Dive Brief:
- The Oregon Education Investment Board took a day-long retreat Tuesday to reflect on and evaluate what it has achieved over the last three years.
- The board was created in 2011 and is responsible for streamlining pre-K to college education decisions. Its ultimate purpose is help Oregon achieve its "40-40-20" goal by 2025, which means that 40% of the state's youth will have degrees from four-year colleges, 40% will have degrees from two-year colleges or technical schools, and 20% will have high school diplomas.
- According to The Oregonian, board members discussed how the public either overestimated the amount of power they had or did not even know they existed.
Dive Insight:
While the Oregon Education Investment Board oversees education decisions across grade levels, it has zero power in terms of funding and finances. That said, its advice does have the ability to influence the spending of legislators. The lack of financial power and the limited test data available — 2014 scores have yet to be released — left many of the board members unclear and anxious about the role they have been playing in the greater education arena.
"Are we moving the dial?" Ron Saxton, a board member asked the Corvallis Gazette Times . "There has been lots of good talk, but ultimately it's about 'are we moving the dial fast enough?'"