Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 2004)
Some Oregon schools face sanctions for poor test results 942-8730 484-1927 STUDENT SPECIAL , GOLF 9 HOLES $12 gj Stucfents Only. Must show ID. (Monday - Friday) A UO CAMPUS ALTERNATIVE SINCE 1974 a proud member of Unique Eugene GOT A STORY IDEA? Only 64 percent of Oregon schools make the grade in 'No Child Left Behind' plan JULIA SILVERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER PORTLAND — More than 370 Oregon schools have been pegged as needing improvement under the fed eral No Child Left Behind Act, accord ing to data released Thursday by the Oregon Department of Education. That law, the centerpiece of the Bush administration's education agenda, re quires schools to bring increasing per centages of their students up to grade level in math and reading every year, or face sanctions, ranging from paying for tutors to being taken over by the state or a private company. This year, about 40 percent of stu dents had to be at grade level for schools to escape the "failing" tag; just 64 percent of the state's schools man aged to hit that target, slightly worse than last year's total. State education officials didn't hide their disappointment with the results, which were particularly bleak for the state's high schools: only 23 percent of high schools met the per formance targets, compared with a relatively healthy 75 percent of ele mentary and middle schools. "We are concerned," said Susan Castillo, the state's schools superin tendent. "This is about identifying ar eas that need improvement in our schools, and helping them improve." For the great majority of the 371 schools, the only effect of the poor rat ings will be negative headlines. Only schools that receive Title I funding, which is earmarked for socio-eco nomically disadvantaged schools, face the sanctions this year. And even Title I schools must lag behind performance targets for two years in a row in tine same subject area — either math or English — before the sanctions are triggered. That leaves just 44 schools facing the sanctions, most of them clustered in the Portland metro area, the Salem Woodburn corridor, and in Klamath Falls, one of the higher-poverty re gions of the state. "We anticipated this, but it is discour aging," said Jim Ferguson, the principal of Ponderosa Junior High School in Kla math Falls, one of the schools that will face sanctions. "I just wish the govern ment would realize that improvement is what counts, not two-year averages." The federal targets are difficult to meet because schools are measured not just on overall performance but by how well different groups of students do, in cluding blacks, Hispanics, economical ly-disadvantaged students and those in special- education classes. If even one of those groups fails to hit the targets on tests or attendance levels, an entire school can be classi fied as "needing improvement." Most often, entire Oregon schools don't make the required progress be cause of the performance of special education students, those who are still COURT continued from page 3 "The question in this case is whether elected public officials have to uphold and enforce the law as written or whether they can apply the law accord ing to their own personal whims," said Benjamin Bull, the Alliance Defense Fund's chief counsel. "If it's the latter, our uniform system of laws would be reduced to a patchwork of disparate rights and obligations based upon the beliefs of local officials." Kendell, of the Center for Lesbian Rights, agreed leaving the licenses in legal limbo for about year — until the Supreme Court gets cases now perco lating through lower courts — "will result in some uncertainty." Lisa Liff is a uniter for the Associated Press. GTFF continued from page 1 The GTFF won a decisive victory on the issue of the University's prac tice of hiring graduate students for hourly wages, Cecil said. The new contract language states the University cannot hire graduate students unless they are working un der contract, resolving what was one of the negotiations' most contentious issues. The GTFF said the old language was unclear. The new policy clearly states the University must give hired graduate students a salary, a full tu ition waiver and health care benefits. "It's a simple declarative sen tence," Cecil said. King said the new language "clarifies the work to be performed by GIFs." Cedi said mediation was successful, where nine months of negotiations were not, because mediator Wendy Green wald made it possible for negotiators to interact without the flares of ego that nine months of negations can cause 'There are times when having a third party to relay offers without the person ality conflicts can help," Cedi said. Lindgren said he thinks mediation went well because of GTFF demonstra tions, induding Empty Campus Day, held Aug. 4, which showed the Univer sity that the GTFF had member support. King said events like Empty Cam pus Day had no real effect on negotia tions. The University was ready and willing to settle the contract long be fore the event took place, she said. No decision was made about un dergraduate labor during mediation, Lindgren said. The GTFF's chief complaint in the matter was that cer tain departments are using under graduates to do work the union sees as usually reserved for GTFs. "We think the contract already bars undergraduates from taking our jobs," Cecil said. The GTFF has filed grievances against what it sees as the three biggest offend ers: the math, English and biology de partments. Lindgren said the University had already ruled on all three cases, rul ing that the actions of the math and English departments are legal and ac tions of the biology department illegal. The GTFF plans to go to arbitration over the English and math department rul ings later in the year, Lindgren said, adding that the biology department was found to be violating the GTFF contract, representing 15,000 hours of graduate labor lost annually. The University did not accept the GTFFs proposed remedy for the situa tion, which asked that the biology de partment stop hiring undergraduates and that the GTFF be paid back the dues they would have received had that work been done by union mem bers, roughly $5,000. "The University said that biology was wrong but that there would be no compensation," Cecil said. With negotiations over, the GTFF can now back down from its threat of a strike, but with unanimous support from the GTFF Executive Council, the threat was very real, Cecil said. "We were confident in our ability to get our 60 percent strike vote," said Cecil. benbrown@dailyemerald.com learning English, and socioeconom ically disadvantaged students. Thursday's results did yield some interesting statewide trends. For ex ample, schools that received Title I funding posted far better results that their non-Title I counterparts, even though the former must contend with a less-privileged student body. Education officials speculated that the results were proof that the money going into Title I programs was pay ing off, and that the federal sanctions hanging over the heads of Title I schools might be motivating them. "This really shows that when schools are given the resources they need to focus on classroom instruc tion, we see student success," said Gene Evans, spokesman for the De partment of Education. There were also some bright spots. In addition to the solid performance by the state's elementary school, 81 schools that were tagged as needing improve ment last year met the standards this year, freeing them from any sanctions. But in the future, non-Tide I schools that fail to make significant progress two years in a row won't get off with just bad publicity, Castillo said. In the future, such schools might re ceive more professional development for their teachers, or technical help from the state, Castillo said. If such help fails to make a dent in student re sults, Castillo said, there might be state "intervention" in the schools. Julia Silverman is a writer for the Associated Press. Premier Travel • Airfare Specials! • \ Phoenix - $152.00*< 1 Los Angeles - $183.00*, [Orlando - $198.00* 'Maui - $431.00*' I tax and fees not;included, restrictions apply. ( Subject tochange u i tin ml notice. Lurail Passes issued oil-site!!! 1 E-mail: fares@luv2travel.com , 1011 Harlow 747-0909 |Student Travel Expefts Sofa by day/Bed by night Renelle * DENMAN 1 $199 -f,t Double Frame and; Mattress. Cover not Included .. Renelle GIBSON $179 Double Frame and Mattress. Cover not included. 019443 FREE Delivery €l Setup jt AMERICAN MATTRESS MANUFACTURING Buy Factory Direct & Save 4075 W. 11th •343-2690 Open Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.- 8 p.m., Sat, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.-5 p.m. $49 TWIN MATTS $109 QUEEN SET
