Canvassing for Portland School Board

Today I donated some time in the afternoon to canvass for Scott Bailey, who is running for Portland Public School board, in the Westmoreland area of SE Portland.  This was in relation to the work I've been doing for Stand for Children.  I was actually on the committee that interviewed and then subsequently endorsed Scott.  It's been a pretty cool experience just to see this whole side of the process occur from beginning to end.
Canvassing is an inherently difficult task.  First off, almost everybody whose door you knock on thinks you're trying to sell them something.  It's amazing how many folks are closed off to what I was talking about before I ever opened my mouth. I know that I've been the same way in my life and I know there's some sort of karma at work there, although to my credit I remember being very excited when the last canvasser for Obama came to my door and the guy being a little taken aback by our enthusiasm.
It's been years since I've gone door to door for any candidate, and I was reminded that if nothing else an afternoon spent canvassing will reveal some pretty interesting stories. For example, some of the interesting stories from today:

• Elderly gentlemen who answered the door in his bath robe and boxer shorts.  There was gape-age.  I averted my eyes as I offered a flyer.
• After I got through my spiel a gentlemen in his forties asks me if I noticed the "No Solicitors" sign by his front door.  The following exchange occurs -

Homeowner: "See here?  It says no solicitors."
Me: "Well, I'm not selling anything.  I just want to share some information about the school board election."
Homeowner: "I am apolitical."
Me: "It's a non-partisan election"
Homeowner: "Get off my porch, jackass".
Door shuts.
Me (to self): "I'm going to mark you as hostile." (in a TAKE THAT manner)

• Lady starts shaking her head back and forth almost as soon as I start speaking.  She interrupts me to say "No."  I just barely got in "I'm here about the school board election" as she shut the door.

This is definitely the kind of thing that I see as a challenge for myself - way outside of my comfort zone - but I'm glad I did it.  I don't know if I could ever run for an office knowing how many doors I'd have to knock on in order to do so, but I'm proud of myself for getting out there to do it.
Oh, and also... if you live in Portland, vote for Scott Bailey for Portland School Board.  (Along with Martin Gonzalez and Trudy Sargent).

Presidential Day Rally for Schools - February 16th 2009

Many of you follow my updates on twitter and Facebook and are therefor aware that Jen gave me her terrible cold.  This one is a real pain in the butt, and I'm still in the part where I feel worse each day rather than better.  Despite all this, tonight I'm braving my way through the haze of Kleenex and Nyquil to let you know about a really important event coming up on February 16th at the Salem state capital to support public school funding in Oregon.

There are many aspects of the funding picture that just don't add up for Oregon schools.  Did you know that the Oregon school year is shorter than any of its surrounding states?  In Portland the school day is the shortest of any district in Oregon.

The Governor's proposed budget for this biennium falls $199 million dollars short of the essential budget level for 2009 - 2011, which is the amount needed just to keep funding at its current levels.  But the governor's budget was proposed before the latest economic news was issued by the Oregon State Economist's office and is now seen as an optimistic proposal in Salem.  The schools are facing a short-fall for this year, which means they won't be able to pay their bills for the 2008-2009 school year without further cuts.

Oregon's children don't vote or write checks for campaigns (and can't drive themselves to the rally).  That's why it's so important that we get a great turnout at our Monday February 16th President's day rally to demand adequate funding for our schools and other programs.

If we want our legislators to stand up for our kids we need to show them that they have support when the going gets tough.  And the going has gotten tough.  If you'd like more information about the rally please email me at dave dot worth at gmail dot com, or sign up directly at http://stand.org/or/rally.  We even have buses coming directly from Portland schools to get you there!