SALEM, OR, UNITED STATES, August 16, 2021 - Oregon has caught the attention of national media, and not in a good way. Candidate for Oregon governor, Dr. Bud Pierce, said with the signing of SB744, his state is on its way to having one of the worst education systems in the nation.
SB744 ends requirements for high school students to show proficiency in reading, writing, and arithmetic before graduation. Brown privately approved the bill on July 29 without issuing a news release.
“It’s disheartening to turn on the national talk shows and hear how they talk about Oregon. We recently became famous for riots and anarchy. Now we can add poorly educated high school graduates to the mix,” said Dr. Pierce.
According to The Oregonian, the legislation will mean there is “no guarantee” that the student who earned a diploma can read, write or do math at the high school level.
Even an Aug. 12 opinion in the Wall Street Journal, entitled “Dumbing Down Oregon,” says Oregon made the wrong move.
The WSJ writes, “It is a terrible disservice to issue a diploma that fools them [students] into believing they’ve mastered basic skills they haven’t. It is particularly cruel for the minority student who will pay the highest price when the real world confirms that their high schools have defrauded them of a real education.”
If elected governor, Dr. Pierce has pledged to put education improvement as one of his top priorities. This includes creating various educational experiences in public K-12 schools, more in-class time, and giving teachers authority and accountability in the classroom.
Dr. Pierce, who holds both an M.D. and a Ph.D., is a product of public education.
He concluded, “My success is a result of the outstanding public education I received from exceptional public school teachers. Students will perform to the standards we set for them. We can’t set the bar low. Oregon deserves better.”