Governor taps school board members to help guide higher education
Governor John Kitzhaber has relied heavily on locally-elected school board members to serve on the newly created Higher Education Coordinating Commission, said Betsy Miller-Jones, OSBA interim executive director.
Five of the governor's 14 appointees to the commission are members of local school boards, Miller-Jones said Wednesday. One of those, David Krumbein, is the secretary-treasurer of OSBA and a member of the Pendleton School Board. Another appointee, James Woods, serves on the OSBA board and the Parkrose School Board.
"We're heartened that the important business of coordinating policy for higher education will benefit from the experience and expertise of local school board members," Miller-Jones said. "Our association wants to ensure that graduating high school students can look forward to high-quality, relevant instruction in college and community colleges—instruction that prepares them for the demanding jobs in today's intensely competitive business world. We stressed to the governor that school board members will bring this priority to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission."
In addition to Krumbein and Woods, the governor's appointees to the commission include the following members of local school boards:
- Chris Brantley, Salem-Keizer School Board
- Nori Juba, Bend-La Pine School Board
- Al King, Springfield School Board