Governor sides with board
By Mike Sims
Of the Emerald
Gov. Vic Atiyeh has come out in favor of let
ting higher-education officials decide when to
disclose the state’s costs of defending a sex
discrimination lawsuit.
In a letter released Monday, Atiyeh told
Chancellor Bud Davis that he had no objection to
the board’s revealing the costs of hiring a
Philadelphia law firm to aid the state’s defense in
Penk vs. State Board of Higher Education.
The class-action lawsuit is in its fourth
month of trial in U.S. District Court in Portland.
The lawsuit claims that female teachers have been
the victims of discrimination in pay and promo
tions and seeks $33 million in back pay for the
2,200 women faculty members at Oregon’s col
leges and universities since 1979.
Davis said last week that he thinks the costs
should be divulged before the case is settled,
because the expenditures need to be included in
the 1985-87 higher-education budget. That
budget is currently being drafted by higher
education staff.
Bill Lemman, vice chancellor for administra
tion, says that the question is not “if” the State
Board of Higher Education will release those
figures, but “when.” Lemman also contends that
those costs are exempt from the Oregon Public
Meetings Law, because they fall under the
category of material relating to litigation.
State Sen. L.B. Day of Salem and Rep. Grat
tan Kerans of Eugene disagree. The two
legislators have filed a lawsuit against the state in
Marion County Circuit Court. Through the
lawsuit, Day and Kerans seek to force Attorney
General Dave Frohnmayer to reveal state costs in
defending the discrimination lawsuit.
Kerans contended earlier that since the
state’s contract with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
won’t be entered into evidence at the Penk sex
discrimination trial, invoking the Oregon Public
Meetings Law cuts no ice m this case.
And Day said Tuesday, “Those costs repre
sent public expenditures, public funds. Neither
the governor, nor the attorney general, nor the
board have the right to suppress those figures.”
“There’s no way for the public to know if the
state is doing something illegal when they (state
agencies) suppress information on expenditures,
then come out after it’s all said and done and say,
‘Here you are,”’ Day said.
Day and Kerans had also cited a personal
services-contract law that requires state agencies
to be held accountable for public service contracts
similar to the one made with the Philadelphia law
firm. The law was designed by Day during the
1981 legislative session.
Lemman contended that releasing the state’s
defense costs could give the plaintiffs an unfair
advantage in contesting the lawsuit. He explains
that since the plaintiffs are private individuals
participating in a class action lawsuit, the defen
dants are under no obligation to divulge their ex
penditures or other information about their role
in the lawsuit.
According to Lemman, the state has been
engaging in negotiations with the plaintiffs in the
Penk trial, attempting to formulate an out-of
court settlement. He said that these negotiations
would be hampered by early public disclosure of
attorney’s fees and other costs of prosecuting or
defending the case.
Lemman also said that when Day and Kerans
filed the lawsuit against the Department of
Justice, Atiyeh wrote Frohnmayer a letter urging
him to vigorously defend it. He said Atiyeh
pointed out that many public agencies
(municipalities, counties, school and utility
districts, etc.) often become involved in lawsuits.
Lemman said Atiyeh felt they should be able to
defend those lawsuits on the same level as private
parties who are not obligated to divulge such
information.
Survey reveals public support
for elements of education plan
By Mike Sims
Of the Emerald
The Oregon Action Plan for
Excellence, adopted by the
State Board of Education Thurs
day, contains four major
elements that have strong sup
port throughout the state, accor
ding to results of a recent
survey.
A telephone survey of 600
participants, composed of
registered voters and persons
who intend to register, showed
overwhelming support for a
statewide curriculum, an
achievement test for eighth
graders, increased high-school
graduation requirements and
school profiles.
The survey was conducted
before the board approved the
proposed educational reforms.
One element of the plan calls
for state and local officials to
join in formulating a statewide
curriculum for elementary and
secondary students. Fifty-two
percent of the persons polled
favored this measure, with 38
percent saying that the respon
sibility for determining cur
ricula should fall to local school
boards. Six percent felt that the
federal government should per
form the task.
Sixty-four percent liked the
idea of the state board determin
ing high-school-graduation re
quirements. The board has
already increased the amount of
math and science required to
graduate, from one year to two
years of each.
The board would also like to
add an extra year of required
English courses, as well as re
quired electives in the arts,
vocational education or a
foreign language.
A uniform statewide achieve
ment test was favored by 86 per
cent of those polled. The board
wants such a test administered
to Oregon school children in
grades 3, 6, 8 and 11, to make
sure that students are progress
ing at appropriate rates.
Eighty-eight percent felt that
it was important for patrons to
know how their schools and
school districts stacked up
statistically with other schools
across the state. The board
decided that the State Depart
ment of Education would
prepare yearly statistical pro
files for every school in the
state.
Margaret Nichols, interim
superintendent of Eugene
schools, saw the results of the
survey as an indicator of
positive public attitudes toward
education.
“I think most people believe
there definitely are things we
can do, and are doing, to im
prove public education in
Oregon and throughout the en
tire country,” Nichols said.
Dewey Newman of Opinion
Research Northwest, which
conducted the survey, said that
the results indicated “a high
level of confidence in the
educational leadership” of the
board, Department of Education
staff and state school
Superintendent Verne Duncan.
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