Verne Duncan

Verne Allen Duncan (born April 6, 1934) is an American politician from the state of Oregon. As an educator and moderate Republican, he has become outspoken in protest of policies of his own party he views as extreme.

A former classroom teacher, principal, district superintendent and professor, Duncan has served in the legislatures of two states, Idaho and Oregon, held the office of Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction, and served as a university dean.

Early life Born and raised in McMinnville, Duncan is a member of a pioneer Oregon family. His grandfather, S.S. Duncan, had been a teacher and for many years was superintendent of schools for Yamhill County.

As a schoolboy, Duncan had occasion to visit the state Department of Education on a class trip. When he needed a workspace on which to take down some notes, then-superintendent Rex Putnam rose from his desk and offered it to the young Duncan. Neither knew the boy would grow up to occupy that desk for fifteen years as superintendent himself.

Career in education and politics Duncan began his teaching career in the Butte County Public Schools in Arco, Idaho, in 1954. He subsequently became a principal and later the superintendent of schools. Before serving as superintendent, he was elected to the state legislature, serving from 1962 to 1965. He then completed his Ph.D. at the University of Oregon and after a short interim on the faculty at the University became the Superintendent of Schools of the Clackamas County Intermediate Education District. In 1974, he was elected State Superintendent of Schools. After his four-term tenure as Oregon's Superintendent of Public Instruction, Duncan returned to teaching in 1990, serving as dean of the University of Portland’s School of Education until 1996, when he took emeritus professor status.

In a 2000 interview with The Oregonian, Duncan admitted to having voted personally for both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates, refusing to give particulars, but indicating that he was an enthusiastic supporter of George H. W. Bush but not his son. He also told the reporter that the Republicans must become more inclusive and less extreme. "Sometimes it doesn't hurt to lose," he said. "It keeps you humble."