Could not agree with you more, the education performance of Oregon's schools stinks.    I wonder if that doesn't go along with Oregon being rated dead last in Mental Health which the RG posted awhile back?

http://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-ranked-dead-last-in-mental-health-study/

No company will select Oregon for business if we don't have an educated work force, or we have a lot of emotionally unstable families.

This will not be corrected by more, or less money, for PERS or teacher salaries.    Oregon's expectation of the teaching profession can't overcome the states self-centered individualism that puts care and nurturing of a child behind the whims of self-seeking parents, or those who put no more value on their children's education than they did their own.

When adults have low expectation of a child's achievement, or the effort required for a quality student, the state is getting exactly what they deserve.

How does politics change culture, or should it even try?