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Wednesday, August 18, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Sisters schools uphold
education standards
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer¾s name, address,
and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited
opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond,
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Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is 10 a.m. Monday.
s
That small-town feeling
To the Editor:
Having lived in the Sisters Country for
nearly two decades. I, like many, have seen
much growth. We often don9t see as many
familiar faces as we used to.
The local music and charity event this
week at the Community Garden made me
feel at home again with a happy, small
crowd of all ages enjoying fellowship
amongst the beautiful sunset mountain
views and amazing musical artistry.
Thank you Sisters Community Garden
members for hosting this event and helping
me find our little town of Sisters once again
in my heart.
Patti Janego
s
s
Tensions at School Board meeting
To the Editor:
I have never written a letter to the edi-
tor before, but after reading the article in
The Nugget (August 11) about the August
4 Sisters School Board meeting, I feel com-
pelled to share positive experiences about
mask wearing in schools.
My daughter is a student in the Sisters
School District. Comprehensive Distance
Learning was quite challenging for her. It
was isolating and confusing. When she
was able to return to school, even wearing
See LETTERS on page 8
Sisters Weather Forecast
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Wednesday
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August 18 • Mostly Sunny
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August 22 • Sunny
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Red sunset…
Sisters endured several days of poor air
quality due to wildfire smoke. It made
for some intense and eerie sunsets.
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
There9s a very good reason
that Governor Kate Brown
wants to avoid talking about
her stealth signing of Senate
Bill 744. It9s indefensible.
The bill drops requirements
that Oregon9s high school
graduates demonstrate they can
read, write, or do math at a high
school level through the 2023-
24 school year.
There9s a tell in the fact that
Brown did not hold a signing
ceremony, and her office did
not issue a press release about
the signing of the bill. The State
didn9t enter the bill into the leg-
islative database until 15 days
after it was signed. Perhaps the
governor recognizes that this
move is an embarrassment.
It lets down the people of
Oregon, who have a right to
expect that their tax dollars
devoted to education actu-
ally provide education. It is
an insult to the teachers who
strive, often under trying condi-
tions, to improve their students9
capabilities and performance. It
is an insult to all those students
who strive to better themselves.
And, perhaps worst of all, it
sends the message to struggling
students that we don9t believe
they can succeed.
According to The Orego-
nian, Brown9s Communica-
tions Deputy Charles Boyle
said in an emailed statement
that <suspending the reading,
writing, and math proficiency
requirements while the State
develops new graduation stan-
dards will benefit 8Oregon9s
Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx,
Indigenous, Asian, Pacific
Islander, Tribal, and students of
color.9=
How? Since when do we
consider failure to prepare stu-
dents for post-graduation life a
<benefit=?
<Leaders from those com-
munities have advocated time
and again for equitable gradu-
ation standards, along with
expanded learning opportu-
nities and supports,= Boyle
wrote.
We can all get behind
<expanded learning opportu-
nities and supports.= Where
are they? They9re not there,
because the legislature didn9t
pass any. They just dropped
the standards. That9s not <ben-
efitting= students; that9s what
Michael Gerson, a speechwriter
for former president George W.
Bush, once called <the soft big-
otry of low expectations.=
Boyle claims that <SB 744
gives us an opportunity to
review our graduation require-
ments and make sure our
assessments can truly assess all
students9 learning. In the mean-
time, it gives Oregon students
and the education community a
chance to regroup after a year
and a half of disruption caused
by the pandemic.=
The final version of the
bill eliminated a provision
that would have permanently
prevented the State Board of
Education from requiring stu-
dents who completed required
coursework to demonstrate
proficiency in any other skill or
academic content area.
The very fact that such a
provision was even considered
indicates where this is ulti-
mately headed.
It may be that profi-
ciency assessments need to be
reformed and revised. That9s
a continuous process 4 but
it doesn9t require suspend-
ing proficiency requirements
entirely while it9s undertaken.
It makes sense to asterisk per-
formance measurements while
schools continue to wrestle
with the impacts of COVID-
19. But that9s not what the
State is offering to its teachers,
students, and taxpayers. This is
simply an abdication.
Proponents of SB 744 want
to make this about standard-
ized testing, arguing that the
requirements place students
who don9t test well at an unfair
disadvantage. That9s disin-
genuous. It9s true that testing
isn9t always the best way to
assess proficiency; we all know
people who underperform on
tests because, well, they under-
perform on tests. But there
are other ways under the sus-
pended standards that students
can demonstrate proficiency.
Disingenuous arguments,
coupled with the let9s-hope-
nobody-notices approach to
enacting the legislation show
that proponents know this abdi-
cation of proficiency require-
ments looks bad. And it looks
bad because it IS bad. It9s a
step in the wrong direction.
The Sisters School District
need not move in lockstep with
this wrong turn. SSD has stan-
dards that are higher across the
board than the State9s minimum
standards. The District has long
offered its own diploma, which
requires more credits than that
issued by the State. Standards
of math and reading profi-
ciency are incorporated into the
classroom, and those students
who have trouble demonstrat-
ing that they meet the standards
4 via testing or through work
samples 4 are given help to
clear the bar.
In the current social climate,
it9s good to see Superintendent
Curt Scholl affirm the Dis-
trict9s commitment to quality
education (see story, page 1).
The school board needs to fol-
low up by formally, assertively
affirming its commitment to its
standards.
The Sisters School District
needs to speak up loud and
clear in defense of its funda-
mental mission: to educate
ALL of its students to the high-
est standard they can achieve.
The bill can be read in its
entirety at https://olis.oregon
legislature.gov/liz/2021R1/
Measures/Overview/SB744.