Education
Legislators consider shielding school superintendents from rash school board actions
Leaders from the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators and the Oregon School Boards Association are asking legislators to protect superintendents from some firings and require greater oversight and training for those serving on school boards. The proposals respond to several recent high-profile firings of school superintendents by their boards for enforcing mask and vaccine mandates, […]
State senator launches campaign for Oregon students denied class time due to language, disability
State Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis, launched a statewide campaign Monday to collect accounts of Oregon students who have been denied equal time in their schools during the pandemic due to disability, a need for behavioral support or a need for English Language Learner services. She hopes to use the material from the #AllMeansAll campaign […]
Some Oregon school districts pause, ignore, or lack supplies for test-to-stay protocol
Testing meant to detect unvaccinated students exposed to Covid-19 in schools is hitting supply and staffing challenges, according to school district leaders. As Covid-19 cases declined in November, the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Education Department announced a new protocol to keep more students in the classroom. Under the program, unvaccinated students who are […]
Oregon reaches dire stage in pandemic as state issues guidelines for rationing care
The Covid-19 pandemic in Oregon has reached a dire stage, with the Oregon Health Authority advising hospitals how to ration care when they run out of beds, and officials warning the public that widespread infections will disrupt everyone’s life. During a news conference on Friday, Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon’s state epidemiologist, said the highly infectious […]
Oregon’s state education director a quiet, collaborative force in the turbulence of pandemic
Colt Gill gets up at 2:30 every morning, thinking about his duty to the principals, teachers, students and school staff in Oregon’s 216 school districts and education service districts. The director of the state Education Department is in action, answering emails, conferring with his deputy director Carmen Urbina and responding to text messages from school […]
Oregon colleges receive funds to support student veterans
Oregon community colleges and universities will get new funds to support veterans, the state’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs announced this week. They’ve awarded $600,000 to five public universities and 10 community colleges to expand their Campus Veteran Resource Centers, which help student veterans get acclimated to college life, stay in school, complete their degrees and […]
Biden administration resists Democrats’ pleas on student debt relief as deadline nears
WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats are urging the White House to extend the freeze on student loan repayments, and for the president to cancel up to $50,000 of student debt — but so far the administration is not budging. The standoff is one of the more noticeable splits between President Joe Biden and members of his […]
Oregon schools face few limits on how to use millions in unexpected federal money
In some Oregon school districts, turf fields and lawn mowers were necessities to overcome the pandemic and get schools reopened. Others used emergency relief money to retrofit buildings with ventilation systems, add laptop computers for students and pay for online teaching. But the state still holds more than $1 billion meant to help school districts […]
Disability rights group accuses school district, state of denying students rights
The advocacy group Disability Rights Oregon is alleging that the Klamath Falls City School District and the Oregon Education Department are violating laws that guarantee equal education for students with disabilities. The group’s attorney, Joel Greenberg, filed a complaint Tuesday, Dec. 7 at the state agency that names Education Department Director Colt Gill and Keith […]
State work group targets stress and attrition among Oregon school employees
In a meeting with Portland teachers last month, state Senator Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, “really got an earful” about how bad staff shortages had gotten. A lack of substitute teachers, special education teachers and paraprofessionals as well as classified workers such as bus drivers and janitors had many school employees taking on extra work and being […]
Investments needed in higher ed, job training to recover from pandemic, Oregon leaders say
Oregon can’t recover jobs lost during the pandemic and meet the needs of industry without new investments in training the workforce, state leaders declared Monday. Gov. Kate Brown and Ben Cannon, executive director of the state Higher Education Coordinating Commission, underscored that point in speeches to an annual gathering of business leaders and public officials. […]
Oregonians can bid for lower taxes while funding scholarships through state auction
An upcoming auction for tax credits could save winners anywhere from $50 to $1.12 million on state taxes, all while funding Oregon’s largest needs-based scholarship program. The online auction is in its fourth year, and offers bidders the opportunity to shave their tax bill and direct a portion of what they would pay in taxes […]