Ben Canada's name is not on the ballot this week, but make no mistake--the biggest issue in the current Portland School Board election is the superintendent's troubling performance (ballots were mailed Feb. 23 and are due March 13).

Canada, who arrived from Atlanta in 1998, has improved the district's reputation in Salem and with the business community. But these successes have been overshadowed by an acrimonious debate over the achievement gap between low-income and minority students and middle-class whites, as well as a seemingly endless chain of miscues, the most recent of which was the brief but controversial tenure of deputy superintendent Susan Dyer.

"What this election has got to be about is restoring the credibility of Portland Public Schools with parents, teachers and our partners in the community," says Tony Larson, chairman of the district's Citizen's Budget Review Committee.

As Portland's superintendent, Canada heads an operation that educates more than 54,000 kids, employs nearly 5,000 people and spends an annual general-fund budget of $350 million. Canada's job is difficult and often thankless, but an assessment of his record would yield low marks for the following reasons:

Costly personnel choices. By now, many people know that earlier this month the board voted to pay Canada's deputy, Susan Dyer, a quarter of a million dollars to leave her job just seven months after she was hired.

Fewer people know that district officials expect they'll soon have to pay an even greater sum to settle a lawsuit filed by an administrator named Minh Tran, who claims he was unfairly passed over for a job that Canada gave to Merced Flores--who himself quickly flamed out.

Failure to complete crucial tasks. Canada has struggled to fulfill the board's basic requests. His budgets have arrived late and without adequate detail; more notably, he's largely failed to reduce the district's oversupply of real estate.

Most damaging is Canada's inability to implement the Strategic Plan, which was completed last June--and was far more than just another binder full of clichés.

An 18-month collaboration of 700 people on how to remake Portland Public Schools, the Strategic Plan was notable not only for the high caliber of those involved, but also for the level of detail in which they analyzed the district's operations.

The plan calls for decentralizing authority, promoting community involvement and attacking the achievement gap. But the Strategic Plan participants have been deeply disappointed by Canada's inability even to begin implementing their vision. They were invited to the prom but sent home without getting to dance.

Alienation of teachers. Union leaders never warmed to Canada. But by naming Steve Goldschmidt human-resources director last year despite the union's opposition and subsequently accusing teachers publicly of not caring about students, Canada has needlessly antagonized a powerful constituency.

Poor communication and public-relations skills. For the past 18 months, Canada has allowed the Education Crisis Team, a coalition of minority and low-income activists, to dominate the debate over how to close the achievement gap. While the Crisis Team and the district wrangle over who's acting in good faith, Canada looks like a spectator rather than a leader.

Similarly, Canada's inattention to important detail was on display this winter at the district's two most troubled schools, Whitaker Middle School and Jefferson High. In rapid succession, hand-picked principals at both walked off their jobs, accusing the superintendent of ignoring their schools' needs.

Misplaced priorities. For the first time in more than a decade, last year's budget included money--$1 million--for replacing worn-out school furniture such as chairs, desks and chalkboards.

But WW has learned that last year Canada diverted $440,000 of the money intended for classroom furniture to pay part of an $830,000 tab for administrators' new offices.

The consequences were clear. "The schools over the past 15 years have not had money in their budget to replace furniture which continues to wear out and break," district purchasing manager Mike Hutchens wrote in an August memo. "Schools with expressed needs for replacement furniture and equipment are having those needs remain unmet."

The board member most involved with facilities issues is vice chairman Marc Abrams. He was unaware, until informed by WW last week, that the money for the new administrative offices came from the classroom furniture budget. "I don't think that, had we [the school board] known, we would have been real thrilled," Abrams said.

Individually, none of Ben Canada's shortcomings makes him unfit for his job. Collectively, however, they paint a picture of an administrator who has difficulty getting things done.

Still, to characterize Canada's tenure as a total failure would be unfair. By some measures, academic achievement has improved. District Chief Financial Officer Jim Scherzinger, general counsel Bruce Samson (now a part-timer) and interim deputy superintendent Pat Burk have earned widespread praise. (It's worth noting, though, that Canada didn't hire any of them.)

And in part, Canada's problems stem from the board's failure to hold him accountable. The board asked him to improve relations with the teachers union, and he responded by hiring Steve Goldschmidt; the board gave Canada a lousy review last September, then a substantial raise in December; the board asked him to cut back on travel, but after the Dyer debacle, he jetted to Orlando for three days of meetings. "In this district, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission," says the CBRC's Larson.

As long as that is true, nothing will change. "The question is whether the board is going to step up and take a stronger role," says longtime school volunteer Duane Schulz, "or whether we take steps to change who is on it."

Voters may have limited opportunity to influence Canada directly, but they can reshape the school board in the current election, with three of seven school board seats up for grabs. Our endorsements follow.

Even though she's a member of the Education Crisis Team, Carrie Adams (top) has paid her dues fighting for better schools. Lolenzo Poe Jr. (bottom) has worked from inside, and outside, government bureaucracies. Derry Jackson (middle) has the desire to be an effective, independent voice on the board.

ZONE SIX
Carrie Adams

We like both the candidates in this race. Julia Brim-Edwards, 39, spent the past 16 years in Washington, D.C., and Salem as an assistant to politicians ranging from former Republican Sen. Bob Packwood to her husband Randall, the current Democratic state treasurer. Although she is a Republican, the teachers union and many progressive education supporters endorse her.

Smart and wired, Brim-Edwards is the safe choice, but she's not our choice. Many of her skills replicate those already present on the board, which is the province of well-connected, nice folks who have been unwilling to ask tough questions or hold the superintendent accountable.

Her opponent, Carrie Adams, would do both. Adams, also 39, works for the Albina Ministerial Alliance, which serves low-income children. She is also a member of the Education Crisis Team. Although a political neophyte, she scored endorsements from City Commissioner Dan Saltzman and County Commissioner Serena Cruz.

Although she lacks Brim-Edwards' connections, Adams is equally smart on school issues. A single mother of three, she has served just about every parent-volunteer role imaginable at her children's schools, and then some. At Binnsmead Middle School, for instance, she called attention to a principal who was found to be misspending school funds; the principal was demoted. As a member of the Crisis Team, Adams objected to the district's method of reporting low-income students' academic progress.

In a race where "diversity" is a buzzword, Adams represents a large constituency that currently has no board representation--low-income families.

We think she would bring a fresh perspective to current school discussions..

ZONE FOUR
Derry Jackson

Unfortunately, we're not thrilled with either candidate in this race. The incumbent, Freightliner engineer Derry Jackson, was appointed to the board in November 1999 to finish the term of Lucious Hicks, who resigned. In picking Jackson, the board passed over five other applicants, including Tri-Met Communications Director Mary Fetsch. She's now challenging Jackson.

Jackson gets our somewhat reluctant nod. A 38-year-old Virgin Islands native and the father of five kids (two are foster children), Jackson has few allies and little to show for his board tenure.

Although the teachers union supports Jackson, Ben Canada, the Education Crisis Team and his board colleagues are less enthusiastic.

Jackson is energetic and passionate. But he's also under-prepared and wildly erratic.

We're willing to cut Jackson some slack. His unevenness may stem from his being his family's primary breadwinner and a full-time employee. (Every other board member is either self-employed or doesn't work outside the home.)

If Jackson's record is spotty, Fetsch's is nearly nonexistent. Single and childless, Fetsch worked in the media and for former congresswoman Elizabeth Furse prior to Tri-Met, but has a limited record of school involvement. She has served as a reading tutor at a North Portland Elementary School since 1999 but has done little else.

We'll stick with Jackson because we think he's smart enough to right himself--he clearly outshined Fetsch in their joint endorsement interview. We hope that he'll work harder, seek better counsel and mold himself into the effective board member he clearly wants to be.

ZONE FIVE
Lolenzo Poe Jr.

Lolenzo Poe Jr. is running unopposed for the seat currently held by Doug Capps. Poe, 48, is the director of the Multnomah County Department of Community and Family Services. The Jefferson High grad has deep roots in Portland's African-American community and enjoys the support of County Chairwoman Beverly Stein and City Commissioner Jim Francesconi. A extensive report on the county's mental-health services last year criticized Poe's management, but he brings valuable experience with budgets, contracts and unions. And unlike any current board member, he has a strong relationship the Education Crisis Team.

As someone with credibility among both activists and politicians, he can play a key role on the board.

Ron Saxton.

Saxton Speaks
Portland's most powerful school board member breaks his silence on Ben Canada and the district.

For four years, Ron Saxton has been the Portland School Board's most powerful member. The chairman of the Ater Wynne law firm, Saxton last year announced that he would not run for another term on the school board but instead would seek the Republican nomination for governor.

In recent weeks, Saxton's gubernatorial campaign has had to take a back seat to his school board duties. Those duties have become increasingly challenging as criticism of Superintendent Ben Canada mounts. Saxton himself has been targeted by the Education Crisis Team for what it says is his role in the district's failure to address the needs of low-income and minority students. Here are excerpts from a Feb. 15 interview:

Willamette Week: When you begin campaigning in earnest, certain people are going to talk about your record on the school board. Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Roberts has implied, for example, that you are walking away and leaving a mess behind.

Ron Saxton: I'm certainly not walking away and leaving a mess behind. I'm proud of what we have accomplished since I've been there, and I think the school district is a far better place now than it was four years ago. I also think there's a current leadership problem in the school district, and I'm committed to addressing that before I leave.

What do you mean by that?

Well, I think the management team at the district has not been as effective as we need. I include not just the superintendent but other senior leadership, and I intend to make sure that before I leave this district, either there is a team in place that I think is capable of doing the job right, or I'll be very clear that I don't think there is such a team in place and I'll try to do something to change it.

Clearly you're aware that more than anybody else on the school board, you are associated with the hiring of Ben Canada?

Well, I absolutely favored and voted for the hiring of Ben Canada. But the hiring of Ben Canada was done after a very elaborate public process, involving dozens if not hundreds of people. There was an entire group of Portland leaders--educators and business leaders--who went to Atlanta and spent days talking to people about him. I wasn't part of that; I didn't go to Atlanta.

Do you have any concern that if it turns out that Ben Canada was the wrong choice for the district, this will--fairly or unfairly--affect the perception of your record and your political chances?

Whether Ben Canada is the right superintendent going forward, I think, is a fair question and one that can be discussed and debated. Whether or not he was the right person to hire three years ago--I think he was. When we were talking about hiring a superintendent, the problems we were talking about were that we had no credibility with other elected officials: legislators, City Council, and other districts. We faced the criticism that the financial management of the district was so out of control that we couldn't even tell people how much money they had, or balance their books and such. We had a series of problems, which I think have been addressed. Ben deserves a great deal of credit for that.

But weren't those issues addressed mainly by Chief Financial Officer Jim Scherzinger and former General Counsel Bruce Samson, whom you and other board members hired?

That's true. But it's important to note: If everybody thought Ben Canada was doing a bad job, this would be an easy thing. But there are clear constituencies who think he is a great guy doing a great job. For example, almost all elective officials I can think of at the city, county or state level have spoken in defense of him in some way. I think the business communities are generally very supportive of him. I think a significant number of principals have spoken up for him. So what you have here is not the whole world against Ben Canada; what you have is a very strongly divided world, and it falls to the school board to sort out what to do with that. That's why this is so difficult.

How much do other factors play into this whole issue? For example, that it wasn't easy to find a superintendent to begin with, or that the Portland school district has a fragile relationship with the rest of the city and with the Legislature.

Absolutely, these things weigh into it. You have to think: If we made a change, is the change one where we're going to be better off later? Part of what the school board has thought about, part of what Ben has been thinking about, is whether it's possible that we can take advantage of the things where Ben is a successful superintendent, the things that are going very well, and that other people can address those areas where we have concerns. I've said repeatedly, this is not a one-person job. Leading the school district is not a one-person job, I don't care who that person is. There has to be an effective team at the top.

On a separate matter, were you the person who ordered Susan Dyer fired?

No. I did express concern about her performance.

Were you aware of the contractual details that would give her three years of severance in the event that she was terminated?

No, I wasn't aware of that up until a week ago.

Would that have changed your decision, had you known that she would get such a large payoff?

Only the superintendent has the power to make decisions about personnel matters. The fact that she had a contract that was more generous than I thought it was troubles me. But it doesn't change my view as to what's the right decision in going forward.

Is the Education Crisis Team being unreasonable?

I think the school board, probably unanimously, agrees with the vast majority of issues raised by the Education Crisis Team. The concern first is one of style--I think their approach [protests that shut down board meetings] is not an effective one. I find it disrespectful to the operations of the school district and to well-intentioned public servants who are donating their time to be school board members, and I think it's a grandstanding approach that's not an effective technique. In terms of the specific issues, they're making demands that I think even they know are not really in our purview to address. They were in a couple of weeks ago, and the first thing [Crisis Team co-leader] Ron Herndon chanted about was that teachers should only be paid if they deliver results. Well, you know, I didn't see him out working with Bill Sizemore to pass that last [merit pay for teachers] measure, and I don't see [Crisis Team supporter and state Sen.] Avel Gordly introducing that legislation in Salem. If they believe we ought to pay based on teacher performance--they can yell at the school board all day, but it isn't going to happen. You also have the Crisis Team's issue with teacher assignments--that we ought to be more aggressive about moving teachers around, getting rid of the teachers they don't like. Again, it's clear right now that the district does not have the legal ability to do this.

Let me ask you a similar question: Is the teachers union being unreasonable?

I don't know that they are being unreasonable. I think what you have is a major problem with Ben and the senior leadership not having a good working relationship with the union leadership, and that needs to be resolved or there will have to be a change. My only criticism of the union is that they are often pretty inflexible about things.

How do you respond to the criticism that the school board is too middle-class and too white and that there is no one on it who can identify with a certain segment of the parents sending their kids to school?

Let's hit both sides of that. First, I bet I grew up poorer than any of those critics you're talking about. I'm the first in my family to ever go to college; I come from very modest means. I put myself through college. I may have some good success now, but if you want to talk about growing up poor, I'll talk to you about growing up poor. My opportunity to succeed was that I got a good public-school education in Albany, Oregon, which allowed me to then get a scholarship and go to college. I absolutely think that is our obligation to every kid: to give them the tools to succeed. So I understand the criticisms, but I really resent any notion that some of us don't understand how important this is to individual students--to have that adequate education and that opportunity. If Tony Hopson [a co-leader of the Crisis Team and an outspoken critic of the board and Canada] wants to run for the school board, I'll endorse him, I'll support him, I'll contribute to his campaign. The district absolutely needs people who are connected to that community in leadership positions. But that's the problem with the school board in general. You've got a body in here that's the most important government unit around, and you can't get people who are the real leaders to step up and talk about serving in it. I've said to Tony or to Ronnie Herndon or to any of them: Quit talking about why somebody else ought to run for it. You run and step up and do it. They're busy, but they aren't any busier than I am in my life.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

In addition to the school board races, two other educational institutions, Portland Community College and the Multnomah Education Service District, have elections on the March ballot.

MULTNOMAH EDUCATION SERVICE DISTRICT

The Multnomah ESD, which has a budget of nearly $70 million, provides special-ed services and nurses and acts as a buyers' co-op for eight metro-area school districts. Four of the seven ESD board seats are up for election this March; only one is being contested, the at-large seat for Position 2. In that race, our nod goes to the incumbent, Sy Kornbrodt, a retired parole officer who has served the ESD energetically and effectively since 1996.

Challenger Jim Davis, who owns a running equipment store and got elected to the ESD board in 1989, has unsuccessfully offered his services in subsequent campaigns. Davis is no fool but has a reputation for being disruptive and abrasive. He's also the sort who says, in his Voters' Pamphlet statement, that he did graduate work at "MIT," only to admit in an interview that the institution in question is the Milwaukee Institute of Technology.

The other hopeful in the race is a genial land-management consultant named John Sweeney, who also once sat on the ESD board and has run for other offices since then. Powering his campaign with slogans such as "MONEY is SHORT: It should not be wasted," Sweeney is uninspiring.

We'll gladly stick with Kornbrodt, who displays a long record of involvement in neighborhoods and schools and has the endorsements to prove that his efforts have made a difference.

PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD

Currently, the board of Oregon's most populous school of higher education faces three major challenges: replacing president Dan Moriarty, efficiently spending the $144 million proceeds of last November's bond campaign and managing the college's rapid growth. Three of the five seats open this election are being contested.

ZONE 4
Dana Anderson

This race pits a bright newcomer, Patrick Ferro, a former engineer who now teaches engineering at WSU-Vancouver, against four-term incumbent Dana Anderson, who runs a fitness business. Ferro is the kind of candidate we'd like to see more often. As a former PCC instructor with more than a decade of engineering experience at local firms, he says he brings an understanding of the college and of industry's needs. Still, he didn't make a compelling case for why voters should dump Anderson, by all accounts a highly effective board member. Normally, we'd frown on returning anyone for a fifth term, but Anderson's experience will be valuable in guiding the new president and overseeing the college's growth.

ZONE 5
Doreen Margolin

It wasn't hard to make a selection in this race between incumbent Doreen Margolin and challenger Louise Weidlich.

Weidlich, an occupational therapist, says she jumped into the race only when it became clear no one else would. So we'll give her credit for democratic spirit (and bonus points for bringing us copies of the Gettysburg Address). But her complete ignorance about PCC makes her an unfit challenger.

Margolin, on the other hand, is exactly the kind of board member PCC needs. Community colleges do everything from teaching English to training engineers. And yet, every session in Salem, they struggle for funding. Margolin was appointed to the board in 1999 and didn't waste any time settling in. She's the president elect of the Oregon Community College Association. She says she'll continue to make PCC's case with lawmakers, while working to ensure that the money from the recently approved PCC bond measure is spent wisely.

That's good enough for us.

ZONE 6
Michael R. Hereford

Hereford, the incumbent, is the human-resources director at Columbia Steel. Maureen Breckenridge, his opponent, runs continuing legal education for the Oregon State Bar. Hereford, a no-nonsense type whose colleagues put him in charge of the committee that will choose PCC's new president, brings valuable skills to the board from his days as a leader of the local food-workers union. Breckenridge, who studied and taught at PCC, wants greater focus on the needs of students and greater commitment to hiring full-time faculty. She is sharp and well-intentioned, but didn't provide a compelling reason for us to unseat Hereford.