2A Wednesday, April 5, 2017 Appeal Tribune
Silverton Seniors set
their April highlights
JUSTIN MUCH
STAYTON MAIL
There’s a host of quilt-
ing and a hefty breakfast
on Silverton’s horizon in
April.
Silverton Senior Cen-
ter will be hosting a mid-
month, four-day Hawai-
ian quilting workshop,
but the center’s Execu-
tive Director Dodie Bro-
kamp reminds people
who may not have time to
attend a 4-day event that
an evening option is
available. “The History,
Traditions & Supersti-
tions of Hawaiian Quilts”
is the topic at 6 p.m. Mon-
day, April 17, in the Or-
chid Room at the Oregon
Garden Resort. Cost is
$10 and includes door
prizes. Tickets are still
available; inquire at the
Silverton Senior Center
503-873-3093, 115 West-
field St.
Silverton Seniors will
also host the “Communi-
ty Pancake Breakfast,” 8
to 10:30 a.m. Saturday,
April 29. That’s an all-
you-can-eat feast of pan-
cakes, but also includes
sides of scrambled eggs,
sausage, fruit and bever-
ages. Cost is $5; 12 and un-
der $3; children younger
than 4 eat free.
Brokamp dubs it “A
delicious way to show
your support” for the Sil-
verton Senior Center.
OBITUARIES
Mary Jane Worthing
May 24, 1938 — March 29,
2017
Mary Jane Worthing,
78, passed away March 29
in Silverton.
She was born May 24,
1938, to Harvey and Cora
(Randall) Trainer in Atch-
inson, Kansas. She was
one of six children. Mary
grew up in Kansas, and
moved to California at the
age of 16. She graduated
high school in California.
She later met Richard
Calvin Worthing, and
they were married March
16, 1957. They had three
children.
Mary enjoyed shop-
ping, and going to garage
sales and the beach. She
loved her family and dogs
very much.
Mary is preceded in
death by her husband and
daughter, Debbie Wor-
thing.
She is survived by
daughter Kathleen Wor-
thing of Silverton; son
Ron Worthing of Mt. An-
gel; sister Katherine Jas-
persen of Belle, Missouri;
grandchildren
Jessica
Impcoven and Trevor
Worthing; and three
great-grandchildren.
A celebration of Ma-
ry’s life will be held at a
later time.
Arrangements by Un-
ger Funeral Chapel, Sil-
verton
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Education bills at the Capitol
NATALIE PATE
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OR-0000388154
As Oregon Promise
bills make progress, bud-
get negotiations still have
months to go and bills
about vaccination, col-
lege mergers and civics
appear stalled.
Nearly three months
into the 2017 session of
the Oregon Legislature,
senators and representa-
tives have held public
hearings and work ses-
sions for dozens of bills
concerning education.
Vaccinations,
state
funding, and civics edu-
cation are only a few of
multiple topics broached
so far.
The deadline for bills
to have a work session
scheduled or die is April
7. Lawmakers are work-
ing to make sure their
bills are among those that
survive.
Meanwhile, more sub-
stantive legislation is
making its way to the
House and Senate floors.
Here are some of the
education highlights of
the session thus far and a
look ahead into the re-
maining months of the
session.
Debate on
vaccinations
After a one-year hiatus
in the legislature, three
bills
concerning
vaccinations were pre-
sented in February this
year.
Senate Bill 579 ad-
dresses consent required
before
administering
vaccinations, Senate Bill
580 would require a writ-
ten notice of vaccina-
tions, and Senate Bill 687
would clarify the defini-
tion “abuse” so that it can-
not include refusal to vac-
cinate or delaying the
vaccination of a child.
Proponents
consid-
ered these bills as “neces-
sary steps to protect the
rights of parents (and
their families),” said Bob
Snee, director and legis-
lative policy consultant
for Oregonians for Medi-
cal Freedom, a coalition
that supports parents’
rights to not have their
children vaccinated.
However, vaccine ad-
vocates such as Stacy de
Assis Matthews of the
Oregon Health Authority
said, “Immunization is
the best way to protect
children against vaccine-
preventable
diseases
such as whooping cough
and measles ... It helps
keep schools and the en-
tire community safe and
healthy.”
None of the three bills
have made it past public
hearings and there are no
meetings or floor ses-
sions scheduled at this
time.
Merging colleges and
universities
Senate Bill 8, which
was presented to the leg-
islature in February,
would allow community
colleges and public uni-
versities to merge into
one institution.
Oregon Senate Presi-
dent Peter Courtney, D-
Salem, who testified at
the public hearing on the
bill, said the bill would
provide more options for
students at a lower cost.
“The two institutions
could be leaner and
stronger,” he said.
Should the bill pass,
community colleges and
public universities inter-
ested in merging would
submit a proposal to
Higher Education Coor-
dinating Commission for
approval. If the commis-
sion approves the merg-
er, the commission would
COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR KATE BROWN
Oregon Governor Kate Brown plays with children at Loving Beginnings Friday, Sept. 9, 2016.
Loving Beginnings was the first site in Oregon to implement the Preschool Promise program,
which will help 1300 kids statewide.
submit a report on the
merger to the Legisla-
ture.
The institutions sub-
mitting a proposal for the
merger would have to ex-
plain how the combined
institution would address
things such as financial
and legal procedures, the
transfer of employees,
combining a budget, and
what academic programs
would be offered.
However, some are
hesitant this might actu-
ally be harder on stu-
dents, especially students
with lower grades.
Senate Bill 8 has not
made it past public hear-
ings and there are no
meetings or floor ses-
sions scheduled at this
time.
Civics education for
graduation
In February, educa-
tors and legislators spoke
about the importance of
civics education and pro-
posed the state require a
certain level of proficien-
cy in the subject for stu-
dents to graduate high
school.
If passed, House Bill
2691would require school
districts or public charter
schools to only award a
high school diploma to a
student, at or before
grade 12, who completes
the requirements identi-
fied by the school district.
This could include suc-
cessful completion of a
course in civics, a passing
grade on a civics test se-
lected by the school dis-
trict or a passing grade on
a civics test developed by
the Department of Edu-
cation and the Secretary
of State, according to the
bill.
“For all the best inten-
tions, we have prioritized
other academic disci-
plines too often at the ex-
pense of civics,” said
Representative
Paul
Evans (D-Monmouth) in
his testimony. “This was
not purposeful, but it does
have a consequence.”
The bill has not made it
past public hearings and
there are no meetings or
floor sessions scheduled
at this time.
Oregon Promise
More Oregon students
are considering and at-
tending college, particu-
larly first-generation stu-
dents, since the imple-
mentation of Oregon
Promise.
Oregon Promise is a
state grant program that
covers most tuition at
Oregon community col-
leges. Nearly 6,800 recent
high school graduates
and students who com-
pleted a GED enrolled us-
ing the program this year.
An estimated 44 percent
of Oregon Promise recipi-
ents were first-genera-
tion college students.
More than 19,000 people
in the state applied, said
Michelle Hodara, the lead
researcher on a study
about the program by
Education Northwest.
Currently, the state
can only allocate $10 mil-
lion for the Oregon Prom-
ise program per fiscal
year during the biennium
ending June 30, 2017. If
the cap is not removed,
proponents of Senate Bill
55 and Senate Bill 1032,
both of which amend the
cap, said the program will
not be able to fund both
this year’s students as
well as next year’s.
Senate Bill 55 has been
signed by both the Senate
President and the Speak-
er of the House. It is
awaiting a signature from
the Governor.
The Senate Committee
on Education will have a
work session on SB 1032
in Hearing Room C on 3
p.m. Tuesday, April 4.
The fight for funding
Throughout March ad-
vocates for boosting edu-
cation funding from the
state have put pressure
on the legislature.
The current K-12 state
budget is $7.4 billion.
While proposed budgets
for the upcoming bienni-
um — including the co-
chairs budget of $7.8 bil-
lion, the Governor’s bud-
get of $8 billion, and the
Quality Education Model
projections of $9.9 billion
— would maintain cur-
rent services for K-12
education, and in some
cases expand services, it
isn’t clear how much the
legislature will approve
or exactly how it will be
used.
The Oregon School
Boards Association used
poll results to push for
more funding. More than
90 percent of Oregonians
see K-12 public education
as a top funding priority
facing the state legisla-
ture and more than 60
percent support raising
business taxes to avoid
cutting school budgets,
according to the poll.
The state is currently
facing a $1.6 billion bud-
get shortfall for the 2017-
19 biennium.
Senate
Republicans
also sponsored an “Edu-
cation First” package,
consisting of two joint
resolutions. Senate Joint
Resolutions 18 and 20
seek to prioritize educa-
tion funding in the state
budget and hold elected
officials accountable for
the expediency of the
budget.
Neither of the joint
resolutions has moved
past public hearings and
there are no meetings or
floor sessions scheduled
at this time.
Additionally, educa-
tors, students, and other
advocates used this week
as the perfect time to visit
the Capitol to talk about
state funding.
Oregon Education As-
sociation representatives
and supporters talked
about large class sizes,
staff cuts and the lack of
resources for students
due to funding on Mon-
day, March 27, the first
official day of spring
break.
The legislature has to
have a balanced budget
passed by June 30.
By the numbers
» Current K-12 budget:
$7.4 billion
» Co-chairmen’s 2017-
2019 budget proposal:
$7.8 billion
» Governor’s 2017-19
budget proposal: $8.0 bil-
lion*
» OASBO service level
estimate: $8.4 billion
» QEM budget propos-
al: $9.9 billion
*This is supposed to
maintain current levels
of teachers and pro-
grams.
Other bills
In addition to the
above bills, the Oregon
Legislature has consider-
ing many other ideas, in-
cluding:
Senate Committee
on Education:
» SB 20: Updates ref-
erences to federal educa-
tion law to reflect the pas-
sage of Every Student
Succeeds Act.
» SB 55, SB 1032:
Amends Oregon Promise
program to remove the
prohibition on awarding
more than $10 million in
grants per fiscal year.
» SB 138: Requires De-
partment of Education
and Higher Education Co-
ordinating Commission
to establish career and
technical education path-
ways.
» SB 207: Requires
each public university
and community college to
provide credit to students
who receive certain
grades on advanced
placement examinations.
» SB 318: Directs De-
partment of Education to
provide technical assis-
tance and support to
school districts and com-
munity colleges to pre-
vent and respond to inter-
personal violence.
» SB 351: Directs Sec-
retary of State to conduct
an audit on the use of
statewide summative as-
sessment
in
public
schools in this state.
For more information,
go
to
www.oregon
legislature.gov or call 1-
800-332-2313.
Contact Natalie at
npate@Statesman
Journal.com , 503-399-
6745, or follow her on
Twitter @Nataliempate
or on Facebook at
www.Facebook.com/
nataliepatejournalist.