Today I attended a public meeting for Jeff Merkley in Redmond.

[classof56]

Jeff did a fine job, acquitted himself well, answered questions honestly and I thought thoroughly. Not many detractors there, one woman who demanded to know why he voted for the health care bill, seeing as how it was all done in secret and 60 percent of Americans were against it. Jeff explained his reasons, though I'm guessing not to her satisfaction. After the meeting, a group of folks were in the parking lot gathered around a huge sign saying "Vote Out Obama, Sen. Wyden, John Kitzhaber" and some others, probably including Rep. Peter DeFazio--there were several names covered up by the "crowd"--all Dems of course. Can't vote Obama out for awhile, and Kitzhaber, while running for governor, has not yet been elected. I shudder to think what the consequences will be if Chris Dudley wins that race, but I'm committed to campaigning for John. Anyway, just thought I'd pass the word along that Jeff did good over here in NeoCon land.

[LWolf]

1. Good to hear I didn't even know he was in town. nt

[classof56]

2. I'm on the Deschutes Dems e-mail list, where I first heard about it.

And I noticed afterward it was on the RHS readerboard at Highland and Rimrock. It occurred to me you might be there, but since I don't know what you look like...! There were some folks asking pretty good questions, and the student body president started them off with one about public education funding. Jeff answered that well, including saying NCLB was up for reauthorization or even replacement. He mentioned something about "teaching to the bubble", not a phrase I'd heard. Don't know how you feel about it, but myself, I've never been an NCLB fan. You must be busy-busy getting ready for school. Best wishes on that!

[LWolf]

3. We ARE busy getting ready.

As a matter of fact, I saw a crowd at RHS this weekend on my way to school; I just assumed it was the staff, getting ready. I spent all weekend in my class.

NCLB fan? NO. I'm no RTTT fan, either; did he say anything about that?

"Teaching to the bubble" is one of the ways we are "encouraged" to use data to "inform instruction," in this case, to make sure our test scores meet AYP. It means you target those students who are most likely to make a statistical difference for extra time and attention. It's unconscionable, and a direct consequence of high-stakes testing. While Redmond is heavily invested in analyzing and using data, we haven't been told to focus exclusively on the "bubble," thankfully.

[portlandapd]

4. Will he be speaking in Portland?

Will Jeff Merkley be talking in Portland, too?