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
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