March 31, 2024 • 42 mins
Join Multnomah Education Service District Superintendent Dr. Paul E. Coakley in the Season 1 finale. In this episode, he speaks with Beaverton Superintendent Dr. Gustavo Balderas about the challenges and opportunities they have both navigated as leaders of color.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
-
- Welcome Leaders, aspiringLeaders, equity Warriors,
policy Makers, educators,and Barrier Breakers.
(00:20):
This is the Leaders BuildingLeaders Podcast with me,
Dr. Paul Coley, superintendent
of the Multnomah EducationService District.
We are a pod dedicatedto elevating voices,
empowering others, speakingour truth, rethinking systems,
and giving people their flowers.
Today I'm joined by a man who,
who needs no introduction,but he's gonna get one.
(00:41):
He's been in the game for 34 years.
He's a product of migrantworkers from eastern Oregon.
He developed a love for learning
and a passion for educationin Oregon's public schools.
He holds a doctoral degree ineducational leadership from
University of Oregon, and hestarted his career in education
as a high school teacher and counselor.
He served as superintendentin California, Washington,
(01:04):
and Oregon, and iscurrently the superintendent
of the Beaverton School District,
the third largest schooldistrict in Oregon,
which serves over 40,000 students.
His career highlights includebeing named not only Oregon,
but the NationalSuperintendent of the Year
by the American Associationof School Administrators
and the National Associationof Bilingual Educators.
(01:26):
He was awarded the OregonLatino of the Year Award,
receiving Ali's Equity Leadership Award,
and the ERDI, Mike NealExcellence in Leadership Award
In every district, he's worked,
he's closed both the achievement
and opportunity gaps forstudents by using data to inform
decisions and improve outcomes.
(01:48):
He's also been instrumentalin diversifying the workforce
and making it more representativeof the student population.
Is my pleasure to be joinedby my esteemed colleague, Dr.
Gustavo Bald.
So, uh, Dr. Dr.
(02:09):
Balderas and I have known eachother, uh, for quite a while,
since, um, since Istarted in, uh, K 12, uh,
administration here in Oregon.
And so, uh, I go back to whenhe wa was serving in Eugene
and kind of runninginto him at conferences
and asking him questionsand those type of things.
And I think that, uh, todayhe'll be able to share several,
(02:29):
um, key pieces of informationfor educational leaders, uh,
that you guys will really wanna listen to.
So, uh, thank you and, uh,welcome to the podcast.
- Uh, just thank you, Paul.
I appreciate the, just the invitation
and being here with you today,
and just, uh, again, greatfriendship over the years
and just look forward to,
to having a great conversation here.
- Hey, we really appreciate it.
(02:51):
Um, so we'll just start,uh, right at the beginning.
So, uh, where were you born
and, uh, what were, uh,your first years of,
uh, K 12? Like?
- So, I was b actually bornin Mount Vernon, Washington.
Okay. This is a little story,so I'm getting a little,
little birdwalk on a story. Oh,
- That's great. My,
- So my parents were migrant workers,
and we worked with ourextended family, my,
(03:12):
my grandparents, uncles and so forth.
And we came in from Sila, Mexico,
which is northern Mexicoin the state of Guila,
which is about two and a halfhours south of San Antonio.
Okay. And they would allmigrate together in all the cars
and do what was used
to be called the OldAgricultural Triangle.
They'd go through California,work all the fields
through California, come through Oregon,
(03:34):
work the fields in Oregon,up to Washington State,
work all the fields there,
and go back through EasternOregon to work the root crops.
Wow. The, the potatoes beets
before heading back to Mexico,
I was actually born in Mount Vernon
with my family was picking strawberries.
Okay. So, and it's, it's,it's right north of Seattle,
maybe about an hour orso north of Seattle.
(03:54):
Okay. Heavy migrant.
Um, but we used to do thattrail, so worked the 99
through California, FresnoMadera and all that,
and work, my family used towork through, through Oregon.
So my mom still has memoriesof, of, um, of Woodburn
and, uh, and all the fieldsthat she used to work
with Hillsborough and so forth.
And they used to work a lotthrough, through migratory work.
(04:17):
So that's my, my upbringing.
And I was actually went to K
through 12 in a small town inNisa, which is heavy migrant,
heavy migrant community.
Yeah. About 70, uh,69, 70% Latino in Nisa.
And, uh, that's a K 12 smallfarming community, rural.
And, uh, and you know,
we were actually raised in a labor camp,
so we lived in a labor campthat used to be a Japanese
(04:38):
and term camp right by the river there.
It's now being convertedto housing the HUD housing.
So, but the days
and still have picturesof that, of those times.
And, you know, when you're poor,you don't know you're poor,
every bear around you the same way.
So we had a great, you know, childhood
and again, just fortunate to be able to go
to school in a, in a small town.
(04:58):
And, uh, again, K through 12, K
through 12 is me and my little brother.
- Okay. Wow. That's great.No, thank you for sharing.
Um, what kind of experiences,uh, growing up in
that migrant community
and also, um, in Nisa, youreducational background, um,
what experiences, uh, stand out to you
or helped you, uh, think about maybe
(05:21):
what you wanted to do in the future?
Because it's a, a big shiftfrom, uh, superintendent to, uh,
growing up in a small migrant community?
- That's a great question.So I never really wanted
to be a teacher growing up.
I, I wanted to be a, um, a parkranger. I like the outdoors.
Okay. I like, I like sciences.
And again, being in a small town, you're
around rural, you're outside a lot.
Yeah. So you're always, so
(05:41):
you work outside, that's your job.
You know, everybody'spretty much blue collar.
There's very, very fewwhite collar jobs anywhere.
So you're used to beingoutdoors regardless
of the weather you're outdoors.
So like the outdoors
and like the, the aspect ofpossibly being a forest ranger
or a park ranger, just
because I liked being outdoorsin, in, in the wilderness.
And, uh, but growing up Ihad a K one loop teacher,
(06:05):
uh, K one, Mrs.
Dorothy Bivens, and she,uh, had her kindergarten
and first grade thatreached out to my family.
And again, my family spoke no English.
And, uh, and she spoke verylittle Spanish back then. Okay.
But what she did is he wasable to connect with my mom
and dad and make me feel,
and make them that I was safe in school,
because again, I also didn'tspeak any English at all.
(06:25):
So, but that experience,I think, guided me
and guided my parents in terms
of really understanding educationhere in the United States,
because my parents had veryminimal educational experiences
themselves growing up.
So, but, uh, getting and,
and working through, Ihad a lot of mentors,
a lot of people that pushed me.
I ran track and crosscountry, played all the sport.
It's a small town, so when,when you're in a small town,
(06:45):
you play every sport,that's all there is to do.
Yeah. So you play every sport.
And, uh, but I had great people
that continued to push me forward.
And I went to Treasure ValleyCommunity College there in
Ontario, Oregon, which is 12miles right north of Nisa.
It's also a farming community.
Went my two years there
before transferring over toWestern Oregon where I, and
(07:06):
and Western, how I got intoteaching was there was a
bilingual teacher scholarship,
and I got a phone call fromthe university, said, Hey,
you would, would you beinterested in applying?
And it paid for my paid
for my schooling tobecome a teacher. Okay.
- That's awesome. Um, yeah.
One thing that you said thatreally stood out is, uh,
that your parents didn't speak English
and, uh, you didn'tspeak any English either.
(07:28):
And so, um, how did you, um, become fluent
and bilingual, uh, inEnglish coming up in a family
that it wasn't spoken in the home
and also, uh, you know, you were going
to elementary school at a, uh,all English speaking school.
- It, it, it's, the neighborhoodwas all Spanish speaking.
So it's kind of your neighborhood.
(07:50):
Even around Beavertontoday, there's pockets
where I'm a superintendent currently.
So in my whole neighborhood,
my neighbors were all Spanish speakers.
So English was spoken at school.
Uh, but going home, it's allSpanish all day, every day.
Yeah. So weekends, allSpanish, soon, I let you know,
six hours ahead publicschool I learned English,
but the rest of thetime it was all Spanish.
(08:11):
Wow. Weekend Spanish, you know?
So, and, and that's the wayit is for a lot of our kids.
Uhhuh andeither neighborhoods
complexes and so forth.
It's, you know, you learnthis language in school,
but you go back home, itgoes back to your culture,
your food that you eat and howyou cook and your neighbors.
Yeah. So it's just different.So, but that's the way it is.
That's the way it was for me.
And I think that's the way it is
(08:32):
for a lot of our kids right now.
- Right. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that.
Um, can you share some of your, um,
key early learning experiencesand also, uh, what influenced
and shaped your passion for education
and ultimately, um, yourpathway to leadership and,
and the superintendency?
- So I spent about 20years in Hillsborough
(08:53):
in the Hillsborough School District.
Okay. And working my way asa teacher, a counselor, and,
and all levels of leadership,elementary, middle,
and high school before becominga district office person.
And, um, back then,
so I've been doing thisfor about 34 years.
There's very few people ofcolor in leadership positions.
Right. In education in Oregon. Yeah.
And, um, very few, I think, you know,
(09:16):
Carlos Perez was the deputysuperintendent in Hillsborough.
Okay. And, uh, he's beenretired for about 10 years,
but I think at that time, hewas the highest ranking person
of color in any leadership position in the
state of Oregon and Wow.
In a school district. And,and I reached out to him
and, uh, when I was a counselor
and said, Hey, Carlos, wouldyou, can I meet with you
(09:37):
so I can ask you somequestions about leadership?
I was interested in becoming
an assistant principal at the time.
Yeah. And he took timeduring his day to meet
with me about once a month,over a period of several months
to be able to, just to,for me to pick his brain.
Mm-Hmm., we metfor coffee in the morning at
some coffee shop in Hillsborough.
Like I remember at seven 30before he got to work. Yeah.
(09:59):
But he took the time to do that.
So that still, I stillreflect back at that time
and why I do what I do still
for others is he paid it forward.
Right. So I continue to pay it forward.
I, I think I currently mentor formally
or informally about 12 aspiring
superintendents fromacross the United States.
Yeah. Wow. And that's
because someone paid it forward for me.
(10:20):
And the only ask I havefor them, the, the people
that I help and support
and be able to answer questions
that they have about theposition is when you get the
opportunity, and you will, everyone,
you will get the opportunityif you can just pay it
forward when you get a chance.
Right. When you have thatopportunity, pay it forward.
Like I'm paying it forward with you.
- Yeah. Um, thank you for sharing that.
(10:40):
That's, um, every superintendentthat I talk to, I find
that, um, most of ushave had somebody, um,
or several people that influence our, uh,
leadership pathway, justlike, uh, Carlos did for you.
And, um, really support us.
Take us under their wing
and, um, give us, uh, that,what it takes to get to
that next level of success.
(11:01):
And so, um, who are, uh, twoother influential people who,
uh, really impacted your life and,
and your, uh, position today?
- So, another one would berecently retired superintendent
Mike Scott from theHillsborough School District.
So Mike and I kind grewup together, you know,
he gave me my first opportunityto be an administrator.
So he was a principal at JWPoynter Middle School. Okay.
(11:24):
I think he was in his second
or third year doing thatwhen he got to the district.
And I became an assistantprincipal for him.
So he looked like he was like 23.
And I looked like I was 22, because I think we,
because I think we were.
Right. I think we, I dunno,
people remember the oldcartoon shows, mu and Jeff,
and I think that was likeJoe Red joke by staff.
'cause we just looked likejust a bunch of young kids kind
(11:45):
of running in the district or running the,
that school helping supportthe, the teachers there.
And we had a great run together.
But Mike, Mike taught mehow to balance life. Right.
Mike is one of those people
that taught me how to be a good leader.
Servant leadership was big backthen in terms of, you know,
you know, it just, what it is.
It's like he really took care of the staff
and taught me how to take care of staff
(12:06):
and build a strong culturearound the school setting.
Right. But also how to balance your life,
that the work isn't everything.
Because again, we can stay onour jobs, you know, at our,
I could stay at the districtoffice all day every day,
and the work's still not done. Yeah. It's
- Always gonna- Be there.
So it's always gonna be there.So I learned to get, get,
(12:27):
balance the home life,
because again, a lot of ourfolks married, have kids,
have families, have asignificant others that we,
and, and also yourself.
Yeah. Gotta take care of yourself
because the job is very difficult.
You, we all know. Right.
So the seat is always hot,
and you have to make sureyou take care of the people
that are taking care ofyou, and that includes you.
(12:47):
Yeah, sure. In terms ofexercise and all that.
So, uh, I think that's
what Mike taught me,is how to balance that.
Because I remember one thinghe said when my first year,
'cause I was alwaysthere late, he said, Hey,
wherever the remark was, ifyou are gonna be here all day,
every day, and that's your goal,
you're always gonna outwork me here.
(13:09):
And, uh, and he did itjust to kind of say, right.
You know, go home. Yeah.Because Yeah, for sure.
Because he taught me how he worked,
and he worked early in the
morning when his family was young.
So he got up at four, workedreally hard, exercised,
but he also, he got work done, emails,
everything was done before.
And then he would go home
and be with his family,do everything until, and,
(13:29):
and then he'd go back to workat eight till he got done.
So, I mean, he Right. He, sohe was putting in the hours
just, you know, during his time.
And that's what he taught me.
- That's a good, uh, model.
And, and that's one of thethings that, uh, I've sharing
with leaders and reallytrying to master is, um,
something called masterthe Morning where you, uh,
if you have kids, you wake up before them
(13:50):
and then you really like dothings to take care of yourself.
And so my, um, my question is,as a follow up to that, is,
uh, what's your morning routine look like?
- So my wife and I get up in the morning,
we work out together, sowe Oh, that's awesome.
So we work out early to try and beat the,
and right now it's the, the New Year's
resolution crowd.
Right. This past week.
So, so we're, weget to the gym about four
(14:12):
or four 30, and we workout for about an hour
and 15, an hour and a half before.
And that's our kind of time together.
And, and we're not together. We do,
but we, we have a routine
and as, so we have a routine together.
And, uh, that's what we doabout six times a week. Yeah.
And so it's about six timesa week. Oh, that's great.
So we, we try and bereally steady with that,
because then that's somethingwe're, I just, I said earlier,
(14:35):
you gotta learn to take care of yourself.
Right. And then, andthen, you know, the, the,
the text messages start coming,the emails start coming.
But again, there's atime for that too. Right.
There's a time for that. Ithink as long as people know
that there's a time for everything
and that things will get done, I think
that's the most important piece.
But, but that's that morning routine,
and then I get to workearly, answer, you know,
(14:56):
and get, get back on it.
Also, what I've learnedover the years being a
superintendent, this is my 13th year
of being a superintendent, is, is I try
and leave staff alone on a weekend
unless it's an absolute emergency.
Yeah. Because, again, youcan also flood your emails.
I mean, you could sit there and text
and email people all day,
- Then they're gonna respond to you.
- Right. And, and makes,
and then, so I, I, I quitdoing that a while back.
(15:17):
Say, you know what? I go,I'm, I'm gonna leave you alone
unless it's an absolute emergency.
Right. So I'll call you,
because again, it could wait till Monday.
- That's great. So I appreciate that.
Um, so this podcast, wehave a lot of listeners
that are aspiring leaders.
And, um, in your opinion, fornew leaders, what's the most,
uh, important personality trait
(15:38):
or strength that someone needsif they're coming into, uh,
educational leadership?
- You know, I, that'sanother great question.
So, to me, I alwayslook at, uh, your core.
I look at a person'score when I interview,
because you can be,
you can have your questions,you can have your answers.
But what's your core and whathave you done with your core?
And, and I'll explain what Imean by that in terms of what,
(16:00):
what makes you, you andyour integrity, right.
Your values and what you bringto the table and your lens.
And, uh, and you need to, for me,
that's how I kind of fill my cabinet.
I want divergent thinking,
but I want the same core, thepassion for kids, the passion
for the right purpose.
It's not about you. It'sabout we, it's about the kids.
(16:20):
Right. Keeping kids at the focus.
I think that's the onething I always look for.
So always stay true toyourself as an individual,
because there'll be peoplethat try to manipulate
the system and manipulate you.
Right. As a leader to getwhat they want. Exactly.
And, uh, it's a reallydivisive time right now in the
United States since, you know,
and I'll call it out since2016, it's been really difficult
(16:42):
to be school superintendentor a school leader
or an educator, period.
Because you think you get,
and again, I work with a lot
of people from across thecountry when you can't use
the word equity in Florida.
And I'm doing a presentationto people because Zoom.
And they said, Hey, wegotta change the title.
I go, I'm not gonna change the title.
'cause I'm, I go, butthat's, but I'll respect
you in terms of what you're doing.
Right. It's almost like there,there's a fear going on.
(17:05):
There's a, this fear mongering going on
and trying to, trying
to manipulate educationalsystems across the us.
So I think stay true to yourself, right.
And be you, and work in an environment
that's gonna allow you to be you.
- Right.- Because I think you don't have
- To change, you have- Have to change.
Just be who you are andsurround yourself with people.
They're diversion, but have the same core.
So that's why, you know,we're blessed to be in Oregon,
(17:28):
that here in the metro area,
because we have a lot of common people
commonalities in terms of that core.
Right. But there's some partsof the US where people are,
are, uh, are are less loud.
Mm-Hmm.because they're worried.
And I can see it, I can seeit with, with other colleagues
- For sure.
As a leader, how doyou personally approach
and navigate challenge or setbacks?
(17:50):
And how do you foster a cultureof resilience with your team
or your organization?
- Well, there's always setbacks
and there's always obstacles.
I think we start knowing
that there's always gonna be obstacles.
Right? It's alwaysabout, again, making sure
that you're clear with your focus.
I always talk to the staffabout having the North star.
Are we clear in our North star? Right.
As a school district, as a school staff,
(18:10):
is there clarity in termsof what the goal is?
Because if you're not clear with the goal
and people don't understandthe goal from, uh,
from transportation services,nutrition to teachers,
to administrators, then peoplemake up their own goals.
So having clarity, what isthe direction we're heading?
Yeah. And then how are we getting there?
And what's my role in that direction, in
that, in that trajectory.
(18:31):
Right. So people don't,if people understand
that it's school safety
or reading, what's my roleas a transportation director?
Yeah. And you do have arole. Everybody has a role.
People need to understand that too.
It's not just the teachinghonor learning department.
It's not just that, you know,that second grade teacher. No.
It's, everybody has arole to play in that.
And what does that look like?What's the environment look
(18:52):
like in a cafeteria to,to ensure that there's,
that you're promoting reading.
Right. Right. What's the bus driver, you
- Know, in the context that they're in.
- Exactly. How do- Do you get to that goal? Right.
- Right. Back in the day with PBIS
and buses had PBIS insidethe buses, wherever, I mean,
literally that's, so they felt
that they were doing somethingto meet the goal Yeah.
Of a safe environment.Understanding what people, you know,
(19:14):
just what are, what's theculture that you want to create?
And again, I thinkeverybody needs to own it.
But again, you need tobe clear in stating it so
that everybody does have an understanding.
And it is, uh, you co-created together
as a leadership team within your division,
whether it's a nutritiondivision department,
or transportation, or whateverdepartment you belong to.
- Right.- So having clarity
(19:35):
and having make sure people understand
that this is the waywe're gonna move forward.
And then make sure you have metrics
and achievable goals that youcontinually review and assess
and promote those publiclywith your board and,
and greater community to
understand this is where we're heading.
So, because again, thecommunity may not know where,
where you're heading andcommunicate that beyond your 25%
(19:55):
of your people that have kids in school.
'cause there's 75 that don't
typically in most school systems.
Right. So making sure thatyou're promoting it loud
so people understand what your
values are as a school system.
- Thank you. Um, you talkedabout leading for equity.
What steps do you take to ensure equity
and inclusion in all aspects of, uh,
your educational organization?
(20:17):
- So that's thenon-negotiable, right? Right.
The non-negotiable is makingsure that everybody has access,
opportunity and inclusion.
So that's the way I defineequity is being intentional.
Right. And you're havingintentional actions toward
access, opportunity, and inclusion.
So, and then using information so
that everyone has a sense of belonging.
So I use belonging with that too.
And, and that means everybodyhas a sense of belonging.
(20:38):
Yeah. Your staff, your kids, your parents,
your community members havea sense of belonging to
that school, to that district.
Right. So just make surethere's clarity in what
that looks like by department.
Okay. So, you know, and,
and everybody has a role to play on that.
So, you know, what's the humanresources department's goal?
Yeah. And my goal for humanresources is be proportional
to the students that we're working
(20:59):
with in terms of the hires.
Right. 'cause our kids need to be,
because our people that workin front of our kids need
to be reflective of our population,not just the classified,
which is typically whathappens in school systems.
Yeah. There's Right classified,you're closer to it.
But in terms of certifiedand administrators as well.
- Right. Important.
- Right. That's that level.
And again, making surethere's a strong equity lens,
(21:21):
because I also hear theword equity being thrown
around a lot, but definewhat that means in action.
'cause a lot of times it's,
it's just the professionaldevelopment for the, for the,
for the adults in the system,
which is really important, Paul.
It's really important thatwe all are self actualize to,
you know, to your goals.
Right. As an individual.
(21:41):
And everybody's at different places in
that self-actualization.
Yeah. As adults, aslearners. As adult learners.
- Right.- So, take that,
but also what does actually,
what does equity actuallylook in a classroom?
Yeah. I think that's whereI think there, there,
there is a shift happening.
Okay. In terms of, so whatdoes it, by doing this,
(22:01):
what does it mean for kids here?
Right. Whether they're looking at data
for disproportionality
and discipline to accessto extracurriculars
or advanced courses for all kids.
Right. I think that'strue equity work Yeah.
In schools is removing those barriers
that have caused our kids that are black
and brown not to haveaccess to AP courses. IB
- Programs. Right.
(22:22):
- The systemic issues
and knocking down nose,that's equity work.
- Right. Right.
When you look in those AP classes,
does the student populationreflect the school's population?
Or is it, um, that those are siloed? Yeah.
That's one of the things that's just like,
you could just look and tell.
- Okay. And if not, why not? Yeah.
(22:44):
And then what's an action planto try to work on a solution?
- Right. - Right. To not tonot take away, but to add.
'cause I think, for example,when I look at the recall
of the school board membersin San Francisco just a few
years ago, they were looking at that
and there was a recall effort
because again, they were tryingto fit kids into this, this,
this, this tight knit,we have so many sections.
(23:06):
Yeah. So it, they looking at it from a,
a possible deficit lens.
And it could have been froma wide variety of variables,
including budget, you couldn't add more,
but can you just add more courses?
Right. And people, again, there,
there'll always be folksthat'll say, well, you're,
you know, you're, um,you're watering down the
program, you're doing this and that.
No, you're, you're, whenyou look at the data,
(23:28):
and there's been lots ofresearch to what I just said.
Yeah. When you look at theresearch, no, everybody rises.
Right. Everybody staysthe same when you look at
systems that have done that.
Yeah. Not be afraid tolook at the research
that's already been doneon these type of programs.
Exactly. And expand the programopportunities for more kids.
- Thank you. As a follow up to that, um,
the educational landscapeis rapidly changing.
(23:51):
Uh, how do you stay researchbased and, um, motivated
and best practice and,and, uh, just rigorous
and relevant on continuous
improvement. As a superintendent,
- I read a lot and I stayconnected to my peers nationwide.
You know, um, as youknow, I'm, I'm president
of elective A A SA Yeah.
And take over the, the reins this summer.
So I'm connected to That's great. A
(24:12):
- Lot of folks,- Thank you for doing that.
No, I, I just appreciate the opportunity.
Be humbled by, by the seat,
but just being able to stayfocused on looking at systems
that are really highfunctioning across the US Yeah.
And never be afraid to give 'em a call
and call other people thatare doing it better than you
say, Hey, how are you doing that?
You mind sharing? 'causethe superintendents
and school leaders people share.
(24:33):
Right. That's what we do. Yeah.
And there's great folks doing great work
across the United States.
So I target systems that Igo, Hey, that's really neat.
How are you doing that? Yeah.
And then you build these relationships
right. Over the years. You
- Don't have to reinvent thewheel, it's there, but Yeah.
- 14,000 districts. Right. 14.
There's somebody doing itbetter than you. Right.
(24:53):
, there's always somebodydoing it better than you.
Yeah. Or, and again, dependingon what you wanna look for.
Yeah. So,
- Thank you.
Um, what do you think the education, uh,
landscape will look like in five
years? Or where do you see it?
- Yeah. You know, I, I see, um,
we're in a critical timein education right now.
We're in an absolutecritical time where, um,
(25:15):
we public education's being attacked
and has been attacked for a few years now.
And so I think we needto all, I think we need
to really share oursuccesses more publicly.
Mm-Hmm..Because there's a lot of
negative noise outthere for all the things
that people perceive that we're not doing.
Right. But I'm a productof public education.
(25:36):
I'm a product of a publicschool in eastern Oregon
of a community college system
where I received my AAin Treasure Valley Right.
From a public teaching institutionin western Oregon. Yeah.
Portland State, university ofOregon. That's my trajectory.
Right. So I'm a public school kid
and I'm a also a proudson of a migrant family.
Mm-Hmm. that had the
(25:57):
opportunity to go through public schools.
Right. So that's the difference
between our public schoolsystem here in the United States
and many others across the world.
Right. That we ha i we, we hadthe opportunity for me to be
where I'm at now througha public education.
I think we need to promote that proudly
because there successes happening every
day with our kids in schools.
Right. Each and every day.
(26:17):
There's a success thatcan't happen elsewhere.
I think we're gonna beloud and proud about that.
'cause our teachers aredoing marvelous work.
They're literally, you know, they're,
they're doing god's work with our kids.
Right. So just making sure thatwe take care of our teachers
and we take care of our, of our all staff,
our classified staff Yeah.
And our administrators thatare doing the best work.
(26:38):
So just promoting that good work.
I think you asked where I thinkthings are gonna get there,
uh, in the next few years.
Yeah. I envision schools without walls.
And I say that often in terms
of just looking at education different.
We we're stuck in this, uh,agrarian calendar Right.
With seat time. Yeah.
And this, it's a dated system
and we need to change for our kids
(26:58):
because our kids are very different now.
Right. Kids are comingto us with technology
and now that we've for, you know,
for every crisis, there's an opportunity.
The opportunity, now we havetechnology with every kid.
Yeah. So how do weleverage that technology
to really utilize it asan asset to make sure
that our kids are able to learn in
the more blended environment?
Because that, that's whathappens in universities
(27:20):
right now for all our kids.
Yeah. Every one of our kidsat University College take a
blended classroom at least,
or in a blended classroom at least once.
Right. We know that.
So why not with our high schoolkids? Mm-Hmm..
- We were almost thereduring the pandemic.
And that's one of my, um, things
that I always reflect on islike, I wonder if the pivot out
(27:40):
of the pandemic shouldhave been more of a hybrid
model instead of going rightback to the traditional system.
Mm-Hmm.. Butyeah, that's just a question
that I'm always thinking about
because I, I feel likewe could have got there,
but now we've kind oftaken a couple steps back
and we will get there eventually.
- I think we will get there.Yeah. Per example would be,
if you can't offer a specificAP class, for example, I,
(28:02):
I have six comprehensives.
Mm-Hmm.. If Ican't offer a specific AP class
or an IB class at oneof the comprehensives,
can we host it in one school
and vitel via remote toanother school with the,
with the support staffbeing in that classroom?
Yeah. That way we don't, in the old days,
we would just take a bus,
go pick you up and take you at school.
Right. Can we do it differently? Yeah.
Right. Just look at it.
(28:22):
- Yeah. If you could be remembered
for one thing, what would it be?
- That's another great question, Paul.
So I, I think what I wantto be remembered as is
being a good father and agood husband to my two boys.
And, um, being a, uh,good husband to my wife
(28:43):
that I've known for since I was 17.
So I, I've known my wife,
my spouse since I was 17 yearsold, when I was a, uh, I used
to work actually ather, at her parents, uh,
Mexican food restaurantin Ontario, Oregon.
That's how I met my wife. I was 17.
So if we've been together, I'm 56.
We've been together for a long time. Yeah.
So, and blessed to have a great family,
but that supportive familystructures always comes first.
(29:05):
And, but also I thinkthat's the personal side.
On the professional side, I want to be,
if I wanna be remembered, Iwant to be, remember someone
who cared about doingthe right thing for kids
and for, um, and for education.
Yeah. Always doing the right thing
and leading with that core value
of always doing the right thing.
(29:25):
Because regardless ofwhat happens to me as an,
as a superintendent, you know, lifespan
of a superintendent atWashington State when I
left was 2.9 years.
Right. 2.9 in WashingtonState for all across the state
of Washington, east side and west side.
Wow. Is, uh, if I look in the mirror
and say, I did the rightwork that day, right.
(29:45):
Then I'm good. Whatever happens. Yeah.
Because I'm proud of what I did. Yeah.
I think that's what I alwayslead with, that conviction that
of doing the right thing for kids.
- Yeah. For sure. Yep. Thank you. Yep.
Um, as we, uh, we're talkinga bit about, um, technology.
I've heard a lot about AI
and now, uh, superintendents are starting
(30:06):
to have some conversations around it.
Um, how do you thinkthat it will influence
or transform education?
- Yeah, it's, it's changing quickly.
It's changing quickly, right.
So I think one of the thingsthat you, we, we all need
to embrace the change that's happening.
I think, uh, we can't get caught in, uh,
we can't have this here.
We can't, it, it's people,we can't be afraid of it.
(30:27):
We gotta look at it
and see, it's anothertool we use in a toolbox.
And how do we leverage thattool in teaching and learning,
and how do we leverage that tool
and educating kids on howto best utilize that tool.
Right. Because again,it's like a cell phone.
20 years ago, how many people had cell
phones 20, 30 years ago?
No. Remember, it's like we used
to have beepers back in the day.
Yeah.. We used
to have beepers, peopleneed to get ahold of us,
(30:49):
- The gigantic car phone,- Car phone back in the day.
And so it's just makingsure that we adapt. Right.
'cause it's coming, it'schanging, it's happening fast.
It's like, it's Moore'slaw was it, you know,
technology doubles every 18 months.
I think right now with the aiit's every six months. Yeah.
So it's triple, I mean, it's going,
it's coming faster at us.
Yeah. So, and it's only changing.
So it's how do we leverageit as an asset? Right.
(31:12):
- You know,- And not a deficit
and not be the, the, thegatekeepers to say no, no, no,
because it's gonna happenwith or without us.
- Right.- Right.
I think we need to educateour staff, our kids,
and our community of how to do that.
Yeah.
- Right. Uh, these followingquestions are, um, so
that the listeners can get
to know you a little bit as a person.
(31:34):
Uh, what are three apps thatare indispensable for your job?
- Three apps, three applications, three.
- So it could be, uh, calendar, phone,
whatever that you use. Yeah.
- So to me, I'm alwaysattached to my one phone.
I always carry one phone. Okay.
But, uh, but the one thingI, uh, I I do is, is,
(31:55):
is is I text a ton.
So I'm a texter with my phone.
So if I always tellpeople, you know, text me,
I'll get back to you really quickly.
Yeah. I think that's the one thing.
And for organizations,it's always, you know, just
how do you stay organized?
So I've, I always try andplay with different things.
I have a, I can'tremember what it's called,
little writing pad now.
It's on top of my iPad.
So it's like you always playwith different things. Yeah.
(32:16):
But, but I think just thatorgan as a superintendent,
it's how you stay organized.
Right. So I think it's, you know, I try
to have everything on one calendar Yeah.
If I can. And, uh, I tried one district,
I think I had three phones on me.
Oh man. And I go, that won't work.
So one phone, one calendar. Yeah.
So I've learned my lesson over the years
and making sure that, uh, youknow, you, you figure out how
(32:38):
to color code or whateveryour style is to make sure
that you know what'simportant on your calendar.
Yeah. Right. Yeah, for sure.So I think the calendar,
the phone, but also, you know,for me would be, you know,
I'm a listen to podcasts, so, you know,
when I work out in the morning,that's what I listen to.
So that's kind of my go-to,
so I keep up witheverything. Yeah.
- Yeah.- So, you know, take a, so
(32:59):
what I've learned is using thetechnology to take advantage
of the time that I havewhen I'm by myself to,
to keep growing as an individual.
So, you know, don't, don't everwaste time in terms of, uh,
but always try and growwhen you can. Right.
- I agree. Um, in ourcircles, there's always a need
for clarity, uh, with peopleasking what superintendents do.
(33:21):
Uh, how would your familydescribe, uh, your, you
and your job or what youdo as, as a superintendent?
How would they describe that?
- It depends which familymember you ask. Right.
So, depends. So with my mom,my mom, uh, she's 78 years old
and she still lives in a small town.
And it's, uh, is my momquit really understanding
what I did when I became a, aprincipal, a school principal.
(33:46):
She understood. Yeah.
But she didn't understandanything else I did
after that. Okay. So
-.
- So, so I, so I guess
that's the way I try to explain it to her.
So my mom, you know, kinda struggles
understand what my role is.
Yeah. Of course my spousedoes and my two boys do,
because they were raised asa sons of superintendent.
Right. They kinda saw, you know,
(34:08):
the good and the bad and the ugly.
Right. With, with media
and people being kinda, youknow, people sometimes are mean.
Yeah. Right. For sure. So they learn how
to be thick skinned about what they saw
and what people said,
and knowing full wellthat they knew who I was.
I'm dad. Right. Yeah.So it's just what it is.
It's just a job. It's just a job.
So it's not the end, it's just a job,
(34:29):
but we need to do this job well.
So they, my family knowswhat I do and, and, but, uh,
but my mom still doesn't know what I do.
my mom doesn't know what I do.
And it's funny, when I, Ihad kids, um, was talking
to a couple, two, three days ago,
and, uh, I asked them,
do you don't what a superintendent does?
No. No. So kinda walkhim through kind of what,
(34:50):
because people don't know what you do.
People think you sit in theoffice and you sit there
and you answer emails all day.
Right. You're like, no, it's,this is what you do. Right.
You know, I'm fortunate inBeaverton we have about, now
with the pandemic hitting
and us all having less kids,
we have about maybe 38,000 kids.
Okay. But we're, you know, wehave 6,000 employees. Yeah.
(35:10):
We're a $1.6 billion fulltotal funds budget. Wow. Yeah.
We're 1.6 billion, youknow, with the, with,
with all the bonds andlevies that we have.
Right. You know, we'rea big industry. Yeah.
So, and my job is towork with my electeds,
my seven board members.
Mm-Hmm.to carry out the vision
that they give me withthe resources we have,
(35:31):
and work in collaborationwith our associations
and our community to do thebest we can for our kids.
Right. That's literally my job. Yeah.
Is, is do that every day
and understanding everythingfrom construction management
to second grade reading instruction.
Right. Special programs.
That's, that's where I'vebeen fortunate enough
and blessed that I've been able to have
so many different opportunitiesduring my career that, uh,
(35:56):
I'm kinda a, a generalist interms of understanding K 12.
Right. So it, that givesme that understanding.
So I've really been blessed
to be able to have that opportunity.
- Yeah. No, I appreciate it.
And it's, uh, great to serve with you.
Um, are there, uh, threebooks that you would recommend
to the audience and why?
- Three books, you know, uh, yeah.
(36:17):
I probably have a few morethan three books. Right.
, but, uh, but, uh,you know, I, I'm a big, uh,
Thomas Friedman person, sosay anything Thomas Friedman,
just because I like Thomas Friedman.
Yeah. And, um,
but I just read, uh, what'sthe last book I read?
I'm actually readingprobably two books right now.
One, uh, is, um,
(36:38):
the Way Fragility WeightFragility is one I recently read.
Right. And I'm actuallyreread it again. Okay.
And the other one is actually a, um,
oh, I can't remember the name of it.
It's a, it's a, it's,it's, it's, it's more of a,
of a murder mystery.
. Okay. So,
and the reason I saythat is it's, it's, I try
(36:58):
and balance that out, right.
In terms of the professional Yeah.
Because you get stuck inthe professional Mm-Hmm.
and sometimes you gotta
just do stuff for yourself.
Right. So, and I, I try to promote that.
So, um, it's try
and do something that you liketo do some, either it's, uh,
an audio tape that you're reading.
Yeah. I was actually listening
to Elon Musk's life history a little bit.
(37:18):
Okay. Also on the podcast,
but it just, you just, yougotta have some variance.
Yeah. Because I think youget so focused that, uh, uh,
you gotta always, like, makesure you take care of yourself
and your own interests sometimes.
- Right.- If not, you're,
you're always working outon somebody else's interest.
- Right.. So on that,what about, uh, three movies
(37:38):
that you'd recommend?
And it doesn't have to beeducation, just, just ones
that you'd enjoyed?
- Three movies I enjoyed.
I actually just, this is a funny one.
I took my wife and my, andmy youngest kid was home from
college, uh, over a break
and went to this wrestlingmovie, this old wrestling movie,
because I, because it was like,
because when I was little,this is all goes back to, uh,
(38:00):
my Mexican heritage and beingin Mexico, we used to watch,
uh, um, Lu Libre, whichis it's pro wrestling.
Right. Right. In back.And we used to go to the,
my grandparent, I rememberone of my grandfather going
to the, like the armorywatching these.
Right. These guys wrestling.And so you watch, uh, this, uh,
the van, the Vaughn Ericmovie about the pro wrestlers,
and I remember them wrestlingwhen they were younger.
(38:22):
So that's just Right.
Something silly, but itreminded me of growing up.
Right, okay. Yeah. Growing up.So that one's the one Eric.
And then, um, watch the onewith the, um, about the native,
uh, Americans and how they were treated.
Believe it was Oklahoma.
The one movie was, that's a long movie.
It's like a three and ahalf hour show. Right.
So, and it, uh, sohad, uh, the DiCaprio on there.
(38:45):
So it just, it was a long movie,
but that, that got methinking about how the,
how the indigenous folks are treated
and mistreated over time.
So that's one. Yeah.
And, um, and another moviewon, watched recently is the,
the Mexican superhero, the theBlue Beetle. So. Oh,
- I watched that too.
Me and my son, we watched
- That.
So again, silly, silly.
And one that was kind ofa more kind of going back
(39:07):
to the core of equity and howpeople were over time were,
gets you thinking abouthow people have been
mistreated over over time. Alright.
- So, no, I appreciate it.
Then the last question I have is, um,
what about three songs,three songs, ones that,
um, resonate with you?
- You know, I, I don't listento much music anymore, but to,
but to me, I'm back in theeighties, so I always go back
(39:28):
to the eighties from,
and I'm in eighties, kind oflike an Eastern Oregon kid.
So back in the eighties,Eastern Oregon kid, it's, it's,
it's like classic rock type deal.
Right, right, right. So it'slike def Leopard
and uh, and, uh, so just anythingback in the eighties that,
uh, so when I hear somethingback from the eighties,
it reflect back growing up.
Yeah. So from, you know, and,
and back home, it's, it's a lot of, uh,
(39:50):
heavy metal and so forth.
Ben people are a lot of country.
I'd never listen tocountry. So I listen more
to classic rock, uhhuh.
Nice. So that's the way I was raised.
But, uh, it, uh, when I hearan old song back from the late
seventies or in the eighties,that's, that's my era. Nice.
- So, nice. And then, uh,is there anything else
that you wanna sharewith the audience, um,
(40:12):
that you haven't got to share?
- No, just, uh, uh, other than, you know,
we're very fortunate to have, uh,
what we have here in Oregon.
We have, uh, a lot of collegiality
among our superintendentpeers and administrators.
Yeah. We have a supportive, uh,
who I call statesuperintendent, Dr. Williams.
Right. Is uh, 'cause he,he's my state superintendent
(40:33):
and, uh, very fortunate to have
that leadership here in Oregon
as we lead forward to new direction.
Um, you know, we have over 160new superintendents over the
last four years out of 197school superintendents.
Right. So what's needed issustainability and leadership
and making sure that the peoplethat just got to the seat,
they may have been superintendentssomewhere else in another
(40:54):
state or just got to the seat Yeah.
For the first time, iswe need to be supportive
of each other asindividuals, as a profession,
because that's the sustainability
that's gonna move our state forward
after people start retiringnow as we have seen.
Right. So it's thatsustainability of leadership
and that continued collegiality Yeah.
That we have and friendships that we have
(41:15):
and be able to lean on eachother as peers and colleagues.
Right. And knowing for well,
that we're all this, thatwe're all in this together.
Yeah. I think that's theone thing I'll leave it is,
you know, the one thing Ii, I would say is if you,
if you listen to this, you know,
give somebody youhaven't talked to a call.
Right. Just check on 'em.Hey, how are you doing? Yeah.
Or maybe two people. Right.
Because it's, it, it's alwayssomething I try and do.
(41:39):
I call people that I haven'ttalked to, just to check in.
Yeah. Haven't talked to.So I, if you could do that.
If you listen to this call,
somebody you haven't talkedto, they, it's on your list.
You just never get to that listhow to do it. Put it on top.
. Yeah. Call thatperson and just say hi.
- Make it a- Priority. Make it a priority. Right.
They'll be thankful. Yeah.
- For sure. Hey, thankyou so much for joining us
(41:59):
and, uh, appreciate you,uh, giving listeners, uh,
key nuggets of information.
I hope they, uh, go back and listen.
I think, uh, there's alot of, uh, positive and,
and strong information for leaders there.
So, uh, thanks so much
and, uh, please give around of applause to Dr.
Gustavo Balderas.
-
- Welcome Leaders, aspiringLeaders, equity Warriors,
policy Makers, educators,and Barrier Breakers.
(00:20):
This is the Leaders BuildingLeaders Podcast with me,
Dr. Paul Coley, superintendent
of the Multnomah EducationService District.
We are a pod dedicatedto elevating voices,
empowering others, speakingour truth, rethinking systems,
and giving people their flowers.
Today I'm joined by a man who,
who needs no introduction,but he's gonna get one.
(00:41):
He's been in the game for 34 years.
He's a product of migrantworkers from eastern Oregon.
He developed a love for learning
and a passion for educationin Oregon's public schools.
He holds a doctoral degree ineducational leadership from
University of Oregon, and hestarted his career in education
as a high school teacher and counselor.
He served as superintendentin California, Washington,
(01:04):
and Oregon, and iscurrently the superintendent
of the Beaverton School District,
the third largest schooldistrict in Oregon,
which serves over 40,000 students.
His career highlights includebeing named not only Oregon,
but the NationalSuperintendent of the Year
by the American Associationof School Administrators
and the National Associationof Bilingual Educators.
(01:26):
He was awarded the OregonLatino of the Year Award,
receiving Ali's Equity Leadership Award,
and the ERDI, Mike NealExcellence in Leadership Award
In every district, he's worked,
he's closed both the achievement
and opportunity gaps forstudents by using data to inform
decisions and improve outcomes.
(01:48):
He's also been instrumentalin diversifying the workforce
and making it more representativeof the student population.
Is my pleasure to be joinedby my esteemed colleague, Dr.
Gustavo Bald.
So, uh, Dr. Dr.
(02:09):
Balderas and I have known eachother, uh, for quite a while,
since, um, since Istarted in, uh, K 12, uh,
administration here in Oregon.
And so, uh, I go back to whenhe wa was serving in Eugene
and kind of runninginto him at conferences
and asking him questionsand those type of things.
And I think that, uh, todayhe'll be able to share several,
(02:29):
um, key pieces of informationfor educational leaders, uh,
that you guys will really wanna listen to.
So, uh, thank you and, uh,welcome to the podcast.
- Uh, just thank you, Paul.
I appreciate the, just the invitation
and being here with you today,
and just, uh, again, greatfriendship over the years
and just look forward to,
to having a great conversation here.
- Hey, we really appreciate it.
(02:51):
Um, so we'll just start,uh, right at the beginning.
So, uh, where were you born
and, uh, what were, uh,your first years of,
uh, K 12? Like?
- So, I was b actually bornin Mount Vernon, Washington.
Okay. This is a little story,so I'm getting a little,
little birdwalk on a story. Oh,
- That's great. My,
- So my parents were migrant workers,
and we worked with ourextended family, my,
(03:12):
my grandparents, uncles and so forth.
And we came in from Sila, Mexico,
which is northern Mexicoin the state of Guila,
which is about two and a halfhours south of San Antonio.
Okay. And they would allmigrate together in all the cars
and do what was used
to be called the OldAgricultural Triangle.
They'd go through California,work all the fields
through California, come through Oregon,
(03:34):
work the fields in Oregon,up to Washington State,
work all the fields there,
and go back through EasternOregon to work the root crops.
Wow. The, the potatoes beets
before heading back to Mexico,
I was actually born in Mount Vernon
with my family was picking strawberries.
Okay. So, and it's, it's,it's right north of Seattle,
maybe about an hour orso north of Seattle.
(03:54):
Okay. Heavy migrant.
Um, but we used to do thattrail, so worked the 99
through California, FresnoMadera and all that,
and work, my family used towork through, through Oregon.
So my mom still has memoriesof, of, um, of Woodburn
and, uh, and all the fieldsthat she used to work
with Hillsborough and so forth.
And they used to work a lotthrough, through migratory work.
(04:17):
So that's my, my upbringing.
And I was actually went to K
through 12 in a small town inNisa, which is heavy migrant,
heavy migrant community.
Yeah. About 70, uh,69, 70% Latino in Nisa.
And, uh, that's a K 12 smallfarming community, rural.
And, uh, and you know,
we were actually raised in a labor camp,
so we lived in a labor campthat used to be a Japanese
(04:38):
and term camp right by the river there.
It's now being convertedto housing the HUD housing.
So, but the days
and still have picturesof that, of those times.
And, you know, when you're poor,you don't know you're poor,
every bear around you the same way.
So we had a great, you know, childhood
and again, just fortunate to be able to go
to school in a, in a small town.
(04:58):
And, uh, again, K through 12, K
through 12 is me and my little brother.
- Okay. Wow. That's great.No, thank you for sharing.
Um, what kind of experiences,uh, growing up in
that migrant community
and also, um, in Nisa, youreducational background, um,
what experiences, uh, stand out to you
or helped you, uh, think about maybe
(05:21):
what you wanted to do in the future?
Because it's a, a big shiftfrom, uh, superintendent to, uh,
growing up in a small migrant community?
- That's a great question.So I never really wanted
to be a teacher growing up.
I, I wanted to be a, um, a parkranger. I like the outdoors.
Okay. I like, I like sciences.
And again, being in a small town, you're
around rural, you're outside a lot.
Yeah. So you're always, so
(05:41):
you work outside, that's your job.
You know, everybody'spretty much blue collar.
There's very, very fewwhite collar jobs anywhere.
So you're used to beingoutdoors regardless
of the weather you're outdoors.
So like the outdoors
and like the, the aspect ofpossibly being a forest ranger
or a park ranger, just
because I liked being outdoorsin, in, in the wilderness.
And, uh, but growing up Ihad a K one loop teacher,
(06:05):
uh, K one, Mrs.
Dorothy Bivens, and she,uh, had her kindergarten
and first grade thatreached out to my family.
And again, my family spoke no English.
And, uh, and she spoke verylittle Spanish back then. Okay.
But what she did is he wasable to connect with my mom
and dad and make me feel,
and make them that I was safe in school,
because again, I also didn'tspeak any English at all.
(06:25):
So, but that experience,I think, guided me
and guided my parents in terms
of really understanding educationhere in the United States,
because my parents had veryminimal educational experiences
themselves growing up.
So, but, uh, getting and,
and working through, Ihad a lot of mentors,
a lot of people that pushed me.
I ran track and crosscountry, played all the sport.
It's a small town, so when,when you're in a small town,
(06:45):
you play every sport,that's all there is to do.
Yeah. So you play every sport.
And, uh, but I had great people
that continued to push me forward.
And I went to Treasure ValleyCommunity College there in
Ontario, Oregon, which is 12miles right north of Nisa.
It's also a farming community.
Went my two years there
before transferring over toWestern Oregon where I, and
(07:06):
and Western, how I got intoteaching was there was a
bilingual teacher scholarship,
and I got a phone call fromthe university, said, Hey,
you would, would you beinterested in applying?
And it paid for my paid
for my schooling tobecome a teacher. Okay.
- That's awesome. Um, yeah.
One thing that you said thatreally stood out is, uh,
that your parents didn't speak English
and, uh, you didn'tspeak any English either.
(07:28):
And so, um, how did you, um, become fluent
and bilingual, uh, inEnglish coming up in a family
that it wasn't spoken in the home
and also, uh, you know, you were going
to elementary school at a, uh,all English speaking school.
- It, it, it's, the neighborhoodwas all Spanish speaking.
So it's kind of your neighborhood.
(07:50):
Even around Beavertontoday, there's pockets
where I'm a superintendent currently.
So in my whole neighborhood,
my neighbors were all Spanish speakers.
So English was spoken at school.
Uh, but going home, it's allSpanish all day, every day.
Yeah. So weekends, allSpanish, soon, I let you know,
six hours ahead publicschool I learned English,
but the rest of thetime it was all Spanish.
(08:11):
Wow. Weekend Spanish, you know?
So, and, and that's the wayit is for a lot of our kids.
Uhhuh
complexes and so forth.
It's, you know, you learnthis language in school,
but you go back home, itgoes back to your culture,
your food that you eat and howyou cook and your neighbors.
Yeah. So it's just different.So, but that's the way it is.
That's the way it was for me.
And I think that's the way it is
(08:32):
for a lot of our kids right now.
- Right. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that.
Um, can you share some of your, um,
key early learning experiencesand also, uh, what influenced
and shaped your passion for education
and ultimately, um, yourpathway to leadership and,
and the superintendency?
- So I spent about 20years in Hillsborough
(08:53):
in the Hillsborough School District.
Okay. And working my way asa teacher, a counselor, and,
and all levels of leadership,elementary, middle,
and high school before becominga district office person.
And, um, back then,
so I've been doing thisfor about 34 years.
There's very few people ofcolor in leadership positions.
Right. In education in Oregon. Yeah.
And, um, very few, I think, you know,
(09:16):
Carlos Perez was the deputysuperintendent in Hillsborough.
Okay. And, uh, he's beenretired for about 10 years,
but I think at that time, hewas the highest ranking person
of color in any leadership position in the
state of Oregon and Wow.
In a school district. And,and I reached out to him
and, uh, when I was a counselor
and said, Hey, Carlos, wouldyou, can I meet with you
(09:37):
so I can ask you somequestions about leadership?
I was interested in becoming
an assistant principal at the time.
Yeah. And he took timeduring his day to meet
with me about once a month,over a period of several months
to be able to, just to,for me to pick his brain.
Mm-Hmm.
some coffee shop in Hillsborough.
Like I remember at seven 30before he got to work. Yeah.
(09:59):
But he took the time to do that.
So that still, I stillreflect back at that time
and why I do what I do still
for others is he paid it forward.
Right. So I continue to pay it forward.
I, I think I currently mentor formally
or informally about 12 aspiring
superintendents fromacross the United States.
Yeah. Wow. And that's
because someone paid it forward for me.
(10:20):
And the only ask I havefor them, the, the people
that I help and support
and be able to answer questions
that they have about theposition is when you get the
opportunity, and you will, everyone,
you will get the opportunityif you can just pay it
forward when you get a chance.
Right. When you have thatopportunity, pay it forward.
Like I'm paying it forward with you.
- Yeah. Um, thank you for sharing that.
(10:40):
That's, um, every superintendentthat I talk to, I find
that, um, most of ushave had somebody, um,
or several people that influence our, uh,
leadership pathway, justlike, uh, Carlos did for you.
And, um, really support us.
Take us under their wing
and, um, give us, uh, that,what it takes to get to
that next level of success.
(11:01):
And so, um, who are, uh, twoother influential people who,
uh, really impacted your life and,
and your, uh, position today?
- So, another one would berecently retired superintendent
Mike Scott from theHillsborough School District.
So Mike and I kind grewup together, you know,
he gave me my first opportunityto be an administrator.
So he was a principal at JWPoynter Middle School. Okay.
(11:24):
I think he was in his second
or third year doing thatwhen he got to the district.
And I became an assistantprincipal for him.
So he looked like he was like 23.
And I looked like I was 22
because I think we were
Right. I think we, I dunno,
people remember the oldcartoon shows, mu and Jeff,
and I think that was likeJoe Red joke by staff.
'cause we just looked likejust a bunch of young kids kind
(11:45):
of running in the district or running the,
that school helping supportthe, the teachers there.
And we had a great run together.
But Mike, Mike taught mehow to balance life. Right.
Mike is one of those people
that taught me how to be a good leader.
Servant leadership was big backthen in terms of, you know,
you know, it just, what it is.
It's like he really took care of the staff
and taught me how to take care of staff
(12:06):
and build a strong culturearound the school setting.
Right. But also how to balance your life,
that the work isn't everything.
Because again, we can stay onour jobs, you know, at our,
I could stay at the districtoffice all day every day,
and the work's still not done. Yeah. It's
- Always gonna- Be there.
So it's always gonna be there.So I learned to get, get,
(12:27):
balance the home life,
because again, a lot of ourfolks married, have kids,
have families, have asignificant others that we,
and, and also yourself.
Yeah. Gotta take care of yourself
because the job is very difficult.
You, we all know. Right.
So the seat is always hot,
and you have to make sureyou take care of the people
that are taking care ofyou, and that includes you.
(12:47):
Yeah, sure. In terms ofexercise and all that.
So, uh, I think that's
what Mike taught me,is how to balance that.
Because I remember one thinghe said when my first year,
'cause I was alwaysthere late, he said, Hey,
wherever the remark was, ifyou are gonna be here all day,
every day, and that's your goal,
you're always gonna outwork me here.
(13:09):
And, uh, and he did itjust to kind of say, right.
You know, go home. Yeah.Because Yeah, for sure.
Because he taught me how he worked,
and he worked early in the
morning when his family was young.
So he got up at four, workedreally hard, exercised,
but he also, he got work done, emails,
everything was done before.
And then he would go home
and be with his family,do everything until, and,
(13:29):
and then he'd go back to workat eight till he got done.
So, I mean, he Right. He, sohe was putting in the hours
just, you know, during his time.
And that's what he taught me.
- That's a good, uh, model.
And, and that's one of thethings that, uh, I've sharing
with leaders and reallytrying to master is, um,
something called masterthe Morning where you, uh,
if you have kids, you wake up before them
(13:50):
and then you really like dothings to take care of yourself.
And so my, um, my question is,as a follow up to that, is,
uh, what's your morning routine look like?
- So my wife and I get up in the morning,
we work out together, sowe Oh, that's awesome.
So we work out early to try and beat the,
and right now it's the, the New Year's
resolution crowd
Right. This past week.
So
(14:12):
or four 30, and we workout for about an hour
and 15, an hour and a half before.
And that's our kind of time together.
And, and we're not together. We do,
but we, we have a routine
and as, so we have a routine together.
And, uh, that's what we doabout six times a week. Yeah.
And so it's about six timesa week. Oh, that's great.
So we, we try and bereally steady with that,
because then that's somethingwe're, I just, I said earlier,
(14:35):
you gotta learn to take care of yourself.
Right. And then, andthen, you know, the, the,
the text messages start coming,the emails start coming.
But again, there's atime for that too. Right.
There's a time for that. Ithink as long as people know
that there's a time for everything
and that things will get done, I think
that's the most important piece.
But, but that's that morning routine,
and then I get to workearly, answer, you know,
(14:56):
and get, get back on it.
Also, what I've learnedover the years being a
superintendent, this is my 13th year
of being a superintendent, is, is I try
and leave staff alone on a weekend
unless it's an absolute emergency.
Yeah. Because, again, youcan also flood your emails.
I mean, you could sit there and text
and email people all day,
- Then they're gonna respond to you.
- Right. And, and makes,
and then, so I, I, I quitdoing that a while back.
(15:17):
Say, you know what? I go,I'm, I'm gonna leave you alone
unless it's an absolute emergency.
Right. So I'll call you,
because again, it could wait till Monday.
- That's great. So I appreciate that.
Um, so this podcast, wehave a lot of listeners
that are aspiring leaders.
And, um, in your opinion, fornew leaders, what's the most,
uh, important personality trait
(15:38):
or strength that someone needsif they're coming into, uh,
educational leadership?
- You know, I, that'sanother great question.
So, to me, I alwayslook at, uh, your core.
I look at a person'score when I interview,
because you can be,
you can have your questions,you can have your answers.
But what's your core and whathave you done with your core?
And, and I'll explain what Imean by that in terms of what,
(16:00):
what makes you, you andyour integrity, right.
Your values and what you bringto the table and your lens.
And, uh, and you need to, for me,
that's how I kind of fill my cabinet.
I want divergent thinking,
but I want the same core, thepassion for kids, the passion
for the right purpose.
It's not about you. It'sabout we, it's about the kids.
(16:20):
Right. Keeping kids at the focus.
I think that's the onething I always look for.
So always stay true toyourself as an individual,
because there'll be peoplethat try to manipulate
the system and manipulate you.
Right. As a leader to getwhat they want. Exactly.
And, uh, it's a reallydivisive time right now in the
United States since, you know,
and I'll call it out since2016, it's been really difficult
(16:42):
to be school superintendentor a school leader
or an educator, period.
Because you think you get,
and again, I work with a lot
of people from across thecountry when you can't use
the word equity in Florida.
And I'm doing a presentationto people because Zoom.
And they said, Hey, wegotta change the title.
I go, I'm not gonna change the title.
'cause I'm, I go, butthat's, but I'll respect
you in terms of what you're doing.
Right. It's almost like there,there's a fear going on.
(17:05):
There's a, this fear mongering going on
and trying to, trying
to manipulate educationalsystems across the us.
So I think stay true to yourself, right.
And be you, and work in an environment
that's gonna allow you to be you.
- Right.- Because I think you don't have
- To change, you have- Have to change.
Just be who you are andsurround yourself with people.
They're diversion, but have the same core.
So that's why, you know,we're blessed to be in Oregon,
(17:28):
that here in the metro area,
because we have a lot of common people
commonalities in terms of that core.
Right. But there's some partsof the US where people are,
are, uh, are are less loud.
Mm-Hmm.
And I can see it, I can seeit with, with other colleagues
- For sure.
As a leader, how doyou personally approach
and navigate challenge or setbacks?
(17:50):
And how do you foster a cultureof resilience with your team
or your organization?
- Well, there's always setbacks
and there's always obstacles.
I think we start knowing
that there's always gonna be obstacles.
Right? It's alwaysabout, again, making sure
that you're clear with your focus.
I always talk to the staffabout having the North star.
Are we clear in our North star? Right.
As a school district, as a school staff,
(18:10):
is there clarity in termsof what the goal is?
Because if you're not clear with the goal
and people don't understandthe goal from, uh,
from transportation services,nutrition to teachers,
to administrators, then peoplemake up their own goals.
So having clarity, what isthe direction we're heading?
Yeah. And then how are we getting there?
And what's my role in that direction, in
that, in that trajectory.
(18:31):
Right. So people don't,if people understand
that it's school safety
or reading, what's my roleas a transportation director?
Yeah. And you do have arole. Everybody has a role.
People need to understand that too.
It's not just the teachinghonor learning department.
It's not just that, you know,that second grade teacher. No.
It's, everybody has arole to play in that.
And what does that look like?What's the environment look
(18:52):
like in a cafeteria to,to ensure that there's,
that you're promoting reading.
Right. Right. What's the bus driver, you
- Know, in the context that they're in.
- Exactly. How do- Do you get to that goal? Right.
- Right. Back in the day with PBIS
and buses had PBIS insidethe buses, wherever, I mean,
literally that's, so they felt
that they were doing somethingto meet the goal Yeah.
Of a safe environment.Understanding what people, you know,
(19:14):
just what are, what's theculture that you want to create?
And again, I thinkeverybody needs to own it.
But again, you need tobe clear in stating it so
that everybody does have an understanding.
And it is, uh, you co-created together
as a leadership team within your division,
whether it's a nutritiondivision department,
or transportation, or whateverdepartment you belong to.
- Right.- So having clarity
(19:35):
and having make sure people understand
that this is the waywe're gonna move forward.
And then make sure you have metrics
and achievable goals that youcontinually review and assess
and promote those publiclywith your board and,
and greater community to
understand this is where we're heading.
So, because again, thecommunity may not know where,
where you're heading andcommunicate that beyond your 25%
(19:55):
of your people that have kids in school.
'cause there's 75 that don't
typically in most school systems.
Right. So making sure thatyou're promoting it loud
so people understand what your
values are as a school system.
- Thank you. Um, you talkedabout leading for equity.
What steps do you take to ensure equity
and inclusion in all aspects of, uh,
your educational organization?
(20:17):
- So that's thenon-negotiable, right? Right.
The non-negotiable is makingsure that everybody has access,
opportunity and inclusion.
So that's the way I defineequity is being intentional.
Right. And you're havingintentional actions toward
access, opportunity, and inclusion.
So, and then using information so
that everyone has a sense of belonging.
So I use belonging with that too.
And, and that means everybodyhas a sense of belonging.
(20:38):
Yeah. Your staff, your kids, your parents,
your community members havea sense of belonging to
that school, to that district.
Right. So just make surethere's clarity in what
that looks like by department.
Okay. So, you know, and,
and everybody has a role to play on that.
So, you know, what's the humanresources department's goal?
Yeah. And my goal for humanresources is be proportional
to the students that we're working
(20:59):
with in terms of the hires.
Right. 'cause our kids need to be,
because our people that workin front of our kids need
to be reflective of our population,not just the classified,
which is typically whathappens in school systems.
Yeah. There's Right classified,you're closer to it.
But in terms of certifiedand administrators as well.
- Right. Important.
- Right. That's that level.
And again, making surethere's a strong equity lens,
(21:21):
because I also hear theword equity being thrown
around a lot, but definewhat that means in action.
'cause a lot of times it's,
it's just the professionaldevelopment for the, for the,
for the adults in the system,
which is really important, Paul.
It's really important thatwe all are self actualize to,
you know, to your goals.
Right. As an individual.
(21:41):
And everybody's at different places in
that self-actualization.
Yeah. As adults, aslearners. As adult learners.
- Right.- So, take that,
but also what does actually,
what does equity actuallylook in a classroom?
Yeah. I think that's whereI think there, there,
there is a shift happening.
Okay. In terms of, so whatdoes it, by doing this,
(22:01):
what does it mean for kids here?
Right. Whether they're looking at data
for disproportionality
and discipline to accessto extracurriculars
or advanced courses for all kids.
Right. I think that'strue equity work Yeah.
In schools is removing those barriers
that have caused our kids that are black
and brown not to haveaccess to AP courses. IB
- Programs. Right.
(22:22):
- The systemic issues
and knocking down nose,that's equity work.
- Right. Right.
When you look in those AP classes,
does the student populationreflect the school's population?
Or is it, um, that those are siloed? Yeah.
That's one of the things that's just like,
you could just look and tell.
- Okay. And if not, why not? Yeah.
(22:44):
And then what's an action planto try to work on a solution?
- Right. - Right. To not tonot take away, but to add.
'cause I think, for example,when I look at the recall
of the school board membersin San Francisco just a few
years ago, they were looking at that
and there was a recall effort
because again, they were tryingto fit kids into this, this,
this, this tight knit,we have so many sections.
(23:06):
Yeah. So it, they looking at it from a,
a possible deficit lens.
And it could have been froma wide variety of variables,
including budget, you couldn't add more,
but can you just add more courses?
Right. And people, again, there,
there'll always be folksthat'll say, well, you're,
you know, you're, um,you're watering down the
program, you're doing this and that.
No, you're, you're, whenyou look at the data,
(23:28):
and there's been lots ofresearch to what I just said.
Yeah. When you look at theresearch, no, everybody rises.
Right. Everybody staysthe same when you look at
systems that have done that.
Yeah. Not be afraid tolook at the research
that's already been doneon these type of programs.
Exactly. And expand the programopportunities for more kids.
- Thank you. As a follow up to that, um,
the educational landscapeis rapidly changing.
(23:51):
Uh, how do you stay researchbased and, um, motivated
and best practice and,and, uh, just rigorous
and relevant on continuous
improvement. As a superintendent,
- I read a lot and I stayconnected to my peers nationwide.
You know, um, as youknow, I'm, I'm president
of elective A A SA Yeah.
And take over the, the reins this summer.
So I'm connected to That's great. A
(24:12):
- Lot of folks,- Thank you for doing that.
No, I, I just appreciate the opportunity.
Be humbled by, by the seat,
but just being able to stayfocused on looking at systems
that are really highfunctioning across the US Yeah.
And never be afraid to give 'em a call
and call other people thatare doing it better than you
say, Hey, how are you doing that?
You mind sharing? 'causethe superintendents
and school leaders people share.
(24:33):
Right. That's what we do. Yeah.
And there's great folks doing great work
across the United States.
So I target systems that Igo, Hey, that's really neat.
How are you doing that? Yeah.
And then you build these relationships
right. Over the years. You
- Don't have to reinvent thewheel, it's there, but Yeah.
- 14,000 districts. Right. 14.
There's somebody doing itbetter than you. Right.
(24:53):
Yeah. Or, and again, dependingon what you wanna look for.
Yeah. So,
- Thank you.
Um, what do you think the education, uh,
landscape will look like in five
years? Or where do you see it?
- Yeah. You know, I, I see, um,
we're in a critical timein education right now.
We're in an absolutecritical time where, um,
(25:15):
we public education's being attacked
and has been attacked for a few years now.
And so I think we needto all, I think we need
to really share oursuccesses more publicly.
Mm-Hmm.
negative noise outthere for all the things
that people perceive that we're not doing.
Right. But I'm a productof public education.
(25:36):
I'm a product of a publicschool in eastern Oregon
of a community college system
where I received my AAin Treasure Valley Right.
From a public teaching institutionin western Oregon. Yeah.
Portland State, university ofOregon. That's my trajectory.
Right. So I'm a public school kid
and I'm a also a proudson of a migrant family.
Mm-Hmm.
(25:57):
opportunity to go through public schools.
Right. So that's the difference
between our public schoolsystem here in the United States
and many others across the world.
Right. That we ha i we, we hadthe opportunity for me to be
where I'm at now througha public education.
I think we need to promote that proudly
because there successes happening every
day with our kids in schools.
Right. Each and every day.
(26:17):
There's a success thatcan't happen elsewhere.
I think we're gonna beloud and proud about that.
'cause our teachers aredoing marvelous work.
They're literally, you know, they're,
they're doing god's work with our kids.
Right. So just making sure thatwe take care of our teachers
and we take care of our, of our all staff,
our classified staff Yeah.
And our administrators thatare doing the best work.
(26:38):
So just promoting that good work.
I think you asked where I thinkthings are gonna get there,
uh, in the next few years.
Yeah. I envision schools without walls.
And I say that often in terms
of just looking at education different.
We we're stuck in this, uh,agrarian calendar Right.
With seat time. Yeah.
And this, it's a dated system
and we need to change for our kids
(26:58):
because our kids are very different now.
Right. Kids are comingto us with technology
and now that we've for, you know,
for every crisis, there's an opportunity.
The opportunity, now we havetechnology with every kid.
Yeah. So how do weleverage that technology
to really utilize it asan asset to make sure
that our kids are able to learn in
the more blended environment?
Because that, that's whathappens in universities
(27:20):
right now for all our kids.
Yeah. Every one of our kidsat University College take a
blended classroom at least,
or in a blended classroom at least once.
Right. We know that.
So why not with our high schoolkids? Mm-Hmm.
- We were almost thereduring the pandemic.
And that's one of my, um, things
that I always reflect on islike, I wonder if the pivot out
(27:40):
of the pandemic shouldhave been more of a hybrid
model instead of going rightback to the traditional system.
Mm-Hmm.
that I'm always thinking about
because I, I feel likewe could have got there,
but now we've kind oftaken a couple steps back
and we will get there eventually.
- I think we will get there.Yeah. Per example would be,
if you can't offer a specificAP class, for example, I,
(28:02):
I have six comprehensives.
Mm-Hmm.
or an IB class at oneof the comprehensives,
can we host it in one school
and vitel via remote toanother school with the,
with the support staffbeing in that classroom?
Yeah. That way we don't, in the old days,
we would just take a bus,
go pick you up and take you at school.
Right. Can we do it differently? Yeah.
Right. Just look at it.
(28:22):
- Yeah. If you could be remembered
for one thing, what would it be?
- That's another great question, Paul.
So I, I think what I wantto be remembered as is
being a good father and agood husband to my two boys.
And, um, being a, uh,good husband to my wife
(28:43):
that I've known for since I was 17.
So I, I've known my wife,
my spouse since I was 17 yearsold, when I was a, uh, I used
to work actually ather, at her parents, uh,
Mexican food restaurantin Ontario, Oregon.
That's how I met my wife. I was 17.
So if we've been together, I'm 56.
We've been together for a long time. Yeah.
So, and blessed to have a great family,
but that supportive familystructures always comes first.
(29:05):
And, but also I thinkthat's the personal side.
On the professional side, I want to be,
if I wanna be remembered, Iwant to be, remember someone
who cared about doingthe right thing for kids
and for, um, and for education.
Yeah. Always doing the right thing
and leading with that core value
of always doing the right thing.
(29:25):
Because regardless ofwhat happens to me as an,
as a superintendent, you know, lifespan
of a superintendent atWashington State when I
left was 2.9 years.
Right. 2.9 in WashingtonState for all across the state
of Washington, east side and west side.
Wow. Is, uh, if I look in the mirror
and say, I did the rightwork that day, right.
(29:45):
Then I'm good. Whatever happens. Yeah.
Because I'm proud of what I did. Yeah.
I think that's what I alwayslead with, that conviction that
of doing the right thing for kids.
- Yeah. For sure. Yep. Thank you. Yep.
Um, as we, uh, we're talkinga bit about, um, technology.
I've heard a lot about AI
and now, uh, superintendents are starting
(30:06):
to have some conversations around it.
Um, how do you thinkthat it will influence
or transform education?
- Yeah, it's, it's changing quickly.
It's changing quickly, right.
So I think one of the thingsthat you, we, we all need
to embrace the change that's happening.
I think, uh, we can't get caught in, uh,
we can't have this here.
We can't, it, it's people,we can't be afraid of it.
(30:27):
We gotta look at it
and see, it's anothertool we use in a toolbox.
And how do we leverage thattool in teaching and learning,
and how do we leverage that tool
and educating kids on howto best utilize that tool.
Right. Because again,it's like a cell phone.
20 years ago, how many people had cell
phones 20, 30 years ago?
No. Remember, it's like we used
to have beepers back in the day.
Yeah.
to have beepers, peopleneed to get ahold of us,
(30:49):
- The gigantic car phone,- Car phone back in the day.
And so it's just makingsure that we adapt. Right.
'cause it's coming, it'schanging, it's happening fast.
It's like, it's Moore'slaw was it, you know,
technology doubles every 18 months.
I think right now with the aiit's every six months. Yeah.
So it's triple, I mean, it's going,
it's coming faster at us.
Yeah. So, and it's only changing.
So it's how do we leverageit as an asset? Right.
(31:12):
- You know,- And not a deficit
and not be the, the, thegatekeepers to say no, no, no,
because it's gonna happenwith or without us.
- Right.- Right.
I think we need to educateour staff, our kids,
and our community of how to do that.
Yeah.
- Right. Uh, these followingquestions are, um, so
that the listeners can get
to know you a little bit as a person.
(31:34):
Uh, what are three apps thatare indispensable for your job?
- Three apps, three applications, three.
- So it could be, uh, calendar, phone,
whatever that you use. Yeah.
- So to me, I'm alwaysattached to my one phone.
I always carry one phone. Okay.
But, uh, but the one thingI, uh, I I do is, is,
(31:55):
is is I text a ton.
So I'm a texter with my phone.
So if I always tellpeople, you know, text me,
I'll get back to you really quickly.
Yeah. I think that's the one thing.
And for organizations,it's always, you know, just
how do you stay organized?
So I've, I always try andplay with different things.
I have a, I can'tremember what it's called,
little writing pad now.
It's on top of my iPad.
So it's like you always playwith different things. Yeah.
(32:16):
But, but I think just thatorgan as a superintendent,
it's how you stay organized.
Right. So I think it's, you know, I try
to have everything on one calendar Yeah.
If I can. And, uh, I tried one district,
I think I had three phones on me.
Oh man. And I go, that won't work.
So one phone, one calendar. Yeah.
So I've learned my lesson over the years
and making sure that, uh, youknow, you, you figure out how
(32:38):
to color code or whateveryour style is to make sure
that you know what'simportant on your calendar.
Yeah. Right. Yeah, for sure.So I think the calendar,
the phone, but also, you know,for me would be, you know,
I'm a listen to podcasts, so, you know,
when I work out in the morning,that's what I listen to.
So that's kind of my go-to,
so I keep up witheverything
- Yeah.- So, you know, take a, so
(32:59):
what I've learned is using thetechnology to take advantage
of the time that I havewhen I'm by myself to,
to keep growing as an individual.
So, you know, don't, don't everwaste time in terms of, uh,
but always try and growwhen you can. Right.
- I agree. Um, in ourcircles, there's always a need
for clarity, uh, with peopleasking what superintendents do.
(33:21):
Uh, how would your familydescribe, uh, your, you
and your job or what youdo as, as a superintendent?
How would they describe that?
- It depends which familymember you ask. Right.
So, depends. So with my mom,my mom, uh, she's 78 years old
and she still lives in a small town.
And it's, uh, is my momquit really understanding
what I did when I became a, aprincipal, a school principal.
(33:46):
She understood. Yeah.
But she didn't understandanything else I did
after that. Okay. So
-
- So, so I, so I guess
that's the way I try to explain it to her.
So my mom, you know, kinda struggles
understand what my role is.
Yeah. Of course my spousedoes and my two boys do,
because they were raised asa sons of superintendent.
Right. They kinda saw, you know,
(34:08):
the good and the bad and the ugly.
Right. With, with media
and people being kinda, youknow, people sometimes are mean.
Yeah. Right. For sure. So they learn how
to be thick skinned about what they saw
and what people said,
and knowing full wellthat they knew who I was.
I'm dad. Right. Yeah.So it's just what it is.
It's just a job. It's just a job.
So it's not the end, it's just a job,
(34:29):
but we need to do this job well.
So they, my family knowswhat I do and, and, but, uh,
but my mom still doesn't know what I do.
And it's funny, when I, Ihad kids, um, was talking
to a couple, two, three days ago,
and, uh, I asked them,
do you don't what a superintendent does?
No. No. So kinda walkhim through kind of what,
(34:50):
because people don't know what you do.
People think you sit in theoffice and you sit there
and you answer emails all day.
Right. You're like, no, it's,this is what you do. Right.
You know, I'm fortunate inBeaverton we have about, now
with the pandemic hitting
and us all having less kids,
we have about maybe 38,000 kids.
Okay. But we're, you know, wehave 6,000 employees. Yeah.
(35:10):
We're a $1.6 billion fulltotal funds budget. Wow. Yeah.
We're 1.6 billion, youknow, with the, with,
with all the bonds andlevies that we have.
Right. You know, we'rea big industry. Yeah.
So, and my job is towork with my electeds,
my seven board members.
Mm-Hmm.
that they give me withthe resources we have,
(35:31):
and work in collaborationwith our associations
and our community to do thebest we can for our kids.
Right. That's literally my job. Yeah.
Is, is do that every day
and understanding everythingfrom construction management
to second grade reading instruction.
Right. Special programs.
That's, that's where I'vebeen fortunate enough
and blessed that I've been able to have
so many different opportunitiesduring my career that, uh,
(35:56):
I'm kinda a, a generalist interms of understanding K 12.
Right. So it, that givesme that understanding.
So I've really been blessed
to be able to have that opportunity.
- Yeah. No, I appreciate it.
And it's, uh, great to serve with you.
Um, are there, uh, threebooks that you would recommend
to the audience and why?
- Three books, you know, uh, yeah.
(36:17):
I probably have a few morethan three books. Right.
Thomas Friedman person, sosay anything Thomas Friedman,
just because I like Thomas Friedman.
Yeah. And, um,
but I just read, uh, what'sthe last book I read?
I'm actually readingprobably two books right now.
One, uh, is, um,
(36:38):
the Way Fragility WeightFragility is one I recently read.
Right. And I'm actuallyreread it again. Okay.
And the other one is actually a, um,
oh, I can't remember the name of it.
It's a, it's a, it's,it's, it's, it's more of a,
of a murder mystery.
and the reason I saythat is it's, it's, I try
(36:58):
and balance that out, right.
In terms of the professional Yeah.
Because you get stuck inthe professional Mm-Hmm.
just do stuff for yourself.
Right. So, and I, I try to promote that.
So, um, it's try
and do something that you liketo do some, either it's, uh,
an audio tape that you're reading.
Yeah. I was actually listening
to Elon Musk's life history a little bit.
(37:18):
Okay. Also on the podcast,
but it just, you just, yougotta have some variance.
Yeah. Because I think youget so focused that, uh, uh,
you gotta always, like, makesure you take care of yourself
and your own interests sometimes.
- Right.- If not, you're,
you're always working outon somebody else's interest.
- Right.
(37:38):
that you'd recommend?
And it doesn't have to beeducation, just, just ones
that you'd enjoyed?
- Three movies I enjoyed.
I actually just, this is a funny one.
I took my wife and my, andmy youngest kid was home from
college, uh, over a break
and went to this wrestlingmovie, this old wrestling movie,
because I, because it was like,
because when I was little,this is all goes back to, uh,
(38:00):
my Mexican heritage and beingin Mexico, we used to watch,
uh, um, Lu Libre, whichis it's pro wrestling.
Right. Right. In back.And we used to go to the,
my grandparent, I rememberone of my grandfather going
to the, like the armorywatching these
Right. These guys wrestling.And so you watch, uh, this, uh,
the van, the Vaughn Ericmovie about the pro wrestlers,
and I remember them wrestlingwhen they were younger.
(38:22):
So that's just Right.
Something silly, but itreminded me of growing up.
Right, okay. Yeah. Growing up.So that one's the one Eric.
And then, um, watch the onewith the, um, about the native,
uh, Americans and how they were treated.
Believe it was Oklahoma.
The one movie was, that's a long movie.
It's like a three and ahalf hour show. Right.
So, and it, uh,
(38:45):
So it just, it was a long movie,
but that, that got methinking about how the,
how the indigenous folks are treated
and mistreated over time.
So that's one. Yeah.
And, um, and another moviewon, watched recently is the,
the Mexican superhero, the theBlue Beetle. So
- I watched that too.
Me and my son
- That.
So again, silly, silly.
And one that was kind ofa more kind of going back
(39:07):
to the core of equity and howpeople were over time were,
gets you thinking abouthow people have been
mistreated over over time. Alright.
- So, no, I appreciate it.
Then the last question I have is, um,
what about three songs,three songs, ones that,
um, resonate with you?
- You know, I, I don't listento much music anymore, but to,
but to me, I'm back in theeighties, so I always go back
(39:28):
to the eighties from,
and I'm in eighties, kind oflike an Eastern Oregon kid.
So back in the eighties,Eastern Oregon kid, it's, it's,
it's like classic rock type deal.
Right, right, right. So it'slike def Leopard
and uh, and, uh, so just anythingback in the eighties that,
uh, so when I hear somethingback from the eighties,
it reflect back growing up.
Yeah. So from, you know, and,
and back home, it's, it's a lot of, uh,
(39:50):
heavy metal and so forth.
Ben people are a lot of country.
I'd never listen tocountry. So I listen more
to classic rock, uhhuh
Nice. So that's the way I was raised.
But, uh, it, uh, when I hearan old song back from the late
seventies or in the eighties,that's, that's my era. Nice.
- So, nice. And then, uh,is there anything else
that you wanna sharewith the audience, um,
(40:12):
that you haven't got to share?
- No, just, uh, uh, other than, you know,
we're very fortunate to have, uh,
what we have here in Oregon.
We have, uh, a lot of collegiality
among our superintendentpeers and administrators.
Yeah. We have a supportive, uh,
who I call statesuperintendent, Dr. Williams.
Right. Is uh, 'cause he,he's my state superintendent
(40:33):
and, uh, very fortunate to have
that leadership here in Oregon
as we lead forward to new direction.
Um, you know, we have over 160new superintendents over the
last four years out of 197school superintendents.
Right. So what's needed issustainability and leadership
and making sure that the peoplethat just got to the seat,
they may have been superintendentssomewhere else in another
(40:54):
state or just got to the seat Yeah.
For the first time, iswe need to be supportive
of each other asindividuals, as a profession,
because that's the sustainability
that's gonna move our state forward
after people start retiringnow as we have seen.
Right. So it's thatsustainability of leadership
and that continued collegiality Yeah.
That we have and friendships that we have
(41:15):
and be able to lean on eachother as peers and colleagues.
Right. And knowing for well,
that we're all this, thatwe're all in this together.
Yeah. I think that's theone thing I'll leave it is,
you know, the one thing Ii, I would say is if you,
if you listen to this, you know,
give somebody youhaven't talked to a call.
Right. Just check on 'em.Hey, how are you doing? Yeah.
Or maybe two people. Right.
Because it's, it, it's alwayssomething I try and do.
(41:39):
I call people that I haven'ttalked to, just to check in.
Yeah. Haven't talked to.So I, if you could do that.
If you listen to this call,
somebody you haven't talkedto, they, it's on your list.
You just never get to that listhow to do it. Put it on top.
- Make it a- Priority. Make it a priority. Right.
They'll be thankful. Yeah.
- For sure. Hey, thankyou so much for joining us
(41:59):
and, uh, appreciate you,uh, giving listeners, uh,
key nuggets of information.
I hope they, uh, go back and listen.
I think, uh, there's alot of, uh, positive and,
and strong information for leaders there.
So, uh, thanks so much
and, uh, please give around of applause to Dr.
Gustavo Balderas.
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