Oregon education chief talks about budgets and opportunity

Susan Palmer:

Oregon education chief Rudy Crew got upstaged on Friday by a local educator who filled in for him when he was an hour late for a speaking date with the Eugene City Club.
Crew, who said he was held up because of a doctor’s appointment that couldn’t be rescheduled, arrived at the weekly luncheon midway through extemporaneous remarks from Johnny Lake, an assistant professor of teacher education at Northwest Christian University. Lake is on loan this year as an administrator at the Eugene School District, and he stepped up to the mike to share his research on the importance of student relationships with teachers.
The more students interact with their teachers, the better they do, he said. The interactions aren’t complicated or difficult, Lake said.
“It’s not rocket science. These are everyday practices,” he said. It’s as straightforward as teachers staying after class or during recess to help with homework, expecting students to work hard and encouraging them to think well of their skills, he said.