For Rita Moore, education was the ticket out of poverty. She grew up in a working class neighborhood in Boston and was the first in her family to attend college, eventually earning a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. A former PPS parent, Moore has been involved with the district since 2002 as a member of the PTA and Site Council at her son’s schools, the Community Budget Review Committee, and the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Enrollment and Transfer. She served as PPS Board Chair during the 2018-19 school year.

Moore currently works for the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Child Welfare Department as a change management analyst. She previously worked as a policy analyst in the Oregon Health Authority’s Office of Health Analytics.