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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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