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(Elie JJnrtlanh © bserüer
OCT. 14,1998
on
Paulus R eleases Annual O regon Report Card
^M in o rity students represented
16.3 percent o f total enrollment in
1997-98, up from 11.2 percent in
1990.
Nomia Paulus, state superinten
dent o f public instruction, today re
leased the Oregon Report Card, an
annual report on trends in Oregon
schools.
The report covering the 1997-98
school year captures demographic,
financial and academic achievement
trends, describes progress toward
implementing the Oregon Educa
tional Act for the 21st Century and
summarizes other details ofO regon’s
public school system.
Oregon schools are expecting
more o f students in reading, writing,
mathematics and other basic sub
jects,” said Paulus. “We are raising
our academic standards. This report
highlights our achievement thus far.”
Here is a sample o f some o f the
information contained in the report:
* Only one country scored signifi
cantly higher than Oregon on inter
national science tests. Eight coun
tries scored significantly higher than
Oregon on international math tests.
* Oregon focused on mathematics
curriculum and instruction - through
three math summits with mathemat
ics teachers from around the state
and a donation o f $600,000 from
Wells Fargo for grants to school dis
tricts to improve mathematics edu
cation.
* T eachers face increasingly
crowded classrooms as O regon’s
population o f school-age children
continues to grow. The number of
Oregon students has risen by 11.7
percent since 1990 to 541,346 stu
dents, while the number o f teachers
has risen by only 2.9 percent to 26,935
Mayor Vera Katz Announces Grant
To Help Foster Job Opportunities
I Outer SE Portland Manufactur
ing Learning center will train
studentys, unemployed, and under
employed adults
Mayor Vera Katz tomorrow will
present an ordinance to City Council
accepting a $65,000 planning grant
from the U.S. Department o f Com
merce, Economic Development Ad
m inistration (EDA), matched by
$22,000 from the Office of the Mayor,
to help establish the Outer Southeast
Portland Manufacturing Learning
Center.
The grant furthers efforts to ex
pand on the Mayor’s Quality Jobs
Initiative by creating a center that
will encourage job creation leading
to economic self-sufficiency by link
ing the jobs to the unemployed in one
o f the city’s most economically dis
tressed areas.
The Outer SE Portland Manufac
turing Learning Center, to be built in
partnership w ith M arshall High
School, Portland Community Col
lege, and the local community and
employers, is envisioned to:
* train high school and unem
ployed and under employed adults
for careers in manufacturing with
coursework taught to industry em
ployer standards;
* provide skills upgrade training
for outer southeast Portland manu
facturers; and
* broker technical assistance to
local manufacturers to increase busi
ness and worker retention.
The Learning Center will be built
on the foundation o f Marshall High
School’s four-year technology pro
gram. This year, the school is starting
three new manufacturing/technology
courses in computer refurbishing
(STRUT), computer programming,
and NT networking. The Center
would use M arshall’s facility to
implement program targeted to manu
facturing and Outer Southeast, that
would serve both youth and adults.
The curriculum would be industry-
driven with input from Southeast
P o rtla n d m a n u fa c tu re rs, m eet
O reg o n ’s education reform stan
dards, and include a long-term em
p lo y er involvem ent strategy to
keep course content relevant, com
petitive and continually im prov
ing.
To finish the vision o f the Learn
ing C enter, the partnership is de
veloping a business plan that will
define how the center w ould func
tion. It w ill be follow ed by an
assessment o f the training and tech
nical needs o f O uter SE m anufac
turers.
Council is set to consider the
o rd in an ce during th e ir reg u lar
m eeting on W ednesday, Septem
ber 30th. The ordinance is not a
“Tim e C ertain ,” but is expected to
be the first on the agenda.
in the same period o f time. Student
enrollm ent is expected to climb
through the rest o f the decade.
* M inority students represented
16.3 p e rc e n t o f to ta l e n ro llm e n t
in 1997-98, up from 11.2 p e r
cen t in 1990. O f the total n u m
ber o f new stu d e n ts w ho en tered
O reg o n p u b lic sc h o o ls fo r the
first tim e sin c e 1990, 60 p e r
cen t w ere from m in o rity p o p u
la tio n s. T w o out o f three new
m in o rity stu d e n ts are H isp a n ic .
* D is tric ts sp e n t an a v e ra g e
o f $ 5 ,6 2 2 per stu d e n t in 1997-
98, up slig h tly from $ 5 ,4 0 8
p e r stu d e n t in 1996-97 as the
s ta te c o n tin u e d to m ove to w ard
e q u a liz e d fu n d in g a c ro ss d is
tric ts .
The report is posted on the
O regon D epartm ent o f Education
w eb site at w w w .o d e.state.o r.u s/
edact/.
fr * ‘
The whole purpose o f this is to
make it simpler or more seam
less fo r students to reach their
goals
T he c o n v e n ie n c e o f h ig h e r
education through Portland C om
m unity C ollege has reached a new
level this year w ith the help o f
several fo u r-y ear in stitutions.
V ia the In te rn e t or m odem ,
PCC students can now w ork to
w ard a b a c h e lo r’s degree by lin k
ing w ith O regon State U n iv er
sity, M arylhurst U niversity, E ast
ern O regon U niv ersity and G ov
ernors S tate U n iv ersity in Illi
nois.
PCC stu dents have prev io u sly
been able to com plete selected
a sso c ia te ’s d egrees or take as
sorted classes from hom e, w ork
o r at PC C f a c ilitie s v ia the
In tern et or m odem . The new r e
latio n sh ip w ith these u n iv e rsi
ties allow s stu d en ts to com plete
m ore classes at th e ir local c o l
lege w hile fulfilling requirem ents
for th e ir b a c h e lo r’s d eg rees in
d is c ip lin e s su c h as b u s in e s s ,
m a n a g e m e n t, o r g a n iz a tio n a l
co m m u n icatio n and lib e ra l stu d
ies.
“ The w hole p u rp o se o f this is
to m ake it sim p le r o r m ore seam
less for stu d en ts to reach th e ir
g o als,” said PCC D irecto r o f D is
ta n c e L e a r n in g J o h n S n e e d ,
“w hether it be a o n e -y e a r c e rtifi
cate, an a s s o c ia te ’s deg ree or a
b a c h e lo r’s d e g re e .”
Sneed added that all students
seeking b a c h e lo r’s d egrees m ust
meet adm issions requirem ents for
the in stitu tio n gran tin g the d e
grees and need to co n su lt w ith
advisors at both PCC and the
in stitu tio n w ith th e ir degree o f
choice.
T he fo llo w in g d e g re e s are
av ailable th ro u g h P C C ’s D is
ta n c e L e a r n in g d e p a r tm e n t,
w hich ad m inisters the program :
* asso ciate o f general studies
degree;
* a sso c ia te o f a rts O reg o n
T ransfer D egree;
* program aw ard in m an ag e
m ent and supervisory d e v e lo p
ment;
* asso ciate o f ap plied science
degree in m anagem ent and su
perv iso ry developm ent;
* b ach elo r o f science in lib
eral studies;
* bach elo r o f arts in liberal
studies;
* b a c h e lo r o f science in m an
agem ent;
* b a c h e lo r o f arts in o rg an iza
tional com m unication;
* B o ard o f G o v e rn o rs b a c h
e lo r o f a rts d eg ree;
* g e n e ra l b u s in e s s d e g re e
w ith a m in o r in c o m m u n ic a
tions.
i
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Are our schools being taken over
by violence?
It has been w idely reported in
the press that recently a student at
Jefferson High School was found
to have hidden a gun in bushes on
school property.
N orm ally, under these circum
stances federal and state law re
quire the D istrict to expel the stu
dent involved for a period o f one
year; how ever, in this case, b e
cause the federal special education
laws may apply, the disciplinary
and expulsion procedures o f those
laws may also apply. The length o f
any expulsion or exclusion from
school under these law s is more
lim ited, which may include place
ment in an alternative setting for
up to 45 days. At the end o f the 45-
day period, the placem ent decision
is then reexam ined and a final
placem ent decision may be made.
Because o f the privacy require
m ents o f state law in this type o f
case, the nam e o f the student and
family are confidential and will
not be disclosed.
An AP w ire released recently
today that said the student was ex
pelled for one year is incorrect and
was based on faulty inform ation
provided by the School D istrict to
a KXL reporter.
.
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For more information on
Distance Learning programs
at PCC, contact John Sneed
at 977.4398, or visit the P C C
Distance Learning web site at
www.distance.pcc.edu.
$
Jefferson
High
School
‘
Bachelor’s Degrees
Now Available
PCC Distance Learning
Mayor Vera Katz
I
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