March 12, 2007

Dear Commissioner Preus-Braly:

Thanks so much to you, James Sager and Connie Green for meeting with the ODE Private Career School Advisory Committee last Friday, March 9, 2007. The group thought and felt that the meeting was incredibly constructive and that bridges of trust and cooperation were established and reinforced.

As you witnessed at the conclusion of your time with us, the committee was reluctant to further discuss HB 2262 or go on passing resolutions concerning it for this reason: You had put to rest the concern that HB 2262 would be moving ahead, and had succeeded in eliciting the trust of the committee in you to carry through to see the bill “pulled back.” The committee did not want to run the risk that passing a series of resolutions concerning HB 2262 would be mistaken as further prodding for something to which you had already committed yourself, and thereby appear as if signaling a lack of trust.

Therefore, I am happy to report that the committee preferred instead that I should summarize the mutual understanding so that any memorialization thereof would appear more appropriately – in friendly terms, and not in the sterile legal-sounding formality of a “motion”, “finding” or “resolution.”

I think this is evidence that you accomplished so much among the group when you visited. I think the committee saw your sincerity of concern for the sector and trusted that you had the insight and influence to keep the threat from continuing to loom over us.

So, here, in a nutshell is the summary:

We agree with and support you in your recommendation that HB 2262 be pulled back from further consideration. We agree with and support your suggestion and that of the Governor’s office that an intersegmental group be formed so that intersegmental articulation can be facilitated, resulting in seamless pathways for lifelong learning. It is obvious that both these positions enjoy tremendous support from the PCS segment as a whole, as demonstrated by the public comment witnessed last Friday.

There is so much energy around these issues that this seems an ideal time to capitalize on the interest and attention, and craft solutions that are superior to those that could exist without intersegmental cooperation. In the end, although the bill itself will not move forward, its legacy will be the genesis of an historic and unprecedented cooperation between public and private post-secondary institutions in Oregon.

Thank you for playing such a key role in helping to begin something so significant.

Sincerely,

Mitchell Priestley Chair ODE Private Career School Advisory Committee