Our Mission
The Oregon Public Education Network is a non-profit advocacy alliance of educators, parents and education advocates who work together to further effective public education for all Oregon students. Our purpose is to protect, preserve, promote, and improve public education for all Oregon students. We share information on critical issues and support each other in actions which have positive effects on our public schools that are currently threatened.
Our History
With the passage of No Child Left Behind, public education became dominated by a corporate-driven accountability paradigm that led to a system of standards and standardized assessments that were coupled with federal funding requirements guiding state departments of education. Matters that had been the purview of classroom teachers moved to a new group of testing and big data administrators.
Alarmed by this shift away from the expertise and experience of teachers, who are closest to the children, a group of retired educators in Oregon gathered to share their concerns and formulate a response. On July 24, 2017, at Parkrose Community United Church of Christ, Pat Eck and twenty former teachers met at the first Summer Summit and soon established the Oregon Public Education Network [OPEN]. During the day-long convocation, initial priorities and a plan of action was formulated. Over a casual dinner, the group benefited from a presentation by Dr. David Berliner, a distinguished professor and author of 50 Myths & Lies That Threaten America’s Public Schools [2014].
A winter Steering Committee Summit was held on November 18, 2017 to share progress and develop next steps. On December 2, 2017, Larry Lewin, another OPEN leader, met with the Wisconsin Public Education Network to learn about their structure. Later that spring, on March 24, 2018, the Steering Committee met with Scott Nine, then Executive Director of Future for Learning, to get further guidance on organizational structure. Insights from those initial meetings have guided OPEN’s action since then.
Our Values
We believe that ongoing learning is essential to the continued progress of our world.
We believe that collaboration among dedicated professionals who embrace a humane and holistic vision of education can accelerate the individual and organizational learning essential to a better future.
We believe that educating all children to their maximum capabilities is critical to our social, moral and economic well-being.
We believe in challenging assumptions and questioning conventional wisdom.
We believe that reason and rational problem solving are superior to rage and revolution as strategies for social change.
We believe that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things when given appropriate support.
We believe that we can help others who embrace these beliefs.
Our Priorities
OPEN’s 2022-25 legislative priorities are:
Limiting school testing for young learners that misdirects classroom time and resources to testing instead of comprehensive and integrated learning
Restoring the balance between in-person instruction and assessments by reducing screentime in classrooms.
Supporting the revision of the QEM (Quality Education Model) and fully funding schools