In her role on the North Clackamas School Board, did Cheryl Myers either expand Mandarin programs in the school district or put the expansion of Mandarin program in the strategic plan. If not, she did future graduates of the school district, and all future citizens of Oregon, little public service. If she did, she’s my candidate, for sure. China in 2050, when this year’s kindergartners will be 47 years old, is forecast to have an economy twice the size of the US economy and to have a technologically sophisticated military to match. They will be quite a challenge. It will be different world. Did Cheryl do her part to prepare our next generation, or not?

We are fortunate to have many amazing community leaders in North Clackamas and Cheryl Myers is among the best. Cheryl is not just a supporter of ideas but a champion of backing those ideas up with concrete steps.

@JTT, Sorry if I'm a bore. It (Mandarin) is my primary issue, I bring it up when I think it is importatn, and, IMHO, school board members are critical to making the changes needed and need to be held accountable. I've been emailing Cheryl, along with legislators and other school board members statewide, about once a month for over the past two years. She should be familiar with the issue. She may have ignored the emails. I don't know. I'm not aware of what is happening in the North Clackamas School District. I heard one rumor that parents had to start a before or after school Mandarin class because the school district did not support adding Mandarin during the day. I don't know the facts. I'd like to know what she has done. Is that too much to bring up?

Cheryl Myers will be an incredible State Representative for House District 51 (which borders my own district to the east).

Her long and successful experience as a local business owner will enable her to address the job-creation challenges that the global recession has brought to Clackamas County and Oregon. Her proven school board leadership will prepare her well to address the educational challenges facing our state. And her deep community service and roots will enable her to effectively represent the diverse views in her district.

It's been a privilege working with Cheryl Myers on the local level and it will be exciting to partner with her at the state level.

Go, Cheryl, go!

As someone who has worked with and for Cheryl, I have nothing but the utmost respect for her. This woman is smart, active, supportive of great educational opportunities for students, and has one of the best personalities I know. Please join me in supporting her.

Would it be great to have Mandarin available in K-12? Sure.

However, right now many of us are focused on priorities like stopping class sizes in elementary schools from quickly approaching 40 kids. I know out here in east county it is not out of the ordinary to have 35-40 kids in 1st-5th grade classes.

Until we can bring back funding for the basics, you're not going to see huge pushes for additional subjects or topics in school.

As important as I think teaching languages like Mandarin is, teaching kids to read, write, and do math is a heck of a lot more important. And many classes out here in east county - and I'm sure around the state - are falling behind. I'm watching as my daughter's classmates are still struggling with basics of reading while kids in other places (not just around the state or country, but in our own district) are ahead of them and they're only in kindergarten.

@ Kurt & Jenni, I'll not argue the Mandarin issue here, but I don't think it is asking too much of a candidate for public office to ask about their record. In this case, what Mandarin programs does North Clackamas School District have. Do they even have one class in the whole district? I just want facts. Candidates do run on their records. We, obviously, would interpret that record differently. But why complain about the question?

As for being "a one-trick pony," I don't think that's true. But even if it is, it is, IMHO, the one trick that will make be biggest difference in the lives of our next generations. Without it (say 5% of graduating students fluent in Mandarin), our state and country will not be prepared for the future rushing at them.

@LT, I'm reluctant to turn this into a discussion of Mandarin programs. I am simply asking for candidate Cheryl Myers' record and position on an issue. It's important to me, so I ask. No one has yet answered.

I do not see shifting to more Mandarin programs as "adding" to existing educational programs but replacing some. I advocate more partial Mandarin immersion programs that begin in kindergarten. There are minimal transition costs, but then costs can be the same as totally English classes. I don't expect every student to study Mandarin. I'd like to get from less than 1% to 5% fluent. I also advocate a Go Global High Schools Study Abroad Program to send high school students to China and elsewhere. It would require no new local or state funds. Yes, there are problems getting good Mandarin teachers. But we have some good ones teaching now (however licensed) and HB 2763 (from 2007 & 2009 session) would have developed proposals to put a system in place for more. I can not solve all of education's problems. But you are the one setting the expectations for our students too low.

@Kurt, Half (or more) of the school day beginning in kindergarten is taught in Mandarin rather than English. The teaching is not foreign language teaching per se but teaching content (social studies, math, writing, music, art, etc) in a foreign language. Research shows that young children in such immersion programs do better on English and math achievement tests than children not in such programs.

@ED, Portland Public Schools has immersion programs in Spanish, Japanese, Russian, and Mandarin. More parents want to put their children in such programs each year than there is space. There are lotteries each year. I'm not advocating that even one student be force into such an immersion program. So what's "pure wing nuttery" for some, perhaps many, is a sought after, 21st century education for others.

@LT, you are being ridiculous. I'm quite willing to have other people ask Cheryl other questions and to discuss other issues. Many issues interest me. Again, my goal would be to get 5% of Oregon's public high school graduates fluent in Mandarin. That leaves 95% to do something else. There are, of course, other ways to teach Mandarin than immersion. HB 2763 (above) would have provided other curriculum options for school districts. For a student in a small or remote school, there is always correspondence or online courses. I note the Florida Virtual High School offer two semesters of Chinese for out of state students (here).