Editor’s note: This is the tenth and final in a multi-part series on the impact of your vote for School Board Candidates, an OAA Voter Education Project

One of the top challenges for Oregon school boards is to improve graduation rates and reduce drop-outs. Oregon is ranked 44 for public school quality and safety.

School boards are making important decisions about strategies to mitigate the learning decline during the last two years. The magnitude of the impact of COVID-19 lockdown resulted in test-score drops and increase absentees. Studies have been done on strategies to help students catch up.

The Brookings Institute Research Study says these students are not a “lost generation,” and student’s have a capacity for resiliency. What they discovered, which shouldn’t be a surprise, is the type of intervention is specific to grade and subject. For instance, tutoring was found to have larger effects in elementary math than in reading. Other studies showed summer learning programs in math were effective, reductions in class size had no effect, and extending the school day was beneficial but only to maximize teaching.

The need to restore the last two years is directly related to graduation rates. The Oregon Statewide Report Card 2021-22 clearly shows the last two years had a much greater impact on high school students than lower levels. That is translating into lower graduation rates. Despite what legislators would have you believe, the pandemic devastated all races and ethnicities alike. Matter of fact, English Learners maintained the highest levels throughout the pandemic. And white students ranked seventh out of 12 categories – not a “privileged” group as taught.

Looking for a way to improve on Oregon's graduation rate and make college affordable, former Senator Mark Hass pushed for the creation of Oregon Promise, which makes Oregon’s 17 community colleges tuition-free to high school graduates. Eight years later, the program may be dismantled.

The State’s Higher Education Coordinating Committee says Oregon Promise "has not led to lasting increases in enrollment, momentum, completion, or equity.” Only an additional one percent of students have found it made college more affordable. Meanwhile, taxpayers are picking up the tab.

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

The Joint Task Force on Student Success for Underrepresented Students in Higher Education requested SB 262 suggesting limiting eligibility for Oregon Promise program to students and families with adjusted gross income at or below $100,000, and permit the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to use Oregon Promise funding to award grants for degree completion. Their report suggests that graduation rates are affected by the increasing costs at public universities and community colleges. It makes combined state and federal grant aid for a student at the lowest income level insufficient to meet the full cost of attendance at many public institutions of higher education in Oregon. Therefore, the Oregon Promise is needed to motivate underrepresented students. They also suggested pre-college mentorship to help more underrepresented students attend college. The bill currently sits in the Ways and Means Committee.

A June 2022 poll commissioned by the Oregon Moms Union found that 55% of Oregonians think our state’s education system is on the wrong track. They said they knew something was seriously wrong with the way politicians were imposing their own will on students.

More than anything else, this series has pointed out how comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) has been integrated into the curriculum and affecting all aspects of education. It is the most contentious issue for parents. Stop World Control has obtained documents from the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) instructing teachers in kindergartens and elementary schools to teach toddlers to masturbate. UN documents instructs all education authorities and policy makers to make sure that little children will have sexual relationships, and international judicial organization’s statement suggests that sex between little children and adults should be legalized, calling for the acceptance of pedophilia as a normal sexual orientation. Parents want answers from the State Board of Education.

School boards are not just faced with restoring students and graduation rates, but the Statewide Report Card 2021-22 shows the Economically Disadvantaged student group is larger in 2021-22 than in prior years and anticipated to increase. Despite the state's push towards equity, CSE, CRT, social-emotional learning, and gender identity, school boards are challenged with deciphering state guidelines so they can be administered in an equal manner to advance all students.

Oregon Abigail Adams Voter Education Project lists the candidates and those responding to the survey on their website.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2023-05-11 02:36:42

Last Update: 2023-05-11 01:33:39