On this day, May 21, 2001, in Seattle, Wa., members of the Earth Liberation Front torched the Univ. of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture causing about $6 million in damage. An Oregon tree farm owned by Jefferson Poplar Farms was also burned. four people were later convicted of taking part in the firebombing. One later committed suicide in prison.
Also on this day, May 21, 2002, The George W. Bush administration said it will allow new mining to resume on nearly one million acres of the Siskiyou region.
Also on this day, May 21, 2006, demolition crews destroyed the 499-foot cooling tower of the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant. Demolition of the containment dome was scheduled in 2008.
Also on this day, May 21, 1998, 15 year-old Kipland Kinkel killed one classmate and wounded 19 more at Thurston High School. His parents, William and Faith, were found shot dead at home and a 2nd student died the next day. He had been expelled from school the previous day for bringing a gun to school. Kinkel dropped an insanity plea in 1999 and pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and 26 counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced over 111 years in prison.
Teachers’ unions have regarded school choice as an existential threat
Secretary of State Shemia Fagan (D-Portland) has rejected Initiative Petition 1 for the 2024 cycle on the grounds that it makes multiple changes to the Oregon Constitution. Initiative petitions may each only make a single change to the Oregon Constitution. Republican Gubernatorial candidate Marc Theilman was the Chief Petitoner. IP 1 proposed to make changes to the Oregon Constitution allowing school choice.
Shemia Fagan was first elected as Secretary of State in 2020. She was heavily supported by public employee unions, especially teachers' unions, including $19,500 from the American Federation of Teachers and $56,500 from the Oregon Education Association. Teachers' unions have regarded school choice as an existential threat.
"All Oregon families deserve the right to choose the school that their children attend. We are disappointed that the Secretary of State denied Oregonians the opportunity to vote for expanding educational opportunities for all students and will appeal" said Donna Kreitzberg, a representative of the Education Freedom for Oregon Executive Committee"
According to Secretary Fagan,
"The Secretary has determined it does not comply with the procedural requirements established in the Oregon Constitution for initiative petitions. In particular, the Secretary has determined that the Initiative Petition does not comply with the requirements of Article XVII, section 1, of the Oregon Constitution. The purpose of this requirement is to allow voters to express their opinions separately on each proposed change to Oregon’s fundamental law.
The Oregon Constitution gives voters the right to consider and vote on these changes separately and it is the Secretary’s duty to protect that right by rejecting initiative petitions that would violate that right.
The Secretary has determined it does not comply with the procedural requirements established in the Oregon Constitution for initiative petitions. In particular, the Secretary has determined that the Initiative Petition does not comply with the requirements of Article XVII, section 1, of the Oregon Constitution. The purpose of this requirement is to allow voters to express their opinions separately on each proposed change to Oregon’s fundamental law.
The Oregon Constitution gives voters the right to consider and vote on these changes separately and according to Secretary Fagan, it is the Secretary’s duty to protect that right by rejecting initiative petitions that would violate that right.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
In the Secretary’s view, IP 2024-001 makes at least three unrelated changes to the Oregon Constitution. These include:
- Giving parents of public-school children a new constitutional right to choose to have their child attend any public school in their school district that has room, even if it is outside their attendance area;
- Creating a new constitutional requirements for school funding, which tell the state to finance any private educational methods a parent chooses, specify how the state must calculate and provide the funds, and explain how parents may spend the funds;
- Requiring the state to fund religiously based education, thus implicitly amending Article I, section 5, of the Oregon Constitution, which prohibits the state from spending treasury funds for the benefit of any religious or theological institution.
In making the determination the Secretary of State reviewed the text of Initiative Petition 2024-001, considered all procedural constitutional requirement comments filed, and received counsel from the Attorney General.
--Staff Reports| Post Date: 2022-01-20 22:08:29 | Last Update: 2022-01-20 23:47:13 |
