The school board is changing, what does that mean for our communities?

Hosted by Moses Ross.

Engineered by Sherry Morisch

We took some time this month to talk about the school board elections going on all over the state of Oregon. Each community is discovering that its school boards are becoming the central point of political and cultural discussions and many didn't expect that to be the case, as in past years, much of the discussions have revolved around policy for the school district based on the outcomes they desired from the districts. The problem is, so many people within these communities tend to believe things that in reality are smaller than what the media or some community leaders might want them to believe. 

We spoke with three very qualified individuals with public service and dedication to the best of what we can offer to our students front and center in their minds. We invited 3 people from school board races around the area to get their take on the races, the environment, and the future. There were some similarities in each community and we want to share these three interviews with the idea that you'll hear the similarities on the ground and gain a better understanding of another view.

Below, we offer some publicly available information about each of our guests. We encourage you to learn more about our guests through their interviews with Moses and the links to the available information:

Danny Cage, Portland Oregon

Race: The Multnomah Education Service District

Source: The Portland Tribute - "High schooler files for school board seat" (Vaughn, March 7, 2023)

https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/high-schooler-files-for-school-boar...

"He serves on Oregon’s Environmental Justice Council, a position he was appointed to by former Gov. Kate Brown. He’s now working as a legislative intern for Oregon Rep. Hoa Nguyen, having previously worked for Akasha Lawrence-Spence. Within Portland Public Schools, Cage helped lead the district’s Climate Crisis Response Committee and its Policy Committee. In 2020, he also worked for Don’t Shoot Portland founder Teressa Raiford’s write-in campaign for Portland mayor."

Justice Rajee, Beaverton Oregon

Race: Beaverton School District, Position 6

Source: Beaverton Valley Tribune

"Rajee has a background in working with the Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center at Rosemary Anderson High School, as well as a parent coordinator for Self Enhancement Inc., a youth services group based in Portland. He was also one of the founding members of the Beaverton Black Parent Union." (Bishop, February 8, 2023)

https://www.beavertonvalleytimes.com/news/local/first-two-candidates-fil...

Jennifer Satter, Molalla Oregon

Race: Molalla River School District, Position 1

Source: Facebook

"The most important issue that I would like the board to work on is a community collaboration with other leaders in Molalla to address the drug issues with youth in our community.

My most rewarding moment on school board was getting to hand out diplomas to special needs students at a graduation. Knowing how extremely hard those students worked to receive their diplomas, I felt that it was a great honor to be part of that moment with them." (Jennifer Satter, April 2023)

https://www.facebook.com/JenniferSatterMRSDBoard/posts/pfbid02gTK5w8pxPj...

Thank you for listening and feel free to connect with us at pdx.progressivetalkradio@kboo.org or pdx.progressivetv@gmail.com with questions, requests, or comments. We look forward to seeing you on the radio in May :)