NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Thursday, May 4, 2017
State plans broader rating system for schools Former official sues
lottery for $2.75M
By BETSY HAMMOND
The Oregonian/OregonLive
PORTLAND — Oregon intends
to shift how it evaluates schools and
intervenes in those with the poorest
results, moving from the rigid model
required under No Child Left Behind
to a more nuanced approach shaped by
Oregonians.
State leaders plan to make that offi-
cial this week when they submit their
136-page plan to the federal education
department.
Under the new approach, beginning
with results from the current school year,
Oregon schools’ performance will be
judged on a wider array of factors than
reading and math scores and graduation
rates alone.
State officials express optimism that
the switch will make a positive differ-
ence for students.
“This extends the promise of a
well-rounded education,” state schools
chief Salam Noor told The Oregonian/
OregonLive in an interview Monday.
“All over Oregon, we hear that’s what
parents and students want... This is an
opportunity to think about education as
a local endeavor.”
Technically, the rules won’t change
all that dramatically. Schools still will
be judged on statistical outcomes for
students, including standardized test
scores, not by a more subjective judg-
ment about which schools are offering a
truly well-rounded education.
But Noor and other Oregon Depart-
ment of Education leaders say they’ll
combine new messages about what’s
important and new flexibility granted by
the new federal education law, the Every
Student Succeeds Act, to drive more
emphasis on science, social studies,
career-technical education and the arts.
It remains to be seen whether a new
era of well-rounded education will in fact
emerge. Students’ performance on state
reading, writing and math exams, and
their growth over time as measured by
those tests, will still count more heavily
than any other factor in a school’s rating.
And most Oregon schools have a very
long way to go to get all or nearly all their
students to show mastery on those tests.
But under the new approach, schools
will face demands to do other things well.
Their ratings also will hinge on getting
students to attend regularly and, for high
schools, ensuring that freshmen earn six
credits by the start of sophomore year
— the two strongest factors determining
whether a student is likely to make it to
high school graduation.
Schools’ performance will also be
judged on English language acquisition
by their non-native speakers and on
graduation rates.
And, thanks to Oregon’s senior U.S.
Sen. Ron Wyden’s influence on the new
law, any high school that fails to graduate
at least 67 percent of its students in four
years will automatically be in line for
Alleges retaliation
for reporting
management issues
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — A former
Oregon Lottery official
is suing the lottery
commission
and
the
lottery’s director and CFO,
claiming they retaliated
against him for raising the
alarm about management
issues at the agency.
Trinh Tran, a lawyer
who worked as a contracts
and procurement officer
for the agency, filed suit
against the lottery commis-
sion, director Barry Pack
and CFO Kathy Ortega
in Multnomah County
Circuit Court April 17
seeking $2.75 million.
Tran alleges Pack
retaliated against him for
reporting
management
issues to the lottery
commission,
another
lottery employee and to
governor’s staff; and that
lottery officials violated
his privacy when they
initiated an investigation
of him by the state’s
attorney general.
Tran also claims Ortega,
who was also Tran’s
supervisor, violated his
Fourth Amendment rights
by accessing his work
computer and emails.
According
to
the
lawsuit,
Tran
first
voiced concerns about
“mismanagement
and
abuse of authority” to a
lottery commissioner, Liz
Carle, in March 2016,
and then the next month,
to two employees at the
lottery
including
his
direct supervisor. He also
mentioned his concerns to
Heidi Moawad, Gov. Kate
Brown’s lottery adviser.
In what the lawsuit
characterizes as “apparent
retaliation” against two
commissioners
who
inquired about manage-
ment issues at the agency,
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Parents and students fill out paperwork in their classroom during an open
house in September 2016 at the new Washington Elementary School in
Pendleton.
state help. For the class of 2016, about 55
alternative high schools and 16 regular
high schools, including Portland’s Roos-
evelt High, hit that trigger level.
Unlike with the widely unpopular No
Child Left Behind law, which governed
the way U.S. schools were rated for
more than a decade, a school won’t come
under fire for a singular failed result with
a single student population.
But the federal law still requires the
state to release key school performance
measures for numerous student popula-
tions, including racial and ethnic groups,
low-income students, students with
disabilities and students learning English
as a second language.
And schools that show high perfor-
mance overall but have one or more
student groups struggling badly in many
areas will be singled out for extra state
attention. Unlike under No Child Left
Behind, that consequence will apply to
all schools, not just those that receive
federal Title I money to help disadvan-
taged students.
“We will be putting a priority on
advancing equity in Oregon,” Noor said.
“This (federal education) law is a civil
rights law.”
State officials say they’re also excited
about a big change Oregon will make
in the way it holds schools accountable
and helps low-performing ones get
better. Instead of working directly with
individual schools, the state will work
with school districts to assist them with
turning around their problem s schools.
Trying to fix a school without pulling
bigger levers throughout the school
district too often meant a school didn’t
improve or a turnaround didn’t persist,
said Dawne Huckaby, assistant state
superintendent for teaching, learning and
assessment.
“This changes our role,” she said.
“We will be supporting districts who will
be supporting their schools.”
Schools whose performance places
them in the bottom 5 percent statewide
among schools that receive Title I aid
statewide will be tentatively identified
late this summer based on test scores,
chronic absenteeism rates, English
language learners’ progress and ninth-
grade success rates. High schools with
graduation rates below 68 percent will
also be singled out.
The final list of schools that fall into
the lowest 5 percent or have unaccept-
ably low graduation rates will be made
in summer 2018, using results from the
2017-2018 school year and class of 2017
graduation rates.
Working with their school districts,
those schools will have to evaluate
where they aren’t meeting their students’
needs and make a plan to fix that. They
will be watched over by the state as they
carry out those plans in from 2018 to
2021. Those that aren’t making enough
progress along the way will get added
pressure and help from the state.
In scores of public hearings and
specially convened meetings, Oregon
teachers, parents, employers and child
advocates said they want Oregon schools
to be judged holistically, not on standard-
ized statistical outputs.
Oregon Department of Education
officials pushed back against throwing
measurements of the richness of a
school’s curricular offerings or the health
of its social/emotional climate into the
ratings equation because there is no reli-
able way to objectively measure those
characteristics.
But they did agree to create a space
on schools’ official state performance
reports for district officials to provide a
short narrative about such offerings as arts
education, career-tech instruction, library
services and after-school programs. And
they say they will continue to explore
ways to add more nuance to the state’s
school rating systems.
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REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
TODAY
SATURDAY
FRIDAY
Partly sunny and
very warm
Cooler with a heavy
thunderstorm
86° 61°
65° 44°
Cooler; a few
morning showers
SUNDAY
Partial sunshine
MONDAY
Mostly sunny and
nice
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
57° 44°
66° 45°
71° 48°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
71° 46°
90° 61°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
75°
67°
94° (1900)
50°
43°
25° (1897)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
Trace
0.10"
8.21"
4.35"
5.21"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
80°
70°
92° (2016)
55°
43°
28° (1928)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
Trace
0.12"
5.88"
2.98"
4.11"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Full
Last
May 10
May 18
New
May 25
72° 47°
77° 50°
Seattle
75/52
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
64° 46°
5:38 a.m.
8:06 p.m.
1:56 p.m.
3:01 a.m.
First
June 1
Today
Spokane
Wenatchee
80/57
85/60
Tacoma
Moses
77/51
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 87/60
80/58
71/50
78/50
86/58
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
80/53
87/66 Lewiston
90/62
Astoria
85/60
62/51
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
82/53
Pendleton 76/55
The Dalles 90/61
86/61
86/60
La Grande
Salem
81/59
82/52
Albany
Corvallis 83/51
81/52
John Day
82/60
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
85/58
81/52
81/49
Caldwell
Burns
85/59
80/52
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
62
78
81
63
80
76
81
84
90
82
82
81
79
87
59
62
85
89
86
82
85
82
80
81
83
87
86
Lo
51
51
49
49
52
55
52
57
61
60
49
59
57
53
49
50
58
59
61
53
50
52
57
54
53
66
58
W
sh
s
t
pc
s
s
t
t
pc
pc
pc
s
s
t
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
t
t
t
s
pc
t
s
pc
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Fri.
Hi
55
70
60
55
71
68
59
66
71
69
62
67
64
60
54
55
83
75
65
60
63
59
68
63
58
72
74
Lo
41
40
32
44
39
41
39
40
46
38
36
41
38
42
41
44
50
47
44
43
32
40
44
37
41
48
43
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
c
t
t
sh
t
t
sh
t
t
t
t
t
t
sh
sh
sh
t
t
t
sh
t
sh
t
t
sh
t
t
WORLD CITIES
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Hi
80
84
71
58
78
51
63
68
80
70
70
Lo
55
76
53
48
55
30
46
52
57
57
61
W
s
t
s
c
pc
pc
sh
pc
pc
pc
c
Fri.
Hi
70
83
72
58
73
55
66
70
77
71
71
Lo
47
75
54
49
53
43
51
52
51
57
62
W
pc
pc
s
c
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
WINDS
Medford
87/53
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
82/49
Boardman
Pendleton
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: A shower or two across the
north today; partly sunny in central parts.
Clouds, then sun in the south.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Sunshine and
patchy clouds today; a thunderstorm in
spots near the Cascades.
Western Washington: A strong thunderstorm
across the south today; showers around at the
coast. A thunderstorm in central parts.
Eastern Washington: Mostly sunny today. A
shower or thunderstorm in spots tonight.
Cascades: Very warm today with a strong
thunderstorm.
Northern California: A thunderstorm in spots
in central parts today; clouds, then sun at the
coast. Mostly sunny in the interior mountains.
Today
Friday
NE 4-8
ESE 6-12
W 10-20
W 8-16
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
1
4
6
7
4
then-Director Jack Roberts
drafted, but did not submit,
a Bureau of Labor and
Industries
complaint
against them, and placed
on administrative leave
another employee who
reported
management
problems to the Gover-
nor’s Office.
Roberts was removed
from his position in late
April of 2016, and Barry
Pack was named acting
director. Pack announced
a personnel investigation
by the state Department
of Justice against the
deputy director, Roland
Iparraguirre, and started
an investigation against
the two commissioners
that was based on Roberts’
draft BOLI complaint.
Those two commis-
sioners, Mary Wheat and
Liz Carle, resigned from
the commission after the
lottery announced the alle-
gations against them were
“baseless.”
The lawsuit alleges
Pack falsely claimed Tran’s
employees
complained
about him, and that Pack
started a DOJ investigation
of Tran, which found “no
evidence of inappropriate
conduct or violations of
policy,” the lawsuit states.
After DOJ concluded
its
investigation,
the
lawsuit claims, Pack and
Ortega reduced Tran’s
responsibilities, excluded
him from meetings, and
wrote a work plan that the
lawsuit characterized as
a step in the disciplinary
process and a warning of
possible dismissal.
Tran resigned from the
lottery in October.
The lawsuit also claims
Brown and her office
“either authorized or were
aware of and acquiesced
in defendant Pack’s ...
retaliatory actions” against
Tran and other employees
who blew the whistle.
A
spokeswoman
for the lottery declined
Wednesday to comment on
the lawsuit.
1
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: Rain will drench areas from the middle Mississippi Valley with river
flooding to the mid-Atlantic today. Severe storms will roll across the Southeast states. Much
of the Plains and West can expect sunshine.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 105° in Thermal, Calif.
Low 16° in Aspen Springs, Colo.
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
77
68
60
66
76
67
85
57
82
72
51
62
75
69
48
83
60
73
84
75
56
87
65
96
60
82
Lo
52
50
53
56
50
48
61
45
61
54
42
55
53
42
43
58
36
44
74
55
46
57
46
74
51
58
W
s
t
pc
pc
s
t
s
s
t
t
r
r
s
s
r
pc
s
s
s
s
r
t
sh
s
pc
s
Fri.
Hi
84
56
64
73
83
57
83
54
72
64
57
64
79
77
49
91
59
79
84
80
53
76
70
98
71
75
Lo
57
48
57
52
53
46
49
52
52
44
41
43
54
49
40
65
35
42
73
53
39
52
49
73
47
58
Today
W
s
pc
t
t
s
sh
c
r
r
r
pc
r
s
s
r
s
pc
s
sh
s
sh
s
s
s
s
pc
Hi
Louisville
66
Memphis
56
Miami
88
Milwaukee
53
Minneapolis
67
Nashville
68
New Orleans
67
New York City
62
Oklahoma City
69
Omaha
69
Philadelphia
66
Phoenix
102
Portland, ME
59
Providence
61
Raleigh
78
Rapid City
70
Reno
86
Sacramento
88
St. Louis
52
Salt Lake City
76
San Diego
73
San Francisco
71
Seattle
75
Tucson
100
Washington, DC 69
Wichita
69
Lo
51
46
77
41
45
47
54
51
46
44
53
74
40
45
63
44
59
56
46
55
62
54
52
69
60
45
W
t
sh
pc
pc
s
t
c
pc
s
s
pc
s
s
s
pc
s
pc
s
r
s
pc
pc
t
s
pc
s
Fri.
Hi
58
63
89
55
73
56
74
64
72
73
70
105
51
59
73
78
77
77
65
85
71
64
60
100
76
73
Lo
44
46
69
41
47
44
55
56
46
50
54
76
45
56
51
47
49
50
50
63
61
50
44
68
55
48
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
sh
pc
t
pc
s
sh
s
r
s
s
r
s
r
r
r
s
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
c
sh
pc
t
s