At a time when the leaders of some of Oregon’s largest school districts are grappling with school closures, opponents of the closure plans have been raising alarms on social media about connections between local school leaders and a national leadership organization with roots in Republican-led education reform.
Here’s what we know about the group Chiefs for Change — its history, its goals and the evidence about whether its agenda is shaping school closure decisions in Portland and Salem-Keizer districts.
What is Chiefs for Change?
Founded in 2010 by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and a consortium of education leaders, the early members of Chiefs for Change were primarily Republican, and they often sought to advance the education priorities of its founder’s brother, former President George W. Bush, including school choice.
Today, Chiefs for Change describes itself as bipartisan and committed to equity. Its website says it opposes the Trump administration’s plan to disband the U.S. Department of Education, and it supports collaborations between K-12 public schools and higher ed programs — and that it wants to prioritize using evidence to help school districts succeed.
How are Oregon school leaders involved?
Portland Public Schools Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong and Salem-Keizer Public Schools Superintendent Andrea Castañeda are both Chiefs for Change members who participated in the nonprofit’s leadership development program.
FILE - Portland Public Schools Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong introduces a school closure proposal during a Portland Public School Board meeting about closing up to 14 schools, on Oct. 6, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Gustavo Balderas, who is on the Chiefs for Change board, was superintendent of Beaverton and Eugene before he moved up to Washington to become superintendent of the Puget Sound ESD.
Why is this controversial?
After Armstrong announced plans to close up to 14 schools on Monday, some parents and educators questioned motives behind the school closures — and asked if they might be part of a political agenda to shift public school funding away from neighborhood schools to charter schools.
A social media post that had been “liked” more than 2,000 times and shared hundreds of times as of Wednesday afternoon cited Armstrong’s involvement in Chiefs for Change as “evidence” of this theory.
That Instagram post, by the group Rank and File Educators for Democracy, called Chiefs for Change a right-wing organization and cited its Republican founder and its past advocacy work to paint it as part of the same “neoliberal” conservative political movement that many associated with President George W. Bush. The post also noted that superintendents from Cleveland, Philadelphia and Atlanta are also involved with Chiefs for Change — and are also closing a dozen or more schools each.
What does Portland Public Schools’ superintendent say about this?
“Chiefs for Change is a professional organization that I’m a part of,” Armstrong said when asked about the group by school board director Rashelle Chase-Miller at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.
Armstrong acknowledged that its founding was linked to a “governor in the state of Florida” – without identifying Jeb Bush by name.
“I belong to several professional organizations; they are all about the growth and development of me as a leader,” Armstrong said, adding that the group did not influence work on school closure recommendations.
Chase-Miller also asked the superintendent to share her position on privatization and charter schools.
“I came up in public schools; I believe in public schools. I sent all four of my children to public schools. I’m a guardian of two Portland public kiddos,” Armstrong said. “So, public schools — that is what I have given my life and my service and a lot of my time to, and will continue to until my last breath.”
Why are some Oregon districts closing schools, then?
Armstrong and school district staff say that running schools with small enrollment is expensive and inefficient — and also leaves students with fewer options and resources. By closing as many as 14 schools, the district hopes to reduce costs and expand academic offerings.
This comes against a backdrop of declining enrollment in Portland Public Schools — a challenge faced by other districts across the state and the country.
Salem-Keizer Public Schools, whose superintendent is also affiliated with Chiefs for Change, says it will release a list of possible closures on Friday. Officials there say declining birth rates and smaller incoming classes are the primary reasons.
What about the rumor that Chiefs for Change is spurring school closures across the country?
According to The Learning Counsel, an education-focused research organization, public school districts across the country are closing schools at record numbers — and it’s not limited to districts led by Chiefs for Change members.
Public school enrollment is expected to drop by 5.5% by 2031, the Learning Counsel reported. People with children are increasingly choosing not to live in cities, and school districts are grappling with financial crises as funding shrinks and costs rise.
Cleveland, Philadelphia and Atlanta are closing schools, and are led by people associated with Chiefs for Change. But St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver and Phoenix school districts are also facing major school closures – and their leaders are not affiliated with the group.
Correction: An earlier version of this story identified the wrong school board member as the person asking questions of the superintendent about Chiefs for Change and privatization. Those questions came from school board member Rashelle Chase-Miller. OPB regrets the error.
