I believe all Portland Students deserve access to great teachers, engaging classes, and welcoming schools.

Portland Public Schools face many challenges in providing equitable and engaging education services. As a parent to a PPS middle school student and a reading tutor, I see the numerous obstacles that deprive students, teachers, administrators, and parents of the joy of education. I will work hard to ensure every student has access to compassionate, accountable, and proficient schools.

Now is the time to reshape and improve how we educate our children. I have a plan to close the achievement chasm , improve the PPS website, and will work with the Superintendent and school board to craft a straightforward action plan to improve our schools.

If elected, I promise to listen with empathy, curiosity, and kindness to our community members. I will also ask tough questions, demand accountability, celebrate success, and demonstrate that equity and excellence are equals, not rivals.

Together we can make PPS the best school district in Oregon! Our students are ready to elevate–I believe my perspective, ideas, and plans will take them to the next level!

I want your vote because Portland students need a meaningful education.

More about me…

I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with my four sisters. When I was 16, my family moved to the suburbs of Cincinnati, where I finished high school. I attended college at Ohio University, spending my Junior year abroad in Swansea, Wales.

In 1997, I moved to Portland. In my first two years I worked as an Education/Program Assistant with Morrison Center’s Counterpoint Day Treatment Center, where I assisted students transitioning from youth detention back into the community.

For the next six years, I directed Oregon Partnership’s (Renamed Lines For Life in 2012) Statewide Youth Drug Prevention Program. I delivered hundreds of multi-media presentations to middle and high school students across Oregon, recruited youth volunteers for the statewide YouthLine, and wrote many successful private, state, and federal grants. In addition, I established, in partnership with the NW Film Center, after-school youth film projects at four Yamhill County High Schools and Jefferson High School in North Portland. Here is a PSA that a group of students created in 2005 targeting methamphetamine.

Later, I transitioned to the City of Portland’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement (renamed Office of Civic and Community Life). I was a Crime Prevention Program Administrator for Southeast Portland. I developed and implemented crime prevention and community policing strategies to address public safety needs. I also organized and facilitated community outreach and forums in collaboration with the Portland Police Bureau and the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.

When my daughter was born, I got the best job: full-time dad!

When my daughter entered school, I became a reading tutor with Reading Results, a nonprofit that partners with schools serving low-income students to provide reading intervention services across the Portland Metro area. I work with elementary students in North, Northeast, and East Portland schools. It is an awesome experience to help struggling 1st-3rd graders transform into successful and joyful readers.

I enjoy debate, value education, and love my family.

As the son of a political science professor, political and community discussions are in my DNA. I enjoy writing letters to the editor and op-eds. I have written about being a stay-at-home dad, education reform, earnest and satirical pieces on homelessness, grief, school safety, suicide, and even the red house in North Portland. You may not agree with what I say, but I hope you can appreciate that I am always exploring and challenging my thoughts.

I was Vice President of the PTA at Vestal. In that role, I worked with parents, teachers, and the principal to successfully lobby PPS Facilities and Assets Management to replace deteriorating and dirty carpeting in our second and third grade classrooms.

Thank you to my family for encouraging my effort, exploring my ideas, and giving me time to do this.

Questions? Go to my contact page.