January 3, 2018 The Skanner Page 3 News cont’d from pg 1 “ Hospitals want to keep pay- ing that tax, and insurers want to keep it too with a $1.3 billion gap and will be forced to cut funding for Medicaid. Campaign spokesper- son Patty Wentz said as many as 350,000 people could be left without in- surance. Currently, hospitals pay a 5.3 percent assess- ment on net revenues, which are matched by the federal government and returned to them. Under the state’s budget law, hospitals also pay a 0.7 percent assessment on net revenues which is not returned but put into the state’s fund for health care. Hospitals want to keep paying that tax, and in- surers want to keep it too: according to state filing records, by the end of 2017, the Oregon Asso- ciation of Hospitals and Healthcare Systems, had contributed an aggre- gate $431,905.44. By the end of the year, the campaign had raised a total of $1,749,237.00, with large contributions coming from individual hospitals and healthcare organizations (like Kai- ser Permanente), labor unions, coordinated care organizations. Pro- fessional organizations Basketball like the Oregon Nurses Association and the Ore- gon AARP have also en- dorsed the measure. “Hospitals are support- ing this because, without funding, they would have to provide charity care, which is very expensive for them,” Wentz said. By contrast, by the end of the year, the Stop Healthcare Taxes PAC had raised $68,430.99, with many contribu- tions coming from the linked group Oregonians Against More Healthcare Taxes. Most of the listed contributions to both groups are from individ- uals, with Parrish her- self having made several donations to the latter organization. Those in the no camp aren’t convinced there’s an emergency — and they say the state should find other ways to fund healthcare, because it’s not fair to tax just part of the system. Parrish said she’s heard some discussion of the state’s coordinated care organizations – local- ly-managed umbrella organizations created to provide physical, behav- ioral and dental health care to Oregon Health Plan patients throughout the state — pooling their resources to buy pre- scription drugs in bulk and save money. Tapping funds from the state’s To- bacco Master Settlement might also be an option, she said. She also men- tioned the fact that the state may have overpaid in Medicaid reimburse- ments for patients who are no longer eligible, but weren’t officially re- moved from the rolls. “For us, Measure 101 isn’t about whether we should fund Medicaid. It’s about how we fund Medicaid. We’re all say- ing yes, we’re just not saying yes to taxing oth- er people’s healthcare,” Parrish said in a phone interview with The Skan- ner. 75 Years of Jimi Hendrix Janie L. Hendrix and Maisha Barnett talk about the new exhibit, “Celebrating 75 Years of Jimi Hendrix,” on display at the Douglass-Truth Library through January 2018. The exhibit presents an overview of the music icon’s life, featuring replicas of some of his most famous guitars, articles of clothing, photographs and other memorabilia.  Teachers cont’d from pg 1 ly sensitive practices and critical race theory. Even so, Joy told The Skanner he receives little response from his students on wanting to become teachers themselves. Yet a school like De La Salle, whether private or public, is not singular in a state that is over- whelmingly White — at 87 per- cent. North Portland’s Jefferson High School — Oregon’s only re- maining majority-Black public high school — has high percentag- es of students of color, around 70 percent, while teachers of color are scarce. According to 2016 figures from the Chief Education Office, in public schools across the state, just 10.2 percent of teachers and 10.9 percent of administers are of people color, or speak English as a second language; while 36.6 percent of all students are mi- norities. Diversifying the pool of educators With today’s teacher workforce falling sorely short of represent- ing its student body, the Equitable Education Program at Meyer Me- morial Trust is working to diver- sify the pool. Through a recent grantmaking round, Meyer is helping to fund a program called Diversifying School Leadership, as part of the Educational Leadership & Policy department, within the Graduate School of Education at Portland State University. “ Evidence shows students with teachers that look like them might perform better in school The program, which is set to launch in 2018, will train mid-ca- reer teachers of color to earn an administrator licensure. From there, they can become as- sistant principals and eventually superintendents. The leadership program is also placing special focus on recruit- ing teachers from several school districts where the percent of stu- dents of color is particularly larg- er than the percent of non-White administrators. “Administrators have a lot of influence over programs and curriculum and opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse students,” Susan Carlile, associate professor with the ELP department, told The Skanner. “Seeing a person who looks like them in leadership roles is terrif- ic modeling for anybody, especial- ly for people how have been un- der-represented in the teaching and administrator workforces.” Statewide, only 11.5 percent of candidates enrolled at Oregon’s nine administrator preparation programs for the 2014 — 15 school year were racially and culturally diverse, according to the Chief Education Office. The following year, the office noted that there were 226 admin- istrators of color employed in Or- egon. In fact, out of racially diverse principals employed in Oregon public schools in 2015-16, only 2 percent Black, 1 percent are Asian, and 5 percent are Hispan- ic. Ninety percent are White. Carlile and her new program are striving to balance those numbers. “We’re not going to sit back and wait for people to come to us,” Carlile said. Read more at TheSkanner.com cont’d from pg 1 ers overcome the challenges of life in a new country, and in helping those youth achieve their dreams,” said Art Hendricks, PP&R Equity & Inclusion Manager, in a statement. The league has also teamed up with NIKE, which is providing the team jer- seys and equipment. For AYCO youth coordinator Omar Mohamed, who helped kickstart the league, the weekly games provide a safe haven for the boys, as well as a lit- tle bit of structure. In addition, young boys and girls who want to participate in AYCO’s free sports programs must also enroll in the organization’s homework and tutoring programs, which are also offered at no cost. “We wanted to help the youth in our community stay out of trouble,” said Mohamed, who is also Somalian. “Fri- days are usually the nights where kids, “ We wanted to help the youth in our community stay out of trouble if they don’t have anything to do, look for things to do. So we wanted to have a positive space for them to come and get to know each other.” It appears to be working, with local boys forming bonds with their peers and team mates. “We’re playing with our friends and family,” said Mo- hamed, a 14-year-old who plays for the Green Mumbas, which won the previous game. Samir, a year young- er and also a Mumba team member, said “I like playing basketball with people I know from the neighbor- hood.” The AYCO league Team members of the AYCO basketball league currently had four The interest is there too, with some 60 teams — from southwest, southeast, boys on the waiting list. North Portland and the Tigard area — All games are held at the Montavilla and is hoping to expand to eight next Community Center on Fridays from 6 spring. p.m. to 9 p.m. PHOTO COURTESY OF PP&R If the bill passes, the state will be able to im- pose temporary assess- ments on insurance com- panies, some hospitals, the Public Employees’ Benefit Board and man- aged care organizations to provide funding for the Oregon Health Plan. Those in the Yes on 101 camp say if the measure fails, the state will be left PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Vote