positives out weigh the negatives.

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