Larry Lewin

As reported in Lookout Eugene-Springfield, Springfield Public Schools has been found to be out of compliance with Oregon’s elementary school curriculum requirements. This means that elementary students in grades K-5 have not been receiving adequate instruction, per state standards, for science concepts or social studies subjects, like geography, history, civics and basic economics.

In his recent letter to the editor in Lookout Eugene-Springfield, David Force cites several factors for declining enrollment in Springfield Public Schools: lower birth rates and more relocation to other districts. Both are true. But I ask: Are declining school enrollments inevitable, or can we rethink public education to revitalize schools and help stop the decline? I think we can. And we must.

The upheaval in Springfield Public Schools centers around a very basic issue: Who runs the district? Is it the superintendent and his administrative staff, or the publicly elected school board? The answer should be: both. Ideally, the board and their superintendent work side by side as partners. But what if the superintendent does not respond to questions and concerns voiced by board members on behalf of the community they represent? Who has the legal right to direct the district?