Oregon’s Republican race for governor is tightening around one issue as the May 19 primary approaches: schools. Candidates are crisscrossing the state, including stops in Central Oregon, and each is pitching a different plan to answer why the state keeps falling short in reading and math.
Christine Drazan said Oregon schools are among the worst in the nation for reading and math in the third- and fourth-grade years, while Chris Dudley argued the state’s students are losing ground long before they finish high school. Federal education data cited in the campaign puts Oregon 36th out of 50 states in eighth-grade reading proficiency and 40th in math, a ranking that has become fuel for Republican attacks on the current system.
Drazan said the state cannot accept results that leave it “right at the bottom couple of states,” while Dudley framed the gap in plain terms. If a student from Oregon and one from Washington both graduated high school, he said, the Washington student would have effectively spent a full extra school year in class. That kind of comparison has helped turn school performance from a policy line into a political warning.
The focus on education matters now because the primary is near and Republican candidates are using the final stretch to define the race before voters choose. Their message is not only that Oregon’s schools are underperforming, but that the state’s rules and priorities are part of the problem. The campaign trail has become a rolling argument over whether more time is being spent on instruction or on everything around it.
Danielle Bethell said teachers are spending more time in continuing education than on academics, and that classrooms are focusing too much on social emotional learning, diversity, equity, inclusion and comprehensive sex education instead of reading, writing and math comprehension and phonics. Ed Diehl made the case that the governor should directly own the system, saying, “As governor, I’ll be the superintendent of public education. And with that, comes control over that education system.” He also said he has spoken with teachers who feel “frustrated” and “helpless” because they believe there is nothing they can do.
That criticism lands against a calendar that Republican candidates say already shortchanges students. Oregon averages about 165 school days, roughly 15 to 20 fewer than the common 180-day standard in the United States. Up to 30 hours of parent-teacher conferences can count as learning days in the state, and up to 30 hours of professional development can do the same, details that candidates are using to argue that the school year is padded with time that does not always reach students.
For voters deciding between the Republican hopefuls, the question is less about whether education is broken than which candidate can sell the toughest fix. Drazan has gone after performance. Dudley has pressed the calendar. Bethell has targeted classroom priorities. Diehl has promised a governor who would take command. The primary will show whether Oregon Republicans see schools as a diagnosis or a mandate.
