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Steve Buel, a retired teacher who served two previous terms decades apart on the board of Portland Public Schools, says he's considering another run in the May board election.
Buel, 74, earlier served from 1979 to 1983, a time of racial turmoil in the district, which was desegregating schools.
He returned for a second term from 2013 to 2017, earning a reputation for bluntness and often battling with board colleagues and district staff.
Buel moved to the West Side district currently represented by Julie Esparza Brown on the seven-member PPS board late last year. He says he's unsure whether Esparza Brown is going to run for re-election (she hasn't made an announcement and didn't immediately respond to WW's calls), but he will make a decision by Feb. 1 independent of Esparza Brown's decision.
Buel says he's frustrated that the current board has not followed through on initiatives he pushed, particularly on equalizing offerings across district middle and elementary schools.
"I had some stuff set up that was really good for kids," Buel says. "If you live in a poor neighborhood, you get a worse education. That's not fair. They were going to allocate money equally across the district—but it's not happening."
Board members Paul Anthony, Amy Kohnstamm and Mike Rosen are also up for re-election in May.