Great news everyone! The state's on-time high school graduation rate has increased one percent! According to state school Superintendent Susan Castillo, a rise from 66 to 67 percent over a year is something to write home about, calling the results "encouraging."

However, head honcho (read: Governor) John Kitzhaber reacted differently to this news, calling the low rate "unacceptable." A Department of Education study also unveiled a discouraging dropout rate of public high school students, marking one out of every three attendees an eventual high school drop out. This adds up to about 11,000 high school students in this school year.

Like I said, fantastic news.

Thankfully, Kitzhaber has promised to turn these dreary statistics around. Kitzhaber hopes to push the Legislature to require every school district and community college to sign a yearly "achievement compact" spelling out key results it will try to deliver. If singed off, this compact aims to jump start schools across the state in hopes of securing more stable — and uplifting — enrollment results in the future.

I feel obliged to report on this because this man handed me my diploma: Oregon Board of Higher Education decided not to renew the contract of Richard Lariviere, University of Oregon president. To put it nicely, he's fired.

Why? It looks like the man didn't have many supporters in the Oregon University System, let alone Gov. John Kitzhaber, due to his budgetary decision making.

• University of Oreogon
• "The Hat" and his posse. Aka students.

"Dr. Lariviere's actions have done damage to our vision for higher education and other institutions of higher learning; and, ironically, have served to undercut his own aspirations for the University of Oregon," Kitzhaber told the Oregonian.

But his firing didn't go unnoticed. Nearly 60 pro-Lariviere faculty members filed complaint to the university's state's ethics commission, as the Board of Higher Education apparently publicized their decision prior to a mandatory meeting and vote. Students aren't too pleased either. Last night, a group of upset students decorated OUS Chancellor George Pernsteiner's home with eggs, leaving behind an angry letter and the words "The Hat" — Southern gent Lariviere is known for his ever-present fedora, see photo — spray painted on the driveway.

Larievere remains classy in his rejection. On Wednesday, he published a letter to the campus: "I have been heartened by the outpouring of support I have received for the work we are doing to reimagine public higher education in Oregon. While the positive comments from members of the campus community and beyond help to galvanize my commitment to this outstanding institution, I hasten to remind you that this is not about me. We must all redouble our efforts to bring about positive change to the governance, funding and accountability of Oregon’s public universities."

His contract terminates on June 30, 2012.

• Department of Defense
• What do anti-war recruiters have on tanks?

"There is nothing in this resolution that says there is a condemnation of military service," said board vice chairman Martin Gonzalez, a primary driver behind the new rule. "There is a desire on our part for our students to become more educated in the choices that they are making."

This movement comes just under a year since Portland Schools signed a two-year deal with the Department of Defense to teach forth and fifth grade science — an idea which many argued was disguised military recruitment. While this provides a more level playing field for both sides, I'm sure parents will still rally against the not-so-camouflaged military presence.

Having that boy arrested for wearing a skirt and suspending him and making the news and attracting the attention of vicious gay bloggers all over the country? Nothing distracting about that...

Let the real distraction begin...

Coffee High School (Home of the Trojans!)
Principal Greg Tanner
greg.tanner@coffee.k12.ga.us
school 912-384-2094
fax 912-383-4142
159 Trojan Way
Douglas, GA 31533

Superintendent of Coffee County Schools: Dr. Morris Leis
morris.leis@coffee.k12.ga.us
(912) 384-2086 x223
Other BOE members

That's exactly what the "University of Redwood" managed to do.

Okay. So. The University of Redwood doesn't exist. Instead, it's a charlatan website out of China, looking to rip off college hopefuls. Would-be students apply and pay application fees, only to receive a rejection notice weeks later.

And when it comes to not only the phony university's website design, but also its sheer identity, the ballsy minds behind this scheme decided the content over at Portland's own Reed College was simply irresistible. Reed's homepage, history, faculty, academic calendar, photos—pretty much everything—was copied and pasted into Redwood's fraudulent website.

"Clearly, we've been trying to get the website taken down," says Kevin Meyers, public relations spokesperson at the legit Reed College. "We sent a cease and desist back in October, and got them to take it down for about 10 days. But then it went back up."

"It's pretty amazing what they did—they basically just switched out 'Reed' for 'Redwood' in all the text, and took as their own," he continues.

Here's hoping Princesston University doesn't make an appearance on the interwebs anytime soon.

• DoD
• STARBASE Portland: Kids love tanks! It's a fact.

The STARBASE science program teaches science to elementary school during week-long trips to classrooms on national guard bases and has attracted vociferous protests from Portland parents upset about the military in classrooms. When a Mercury reporter sat in on a STARBASE science class this summer, he found students got hands-on with F-16 fighter jet parts to learn how to make paper airplanes.

The new contract continues the science program that the Department of Defense has offered locally since 1993. The Portland Observer reports that parents showed up to the contract hearing to protest the renewal, pointing to photos of happy kids climbing on tanks and helicopters on the STARBASE Portland website as evidence that the science program has a recruitment bent.

It's the perfect Portland story: a young artist brings together kids and a homeless community to build a greenhouse out of recycled materials.

Ten middle school kids, most of them from Da Vinci Middle School, have spent six weeks of after-school time, and the beginning of their summer vacation, planning and building a greenhouse for Dignity Village, the permanent homeless encampment in North Portland.

Some residents at Dignity Village have 30 years of construction experience. Residents have supervised the planning and construction of the da Vinci Greenhouse Project according to their needs. The greenhouse is made from recycled materials donated by local organizations such as the Rebuilding Center.

"We really need this greenhouse," said a Dignity Village resident named Marcy, who is also the community's garden coordinator. "Year after year, this will be a great thing to have. Long after I'm gone."

• Jordan Mitchell

Eleven-year-old Josh is the youngest student on the project, and was painting a stained glass window that will be installed in the greenhouse. His painting depicts people climbing up a vine, a symbol of "transformation, because that's what dignity village is about," he told me. "People think that dignity village is where homeless people go to live. Actually, it's where homeless people go to start over."

The kids learned about the village in conversations with the residents throughout their 6-week workshop. The workshop also included field trips, lessons from visiting artists and projects like designing model greenhouses.

Sneed has plans for another project with DaVinci Middle School next school year.

More pictures below the cut.

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The school board has been getting a lot of criticism over the proposed closure of the Marshall campus in outer Southeast, which would leave only a small magnet school at that location. Now they want to do the same with North Portland's Jefferson High School. Lents residents have been asking Portland Public Schools to consider giving Marshall to the overachieving David Douglas school district instead.

Lents resident Nick Christensen, head of the Lents Neighborhood Association, sent this letter to the Portland school board:

School board members:

I am writing to again urge you to reconsider your plan to close John Marshall High School. My neighborhood, Lents, has worked so hard on developing a sense of identity and on fostering economic vitality through education. Sending students at least 30 minutes each way on buses to central Portland will be a significant hurdle to eastside redevelopment and to the goal of creating 20 minute neighborhoods.

Also, I would call your attention to a PPS report showing minority enrollment in the city's attendance zone. I think it's quite clear that a move to shutter Jefferson or Marshall would be met with civil rights questions at the U.S. Department of Education.

You've heard plenty of testimony on this by now, so I won't take too much more of your time. So I ask again — change the boundary over to DDSD, keep us open with fewer students from PPS, but don't derail the civic redevelopment in my neighborhood.

Thanks,

Nick Christensen

Last time the Mercury checked in with Portland Schools Superintendent Carole Smith, she said that the district is dedicated to keeping Marshall.

Update 1:09 pm: Christensen provided a map (after the jump!) that shows high concentrations of nonwhite populations in the Marshall and Jefferson attendance areas. If the schools are closed, these students would travel to schools in other, white (oranger?) neighborhoods.

Also, Christensen notes that he sent the letter as a private citizen, not a representative of his neighborhood. Headline changed accordingly.

Continue reading »

David Douglas High School, the largest high school in the state, where 75 percent of students are on free/reduced lunch, continues to impress.

Last month, David Douglas won a national award for its music program. And now they've won an award for graduating way more kids than demographics would predict.

In the recently released Diploma Counts 2010, David Douglas is credited with a graduation rate of 83 percent. Using national averages and demographic data, Education Week calculated that a large, urban school similar to David Douglas would have a graduation rate of about 63 percent.

That means David Douglas graduates students at a 20 percent higher rate than demographics and other statistical data would predict. As a result, Education Week named David Douglas one of only 21 schools in the nation as an “overachiever” school.

In contrast, Portland Public Schools' graduation rates dropped to 53 percent this year. Portland Public Schools have 45 percent of students on free and reduced lunch.

What is it that makes David Douglas so successful? Is it the personal connections? The proximity to the yuppies in downtown Portland? The school board members that have been there since the schools had a wealthier, less diverse population?

Whatever it is, congrats, David Douglas—I'm glad to see a program that works.