Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2010)
Budget cutbacks lead to losses; teachers at risk M ary W ood & P atrick D ouglas Next year, five to seven teachers could be cut from the current staff. Will it be your favorite science teacher? The English teacher that introduced you to "Grapes of Wrath?" With the money from the district's Local Option coming in at $3 million less than expected, this could be a reality. Additionally, Governor Ted Kulongoski announced last week that $563 million must be cut from Oregon schools and programs due to a revenue shortfall. "At this time, all we really know is that the state revenue shortfall translates into a reduced fund to the West Linn- Wilsonville School District in the amount of $3,217,000 for next year," Roger Woehl, superintendent, said. Further bad news of a $14.5 million cigarette tax revenue shortfall will potentially reduce these funds even more, leaving some teachers in a vulnerable but familiar position. "I've been through this process last year when I got laid off at Reynolds," Michael Glane, science teacher, said. "I'm well aware of how much it hurts people." The district relies partly on something called the Local Option, which allows it to bring in extra money from the community. This alone allows the district to hire 60 more Photo by Mark Popper! Michael Glane, science teacher, lectures his third period chemistry class. Newer teachers such as Glane are facing potential layoffs due to a budget shortfall. Further budget estimates at the state level may lead to more cuts. Amplifier earns state, regional awards The Amplifier w as nam ed the third best print edition am ong student new spapers from W ashington, O regon, Idaho, M ontana and Alaska. The publication w as recog nized in W ashington State U niversity's Edw ard R. Mur- row H igh School Journalism Awards Com petition. "It's a hu ge hon or that w e've won," M ary Wood, ed itor-in-chief, said. "I've been involved w ith the Amplifier since m y freshm an year, so this is a great w ay to end m y tim e on the paper." The com petition is held by W SU ’s Edw ard R. M urrow College of Com m unication, nam ed for Murrow, w ho was ch ief rad io corresp on d ent for CBS in Europe during World War II. The college is nationally recognized for its journalistic program s. The Amplifier also earned honors in state com petition. In the O regon State U niversi ty and N orthw est Scholastic Press's Publication Olympics, Amplifier w as recognized as the Best O f C ategory for the M ay 2009, senior edition. A ccording to the judge, it is "an excellent exam ple of a stu d en t new sp aper op erat ing at the top of its game," and that it featured the best w riting in the state and best leads for stories in this year's com petition. "That you produce som e thing of this quality every four w eeks is astonishing. C on gratulations," the judge said. O ther awards w on by the Amplifier staff in the Publica tion Olym pics, include: •Elise Brown for Editorial •Alison Fieldhouse for Fea ture Photo • Calley Lathrop for Editorial •Benjamin M ann for Edito rial •Ashley Sheron for Sports P h o to •Jennifer Sitton for Sports News • G race W all fo r H u m an Interest •Lexi Welp for Personality Profile • Lexi Welp for Straight News •Jennifer Sitton for Editorial Best of Category Honorable Mention •Alison Fieldhouse for Hu m an Interest •Libby Kara for Photo Essay • Shoshana Koon for In-Depth N ews •Eta Santoro for Infographic •Nicole C am pbell for Re view Writing •Marshall M iller for Review Writing • Sean Pebler for Sports News •Mark Poppert for Sports Photos •Eta Santoro for Editorial Cartoon •Jennifer Sitton for Editorial •Riley Sw anson for N ew s Feature •Lexi Welp for Personality Profile •M ary Wood for Straig h t News Superior •January 2010 Am plifier for Single Issue •Alex H ouston for Feature Photo • M ary W ood fo r R e v ie w Writing Excellent • Decem ber 2009Amplifier for Single Issue teachers and 60 more staff than it could otherwise. "We have built up staffing levels based on the money coming in from the local option," Arden Eby, head of the Teacher's Union, said. The Budget Committee was originally expecting to bring in $15 million over the next two years dedicated to schools. Instead, there will be a little less than $12 million coming in along with further cutbacks at the state level. That gap has created some major setbacks, according to Woehl. To reduce costs, the district will have to cut teachers, programs, school days or some combination of the three. The Teacher's Union negotiates for gradual pay raises from year to year. Since the budget can't sustain an increase this next year, the contract will either have to be renegotiated, or some teachers might lose their jobs. The money teachers receive is a cost of living adjustment. The negotiated increase for teachers was supposed to be four percent of their salary, which would come out to about $1.2 million. "We would give up everything if we saw recovery on the horizon, but it would probably be ten years before the district could make it up," Eby said. Giving up pay raises would only delay the inevitable, according to Eby. If days are to be eliminated, paid teacher work days will be the first thing to go according to Woehl, but that isn't going to be enough to balance the budget. The district's custodial staff has already faced major cuts, so staff reductions may also come from secretarial E mily R eed __________________ a sister and her boyfriend all lived in the house at the time. "We w ere all shocked w hen w e found out," C unningham said. A lm ost nothing w as able to be recovered from their hom e. Everything w as either com pletely gone or severely sm oke dam aged. A s a result, all of their linens, furniture and clothing w ere destroyed. "We have no furniture," C unningham said. "All of it w as gone before w e got hom e." Though this w as a terrible blow to the family, iiMigel_________________________ continued on page 2 Family's belongings ruined in house fire The grey one story house that once w as hom e to seven, sits deserted. Charred rem ains of the house— pink insulation strew n across the ground, boarded up doors and w indow s greeted Justin C unningham , freshm an, and his fam ily w hen they returned hom e A pril 3, from Seattle. Shortly after arriving, they received a phone call, in w hich they learned that their hom e had burned down. The fam ily of seven, including C unningham , his parents, tw o brothers, ieiisi ire______________________ continued on page 17 Photo by Libby Kara Justin Cunningham, freshman, and his family returned home from Seattle on April 3 to find their house burned and uninhabitable. The family moved to Canby while searching for a new home in West Linn. They are accepting donations to help replace their lost belongings.
