It’s back to school season, which means it’s also back to the annual drama over Portland Public Schools — superintendent contracts, building closures, classroom consolidations. But this week, Mike zooms out to the bigger issue hiding underneath all of it: Oregon currently ranks 50th in the nation in fourth-grade reading proficiency.

To talk about it, Mike welcomes a guest who’s impossible to ignore — quite literally dressed as a two-foot pencil. J. Schuberth is the creator behind “Pencil for Governor,” a write-in campaign designed to force Oregon’s literacy crisis into the spotlight. Jay walks through how a joke among friends turned into a real campaign, what it’s actually like knocking on doors in a pencil costume, and why it took a mascot to get people talking about something this serious

Together, they dig into what states like Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee did differently to turn their reading rankings around — and lay out a five-step pledge for what Oregon could actually do about it. It’s part satire, part policy deep-dive, and a reminder that sometimes it takes something absurd to make people pay attention to something urgent.

Plus: Elinor Jones returns for a back-to-school edition of “In the News,” covering celebrity balloon arches, Meghan Markle’s UK school controversy, and JD Vance’s stay-at-home parent stipend proposal.

In this episode:

* Oregon’s 50th-in-the-nation ranking in 4th grade reading proficiency

* The origin story behind the “Pencil for Governor” campaign

* What Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee did to improve reading outcomes

* The five-step pledge for fixing literacy in Oregon

* Pencil’s picks for governor-for-a-day: policy, press conferences, and photo ops

* In the News: back-to-school culture wars, royal school drama, and the politics of parenting

Thanks to our sponsor, Corbett Hill Wellness, for supporting this episode. If you or your business would like to sponsor SchmidtShow PDX, reach out — your support keeps this project going.

Links:

* You can read Elinor Jones at the Mercury Trash Report

* You can learn more about Pencil’s run for Governor

* Sign the Petition to build support for fixing Oregon’s reading outcomes!

Schmidt Show PDX is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.