Oregon gov signs bill suspending math, reading requirements for HS grads
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Gov. Kate Brown, the Oregon Democrat , signed a bill last month with little fanfare that drops the requirement that high school students prove proficiency in reading, writing or math before graduation, a report said.
The Oregonian reported that the governor has seemed to avoid discussing Senate Bill 744. Her move to sign the bill was “not public until recently, because her office did not hold a signing ceremony or issue press release.” The paper also pointed out that the bill was first signed on July 14 but not added into the state’s database until July 29 due to a glitch in the system.
Brown’s office did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News.
In June, state lawmakers voted to approve the bill that suspended the requirements for students for three years, KATU reported. Foundations for a Better Oregon said in a statement at the time that the bill is intended to “truly reflect what every student needs to thrive in the 21st century.” Supporters of the bill insist that considering math and reading essential skills has been an unfair challenge for students who do not test well. The report said the requirement was first suspended at the start of the pandemic.
The KATU report pointed out that Republicans have come out against the bill and claim that it lowers “expectations for our kids.” But there was some bipartisan support.
Charles Boyle, the deputy communications director from Brown’s office, told the paper in an email that staff from the governor’s office informed legislative staffers about the bill’s signing on the day it was passed. He also said that the new standards for graduation will help benefit the state’s “Black, Latino, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color.”
The paper reported that the bill could stay in effect for five years until new requirements.
The paper’s editorial staff urged Brown to veto the bill back in June.
“Oregon schools were among the last in the country to reopen to in-person instruction during the pandemic,” an editorial read. “Our legislators should be focused on how to help students regain the ground they’ve lost after a year and a half of distance learning and hybrid instruction – not on lowering our standards.”
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"He also said that the new standards for graduation will help benefit the state’s “Black, Latino, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color.”
Who has less regard for the intellectual abilities of minorities? The KKK or a progressive democrat?
the soft bigotry of low expectations..............
the hard cost of high expectations...
Let's face it, this Governor wouldn't be signing this bill if there was any sort of inexpensive way to get better results in our public schools. She's obviously lowering the bar to avoid spending the money most schools desperately need for quality educators and smaller class sizes per teacher especially in the public schools that serve low income, poor or minority neighborhoods where much of the school funds rely on local property taxes. So do they try to revitalize those communities with investment and jobs and marketing to boost home values, spend millions more out of the State government budget to fund those schools properly, or lower the bar for graduating students from public schools? Covid was really just the last straw on the back of the standardized test camel and this Governor is using it to trim future expectations.
That's a poor argument for lowering standards that are already low.
So lower the bar to keep the graduation rates higher? To me that's a sad excuse to make the numbers look better at the next national convention.
Absolutely. Where have you been?
Let's don't pretend they're inventing this. This has been rampant in every state in America for decades. Look at the test scores.
Oregon is just the first to codify it.
Giving up on kids is the easy way out for the district. Requirements for graduating is not that high to begin with.
These people are bonkers.
If you tell a kid he can't have something, he will just want it more out of spite. That child will find a way to get what you don't want him to have.
It went from everyone gets a trophy, to everyone gets a diploma.
Wait until these kids meet reality and can't find jobs or real careers
Did Personnel Management and Labor Relations for a number of years. What these "legislatures" don't understand is how much they're harming the kids for their future. Many employers WILL NOT hire someone who can't read, write or do basic math. Hell, based on the action of Oregon, many of their kids won't even be able to read and fill out a basic employment application.
So, what have they accomplished then is further dumbing down education requirements that help the kids for their future - not kill it for their future.
I mean if you’re looking at a résumé, and you see an applicant is a product of Oregon schools, that will be a red flag all by itself.
My oldest grandson and his fiance are moving to Oregon next month. They expect that the children they may have will start school there. I think I will show him to his article in the hopes they will change their minds. The liberal loonies that run the state are just taking Oregon from bad to worse!
Man, try hard to convince them, hopefully they can find work elsewhere with less craziness going on.
I hate to tell you .... it's already here.
When you talk about kids who cant read or write at a basic level ,or do simple math, even though they have reached 18 years of age, you are beyond just individual apathy or laziness , it is a societal problem.
You cant keep them in school forever. But better ideas have to be produced to help these kids.
This sure as hell isn't one of them.
Failing them and making them repeat high school sure as hell isnt one of them either.
Who said anything about repeating 4 years of high school?
And if one fails, they fail.
The solution certainly isn't to lower standards so the people who fail magically pass.
On a temporary basis it could be. It should not be permanent.
Passing someone without them having the fundamentals down isn't helping anyone. It is misleading them into thinking they accomplished something.
Standards have to be raised.
You're always talking about America always having been a racist nation, well now you're seeing it live. We've been doing this kind of shit informally for decades, which is why we never make any progress on the wealth/income/opportunity gap.
This is white privilege in action.
Is it a societal problem or a parental problem?
Yes.
What, then, is the point of even having school?
It’s not unfair if you teach kids how to study for and take a test. These are learnable skills. Life is full of tests. Better get used to it.
I can’t think of more clear message here than this person thinks these people are inherently incapable of performing at the same level as white kids. What could be more racist?
And Asian kids? Really?
Perhaps instead of math and reading skills, those students should be taught "Advanced fruit picking methodology", and "Dishwashing Skills" - then they could find useful positions upon graduation. When I was in high school, we joked that at University of Miami students could take a course in basket weaving. Obviously that's not so funny any more.
The valedictorian speech would consist of six words.
"Will that be plastic or paper?"
LOL. I should have added "filling shopping bags at supermarkets" to my list.
I don’t get it. What has changed from one or two generations ago when nobody with any degree of influence would ever make these suggestions? Math and reading? How much lower down the educational ladder can you go? Our society is escalating itself in self-defeat while our population is escalating their individual levels of self-importance and vanity. I blame social media and the glorification of “influencers”. As ocean levels rise and the world burns under extreme heat due to manmade climate change, the younger generation is more concerned with what they’re wearing in their selfies than how to contribute to a better world. We are doomed.
Do you remember when Jaeden Smith put out on social media for kids to just drop out of school?
The only difference is that it's now public and codified. It's been going on for decades.
The phrase “the world needs ditch diggers too” comes to mind.
So what is the purpose of the public school system in Oregon; outside of being a Democrat indoctrination center?
Federal funding - they need the money to repair the damages done by the rioters last year.