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Old 09-04-2016, 01:35 PM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
10,987 posts, read 20,467,723 times
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Years ago a decision was made that the State provided basic school support, transferring resources from relatively wealthy districts to poor districts. Unfortunately the State did not increase taxes to fund the schools and school districts pealed away programs that many thought weren't 'necessary'.

Portland has few 'newer' (since 1970) school buildings. Most are very old. Because of the above cash squeeze maintenance has been neglected.
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Old 09-04-2016, 01:47 PM
 
Location: Aloverton
6,560 posts, read 14,402,311 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Panther2004 View Post
Oregon public schools were ranked 43rd overall in results and they were the WORST in Math and second worst in Reading!

What is the deal?
It would cost money to improve them, and Oregon refuses to pay.
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Old 09-05-2016, 09:35 AM
 
Location: North Idaho
32,502 posts, read 47,478,646 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Panther2004 View Post
Oregon public schools were ranked 43rd overall in results and they were the WORST in Math and second worst in Reading! ........
Some of it has to do with a strong teachers union that strikes at the drop of a hat and makes it impossible to fire incompetent teachers to replace them with better qualified teachers. Money that should be going to hire additional teachers instead goes to raises for the existing teachers-- which the unions loudly proclaim that they are doing for the good of the children.
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Old 09-05-2016, 11:24 AM
 
Location: Aloverton
6,560 posts, read 14,402,311 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke View Post
Some of it has to do with a strong teachers union that strikes at the drop of a hat and makes it impossible to fire incompetent teachers to replace them with better qualified teachers. Money that should be going to hire additional teachers instead goes to raises for the existing teachers-- which the unions loudly proclaim that they are doing for the good of the children.
Yeah, keep the funding low, then blame the teachers' union. Because teachers should be poorer than they already are, and should be as afraid for their jobs as the rest of the workforce. It's not the fault of school boards, parents, and parsimonious funding; it's the fault of people who signed up for one of the most abused, best (read, most expensively) educated, worst paid careers in America.
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Old 09-05-2016, 05:00 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,588 posts, read 57,546,778 times
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Aree that the teachers should be paid well, and provided resources and empowerment to teach (this is what most of them are excellent doing... Not jumping through hoops for administrators, or 'tutoring-for-test-scores')

But.... More school funding does not always equal better schools. Just as higher tax revenue for county does not equal more or improved services.

In WA 50% of my property tax goes to schools ($14,400/2 per year = $7,200). Includes state university schools.

In Texas, 75% of my property tax dollars goes directly to local school district.

Unfortunately both systems are terrible, thus we just keep paying taxes and homeschooled (as do most teachers I know).

USA edu, really needs a new plan (from scratch)

If I had kids in elementary school, i would move back to Singapore (which is very difficult to get your kids in public schools, and more difficult for them to perform well enough to have the privilege to stay in public school)
It is not a perfect or best situation, but it is a very different mindset / performance metric.

The USA has all the resources to do this best

Get with it. (Money spent in the right places will help, but not renew USA EDU)
Now is a perfect time! ( we know it will NOT come from our childish leadership.)

Grow up America, take a step forward today.
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Old 09-05-2016, 05:25 PM
 
Location: Aloverton
6,560 posts, read 14,402,311 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthRabbit View Post
But.... More school funding does not always equal better schools. Just as higher tax revenue for county does not equal more or improved services.
Absolutely it doesn't, I agree. Not all problems can be corrected with more money, and it says a great deal about Americans how often they imagine they can. However, if one wants to make sure that only the lowest quality of persons choose to enter the teaching field, making it a poverty line job is a definite start. The biggest problem, by far, is that we hire them, then don't let them teach. We require them to indoctrinate, we make them deal with buttinsky parents, we saddle them with discipline problems, and then we blame the educational failures, too often, on them. So it begins with funding, but that's by no means the only necessary change.
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Old 09-05-2016, 08:13 PM
 
2,542 posts, read 3,979,348 times
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History of tenure

A Brief History of Tenure - TIME

Quote:
It's been called the holy grail of the teaching profession — academic freedom plus job security all rolled nicely into a union contract. But to Michelle Rhee, superintendent of Washington D.C. schools, tenure just means trouble.
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Old 09-06-2016, 10:28 AM
 
Location: Oregon, formerly Texas
10,006 posts, read 7,148,236 times
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Since I actually am an Oregon educator... I can comment on this...

Oregon teachers are generally pretty good, which is saying something given that they are underpaid. Most Oregon starting teacher salaries do not pay enough to live independently. They start at under 40k. If you are going to be a teacher, you either have to give up on the idea of owning your own house or marry someone else with a better paying job.

I was lucky that I moved here during the recession when housing values were at historical lows.

The teacher unions here are not overly powerful... certainly NOT to the extent they are back east in states like New York or New Jersey where they wield actual power. The Oregon branch of AFT doesn't have that much power & only 15,000 members. The OEA is the largest and has 42,000 members. These are bargaining units, that's all. They mainly exist to keep teacher pay and benefits from going down in inflation-adjusted terms. There was a threatened strike in Portland Public Schools in 2014... but it was averted.

You want the reason that Oregon schools under-perform?

Truancy and lack of truancy enforcement. Oregon students skip more than anywhere I've ever worked... to an extent I couldn't believe when I first got here. The students in my local high school skip like crazy. You won't get good grades if you are not in class, it's that simple. In fact, Mississippi improved because they made an investment in police enforcement of truancy. Students in Oregon act like going to class is optional. I see the high school kids all over town on any given school day. Parents don't seem to care.

Another reason is that the rural counties numbers are downright abysmal & a big part of it is attendance. Their numbers drag the state down. The urban & suburban districts are doing okay. Southern Oregon and Central/Eastern Oregon have very poorly performing schools... Crook county is one of the worst in the country.

To the extent teacher quality is a culprit... I would say it's related to inadequate training. The 1 year MAT that teachers in Oregon get doesn't teach them a whole lot... I see a lot of teachers in my subject that mean well... but don't really know the subject. The principals just throw them in the lion's den with a textbook and say "teach it."

Last edited by redguard57; 09-06-2016 at 10:38 AM..
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Old 09-06-2016, 12:30 PM
 
2,542 posts, read 3,979,348 times
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For absenteeism rate the best is Texas at 16.5%.

Oregon has one of nation's worst school absenteeism rates, contributing to mediocre reading and math skills, study says | OregonLive.com


Quote:
Worst
1. Montana 28%
2. New Mexico 26
3. Oklahoma 25
4. Oregon (tie) 24
Arizona 24

Best
1. Texas 16.5%
2. Illinois (tie) 17
Indiana 17
Massachusetts 17
5. Georgia 17.5

Source: Attendance Works analysis of 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress results
But look at the ranking of HS across the US.

How States Compare in the 2016 Best High Schools Rankings | Best High Schools | US News

Texas is way down the list at 28 while Oregon is ranked higher at 25.

Last edited by BendLocal; 09-06-2016 at 12:43 PM..
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