President Hamann Appointed to Quality Education Commission

Greg Hamann

President Greg Hamann has been appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber to serve a four-year term on the state Quality Education Commission.

Dr. Hamann’s appointment makes him the first person on the commission who works outside of the K-12 education system. He will begin to serve on the commission this month.

Created in 2001 with a primary focus on K-12, the non-partisan commission is expanding its work to include pre-kindergarten through public higher education.

“This appointment is a recognition not just of my efforts and contributions, but of those of the entire LBCC community,” said Dr. Hamann.

The commission’s task is to refine and validate the state’s Quality Education Model (QEM), which was developed in 1999 to establish research-based connections between resources devoted to schools and levels of student achievement, and to guide efforts to adequately fund Oregon schools. 

The work of the commission, which meets once a month, includes evaluating educational best practices and determining the level of funding needed for Oregon students to reach education standards set by the state.

Dr. Hamann has been a statewide advocate for innovation-based reforms to increase college completion rates while reducing cost per completion. The goal is to create more opportunity for Oregonians to gain skills to contribute to and benefit from the state’s economic vitality.

Based on the QEM, the commission has determined that Oregon needs state funding of approximately $8.76 billion to fully fund the state’s schools for 2013-15. This is an increase of more than $2.4 billion over current funding levels.

The commission’s findings are presented in a biennial report to the state legislature for update and improvement to the Quality Education Model.