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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, October 19, 2016 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor MARISSA WILLIAMS Regional Advertising Director MARCY ROSENBERG Circulation Manager JANNA HEIMGARTNER Business Ofice Manager MIKE JENSEN Production Manager OUR VIEW Oregon falls farther behind in graduation rate rankings Another day, another bit of bad programs to be funded and staffed news for Oregon’s beleaguered with enough consistency. education system. But another, larger reason On Monday, the U.S. Department is cultural in nature. Chronic of Education noted that Oregon’s absenteeism is an ingrained, graduation rate is at 74 percent. And systemic issue across the state, and this at a time when the country has it is no different here in Morrow and never been better Umatilla counties. at graduating its And the absenteeism Graduation students on time. problem is Nationwide, the rates have never exacerbated by the on-time graduation short school been higher in state’s rate hit 83 percent year, because every for the class of 2015, the United States minute missed is of the best mark in our greater importance. —83 percent history. Plenty is up for Yet Oregon debate in November, of the class of continues to fall but two Oregon 2015 graduated measures have the behind the trend. The state is best opportunity at on time. now third-worst addressing the state in graduation rate, education issue. One having been leapfrogged by Alaska is Measure 97 — you may have seen and now only ahead of Nevada and a billion ads for it while trying to New Mexico. The graduation rate watch your football game or favorite for white students in Oregon is better sitcom. It taxes corporate sales and than just one state — but that’s feeds that money into the general actually an improvement, up from fund, where a percentage of it would 50th last year to now second from then go to education. Measure 98 the bottom. is a smaller, more precise measure In Oregon, the problems with that stipulates money to be used graduating students on time are speciically to address graduation multi-faceted. rates — strengthening CTE One reason is surely inancial programs and the like. — Oregon students have one of the Whatever your political outlook shortest school years, and are below — and your faith in legislators and average for state dollars spent per state employees to direct and spend student. Surely the helpful additions money wisely — it’s clear that to basic offerings — CTE classes, something is wrong with Oregon for instance, along with school education, and it stretches from nurses and counselors — help keep the top to the bottom, and from students on the fringe in school and homeroom into dining rooms. If on track to graduation. Oregon’s November’s measures aren’t your luctuating education budget has not cup of tea, better ideas are needed allowed those types of positions and and they’re needed now. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of Publisher Kathryn Brown, Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, and Opinion Page Editor Tim Trainor. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. OTHER VIEWS What we need next K joined City Year, the national service athy Fletcher and David organization. Simpson have a son named Poverty up close is so much more Santi, who went to Washington, intricate and unpredictable than the D.C., public schools. Santi had a friend picture of poverty you get from the who sometimes went to school hungry. grand national debates. The kids So Santi invited him to occasionally can project total self-conidence eat and sleep at his house. one minute and then slide into utter That friend had a friend and that lostness the next. friend had a friend, and now when David The college application process you go to dinner at Kathy and David’s Brooks often seems like a shapeless fog house on Thursday night there might Comment to them; nobody’s taught them the be 15 to 20 teenagers crammed around concrete steps to move along the way. the table, and later there will be groups of them crashing in the basement or in the few One young woman lied on her inancial aid forms because she didn’t want to admit that small bedrooms upstairs. The kids who show up her father was dead, her mother at Kathy and David’s have was on drugs — how messed endured the ordeals of modern up her home life actually was. poverty: homelessness, There’s no margin for error hunger, abuse, sexual assault. for these kids, and she would Almost all have seen death have lost her college dreams if irsthand — to a sibling, friend not for a squad of adults ready or parent. to mobilize around her. It’s anomalous for them The adults in this to have a bed at home. One community give the kids the 21-year-old woman came to chance to present their gifts. dinner last week and said this At my irst dinner, Edd read was the irst time she’d been a poem from his cracked around a family table since she lip phone that I irst thought was 11. was from Langston Hughes, but it turned And yet by some miracle, hostile soil out to be his own. Kesari has a voice that has produced charismatic lowers. Thursday somehow emerged from New Orleans jazz dinner is the big social occasion of the week. from the 1920s. Madeline and Thalya practice Kids come from around the city. Spicy friendship as if it were the highest art form. chicken and black rice are served. Cellphones Jamel loses self-consciousness when he talks are banned (“Be in the now,” Kathy says). of engine repair. The kids call Kathy and David “Momma” They give us a gift — complete intolerance and “Dad,” are unfailingly polite, clear of social distance. When I irst met Edd, I held the dishes, turn toward one another’s love out my hand to shake his. He looked at it and like plants toward the sun and burst with said, “We hug here,” and we’ve been hugging big glowing personalities. Birthdays and and hanging off each other since. graduations are celebrated. Songs are Bill Milliken, a veteran youth activist, performed. is often asked which programs turn around I started going to dinner there about two kids’ lives. “I still haven’t seen one program years ago, hungry for something beyond change one kid’s life,” he says. “What changes food. Each meal we go around the table, and people is relationships. Somebody willing everybody has to say something nobody else to walk through the shadow of the valley of knows about them. adolescence with them.” Each meal we demonstrate our Souls are not saved in bundles. Love is the commitment to care for one another. I took my necessary force. daughter once and on the way out she said, The problems facing this country are “That’s the warmest place I can ever imagine.” deeper than the labor participation rate and During this election season of viciousness, ISIS. It’s a crisis of solidarity, a crisis of vulgarity and depravity, Thursdays at Kathy segmentation, spiritual degradation and and David’s has been a weekly uplift, and intimacy. their home a place to be reminded of what is Throughout this ugly year, AOK has been beautiful about our country and what we can my visit to a better future, more powerful than do to bring out its loveliness. any political tract about what we need next. The kids need what all adolescents need: Sometimes Kathy and David are asked bikes, laptops and a listening heart. “Thank how they ended up with so many kids lowing you for seeing the light in me,” one young through their house. They look at how many woman told Kathy after a cry on the couch. kids are out there, and respond, “How is it David and Kathy have set up a charitable possible you don’t?” organization called AOK, for All Our Kids, to ■ help each of the kids come into his or her own David Brooks became a New York Times fullness. Four started college this year, and one Op-Ed columnist in September 2003. Souls are not saved in bundles. Love is the necessary force. YOUR VIEWS Forget Idaho: Eastern Oregon better by itself Why should Oregon join with Washington and Idaho? Eastern Oregon should secede by itself. You then declare war on the U.S.A. and quickly lose. At this point we will then receive foreign aid forever! And by the way, the Electoral College has long outlived its purpose. Our crooked politicians can control the outcome this way. Please vote out all the incumbents. John Redmond La Pine Google to know how your rep votes How much do you know about your national congressmen and the way they vote on the issues? Instead of voting based on a TV ad or on a single issue, one can Google “On The Issues” followed by the name of Representative Greg Walden or Senator Ron Wyden, and it will enter a web site in which that person’s voting on 20 separate categories is listed. Examples of categories are economy, budget, corporations, crime, energy, environment, education, foreign, policy, gun control, health care, jobs, social security, tax reform, welfare and others. In each category it lists a one-line summary of what bills the congressperson voted on and how he voted, yes or no. One can, by doing this, decide if the person is voting in the manner which represents your preferences. Bruce Graham Sisters Bond dollars needed at Umatilla schools I am writing in support of the Umatilla School District bond measure on the November ballot. This bond will allow the district to make needed improvements at all three schools in Umatilla — McNary Elementary, Clara Brownell Middle School and Umatilla High School. I would like to address the needs at Umatilla High School. This school continues to be the lagship building of the district. Built in 1999, the high school is a beautiful facility, serving our students well. However, the roof must be replaced, and updating the HVAC systems and controls will allow our high school to remain in top condition for years to come. If approved by voters, the bond will complete these projects; otherwise the school will have to ind funds in the district budget. Investing in these needed capital improvements now will ensure that our elementary and middle school students will still get to enjoy a wonderful high school building when they are older. The Umatilla school bond will not increase taxes for Umatilla citizens; the new bonds are estimated to continue the same tax rate of the current bonds, just longer. Also, if voters approve the bond, the Umatilla School District will receive an additional $4 million from the state of Oregon for district projects. I encourage the Umatilla community to vote yes on this school bond — to protect our students, to protect our educational investments and send a clear message that the Umatilla community is dedicated to quality education. Jon Lorence Umatilla School District board member Nations must obey the laws of god Deuteronomy 28 promises blessings for those nations that obey God’s laws and curses for those nations that forsake God’s commandments. America has been blessed as no other nation save Israel precisely because our leaders honored God’s commandments and statutes. The God of our forefathers is no longer honored or observed by our leaders, institutions or courts and America is now suffering the curses of disobedience. America is no longer the lender but rather the debtor to nations that disdain America and global bankers that inance the emerging new world order. The present corrupt Obama government is a curse upon America. The CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, IRS, the courts, Republican establishment, the national media and press, and entertainment industry are all controlled by the globalist Democratic party. The Constitution, Bill of Rights, freedom of religion and the Second Amendment will be abrogated if Hillary Clinton is elected president. The citizens of a nation built on the blessings of God will be reduced to bondage if that nation continues to forsake the commandments of its creator. Can Donald Trump or any constitutional conservative Republican defeat the global Democratic party? The liberal press destroyed the reputation of Sarah Palin, Herman Cain and Mitt Romney, and now they are relentlessly attacking Donald Trump. The corrupt Clinton/ Obama regime will never allow a constitutional conservative to return America to our Godly heritage and Bible-based foundation. They have corrupted the entire American system. The Christian Church has been silent, hiding and in some cases supporting the desecration of God’s standards, laws and statutes beginning in middle of the 20th century. The corruption of our government, the racial hatred incited by the Obama administration, and the evisceration of our military is the result of disobedience of God’s commandments. God’s intervention on behalf of obedient and praying Christians is America’s only hope and that will only happen when America and the Christian Church repents and returns to proclaiming, honoring and obeying the statutes, and laws of God honored by our forefathers. Stuart Dick Irrigon LETTERS POLICY The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Submitted let- ters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. Send letters to 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
