Oregon Department of Education Reviews

Pros

I have worked at ODE for less than a year but it has been the best combination of environment and pay/benefits in my career. It is not the highest pay scale but the great environment and benefits make up for it. Almost every person I interact with has a deep concern for doing the right thing for Oregon's schools and students. I am proud to work for ODE, I think they are doing a great job with the resources they... have.

Cons

The only con I have seen is a fear or dislike of making important technology decisions. I understand the desire to always make the right decision since making the wrong decision in the technology field can be very expensive but delaying important decisions is costly and tends to lower employee moral.

Pros

Benefits; people; agency cause; fair, proactive HR, but their hands are tied.

Cons

The top person at the agency is pretty awful, however, he'll transition soon. The morale is very low, the culture is one where people don't say what they think or what they feel for fear of retribution. And retribution happens pretty consistently to those with a counter opinion. No one is holding the head person accountable, although there have been many complaints lodged to a variety of executive reps throughout... the state.

Advice to Management

It's quite simple- Treat people right.

Pros

Compensation, benefits and work/life balance.

Cons

Large bureaucracy. Poor leadership currently. However, leadership changes pretty often (about 3-5 years is the tenure of top leaders) so if you have the stomach to hang in there, someone else will come along, and hopefully, they will be a better leader. Previous leader was great.

Pros

There are great benefits and the pay is good. Most employees are able to flex their schedules and many may have opportunities to work from home. Great food in the little deli!

Cons

The morale is low. There is little upward mobility. There is a lack of professional development and internal training. Managers are not held accountable to be equitable to staff when there are opportunities for professional development or advancement. Bully bosses are not held accountable. Whistle blowers are quietly abused and the Eval process is misused. Behind in acquisition and use of technology. Unskilled... managers. Unskilled HR. Unfair hiring practices. Emotionally unhealthy place to be. Bureaucratic!

Advice to Management

Seek professional development to improve management and coaching skills. Commit to staff development. Promote trust, creativity and innovation. Reduce bureaucracy--think Lean. Protect staff that approach HR with Bully Boss concerns and find out what is really happening. Upgrade technology. Upgrade staff computer skills. Fully use social networking sites. Set an example for the rest of the state education systems.... Walk the talk!

Pros

Opportunity to support schools and districts in Oregon and provide them with professional development in not only your subject area(s), but also work on educational policy. Great co-workers for the most part to work with who are passionate about improving outcomes for Oregon's students! Lots of opportunity for professional development and furthering your education if desired. Strong union that supports the... employees when needed!

Cons

Most management positions (managers, directors and above) are external candidates and there isn't much room for growth at the department. Always lots of diverse work to do and often you may work over your scheduled 40 hours a week during busy seasons because there isn't enough FTE to get it all done. Cliques and who you are friends with can help you land a position and or projects to be involved with at the... department. There is an equity lens at the department yet some staff with less experience and skills are getting paid or started on higher pay steps than employees who have worked there for a longer period of time and have also even covered two positions at once. Some employees at the same level are given a lot more work to complete than others, while some employees are able to keep low on the radar and not end up helping with the heavy lifting. HR needs to be reviewed for their unethical hiring practices and also needs to help train and or educate managers on appropriate management strategies and procedures. An equity lens goes beyond the color of ones skin..... Fat-shaming, sexual orientation, Social economical status, religion, disability, including mental health needs to stop.

Advice to Management

Until certain units are integrated and actually sit together the work between the Ed Specialists will never follow best protocol for common messaging and professional development for schools and districts. With the adoption of new standards, funding is needed for implementation for all subject areas (not just ELA and Math), professional development for educators of the new standards and if appropriate assessment... development (classroom level and high stakes). Stop bullying and bad mouthing employees and instead help educate them on areas that they need improvement in. Stop spending so much time on branding and rebranding of departments and moving of departments and actually look at investing in your greatest asset- all of your staff, not just your friends and breaking down the walls between different offices and do what is best for Oregon's students education wise!

Pros

Having a steady Union job, good place to start to gain experience, nice people

Cons

Ancient technology with no upgrade in the near future, very little work to do and no learning of new technologies

Advice to Management

move out from being a microsoft shop and embrace the future technology to better serve the students of Oregon

Pros

Teamwork environment, managers give recognition, pay and benefits are great, upward mobility options, job security.

Cons

The union protects lazy workers which leads to tension among employees who work hard.

Pros

There was a very quick interview process. However, if something seems to good to be true, it probably is.

Cons

The essential functions of the office of childcare has more to do with the DHS than the Department if Education. This office changed departments several years ago. So, those with a background in education would need to be retrained even if they were making a transition internally. The combination of the manager not being there half of the week, and the staff's unwillingness to train is the perfect storm. To put it... politely, BOLI would have a field day with some of the discussions that went on in this office. And at least two employees were gone in less than two weeks ( fired or quit, I don't know).

Advice to Management

Recruit a former investigator for this positon to find better matches for this position. An investigator would be the most familiar with these regulations and would probably need little or no training. Or have HR conduct training so your staff is ready to go for it by the time they walk in the door. Address issues such as burn out, long commutes, sensitivity training, and opportunities for advancement. Many of these... problems could have been avoided if the staff was happy at work and felt like they were supported.