By Dr. Christine Toribio Pitts

What if I told you that the 45% of Oregon 8th graders performing below basic in math—and the 48% of 4th graders reading below basic — these students are not failing.

They are being failed. 

These students are not underperforming. They are underestimated, undervalued, and—too often—systematically tracked away from the opportunity to learn before they’ve even had the chance to show what they can do and achieve.

As the new President and CEO at Open School, I came to this work because I’ve seen what happens when we set low expectations for students based on circumstances outside their control. And I’ve seen what’s possible when we do the opposite

Why this is personal

My mom entered the foster care system as a child. While still in high school, she received a letter from the state: She was being kicked out of her foster home. There were no more resources to support her. And going back home to her biological family? That wasn’t an option—it was a matter of survival. 

So, she went to court to fight for emancipation. When she tells this story, she explains that  she wore her prom dress—the one she had sewn herself—because it was the nicest thing she owned. Her mother showed up. But she didn’t fight for her.

From that moment on, my mother white-knuckled her way through life. She graduated high school, went to community college, then university. She built her own accounting business. She succeeded because of her own determination—not because the system worked for her. Like so many young people in Oregon today, she wasn’t failing—she was being failed.

Despite decades of reforms , our systems still allow kids to slip through the cracks. The barriers and challenges our students face today aren’t new—they’re persistent. They’re pernicious. They’re structural. And the result is a generation of young people navigating institutions that too often only see their struggles, not their strengths.

I saw it as a classroom teacher. I’ve lived it as a mother.

Still—our kids rise. They build relationships. They find strength. They tap into joy and resilience. They survive systems that were never built for them.

In Oregon, we’ve become experts at identifying risk. We build school models centered on standards that aim for adequacy, compliance, and, at best, mediocrity. 

We ask students to take surveys so that we can document their trauma and life challenges. We assign them a number or a label. And based on that label, we chart their educational paths and goals—not journeys to reflect their full potential, but to contain it. 

We call this process responsive or informed. But too often, we’re stopping at survival. We’re operating at the bottom of Maslow’s Hierarchy, where the best we hope for our children is stability.

The vision

Dr. Christine Toribio Pitts, President & CEO

Let me be clear: This is not a call to erase the stories of BIPOC or queer youth or to abandon trauma-informed practices. I’m asking us to do the opposite. To believe in our students, because they don’t need school systems that merely accommodate their challenges. They need systems that establish safety and stability – and believe in their brilliance. 

That expect growth. That cultivate achievement. That dare to design for the top tier of Maslow’s Hierarchy: Self-actualization—not just survival. That belief—that every young person deserves the chance to realize their full potential—is what brought me to Open School. This is our charge: To reinvent school for Oregon students who’ve been underestimated for far too long.

As I step into this role, I am making a commitment to lead an organization that no longer labels and limits young people—but instead sees them, supports them, and stretches them to become sovereign in their educational journeys and life goals. We cannot do this alone. We are calling on you—elected officials, business leaders, community partners, and families—to join our coalition of leaders who understand that today’s students are tomorrow’s change makers and innovators. 

We are asking you to remember what becomes possible when we stop giving up on our children—and start believing in their brilliance and build systems that do the same. This is a moment to build. To believe. To begin again.

Join us

I invite you to reinvent school with us. Stay up to date with our newsletter and find other ways to support our work.

Editor’s Note: This blog post is adapted from a speech delivered by Dr. Pitts at the 2025 Open School Gala, marking her appointment as President & CEO. It reflects her vision for the future of education in Portland and across Oregon.