In the vast and varied landscape of educational debates, Oregon has emerged as a surprising trendsetter. Recent studies, conducted by the highly reputable Institute of Advanced Speculations, reveal that Oregon's class sizes are, in fact, too small and that its teachers are overcompensated. This groundbreaking research turns traditional pedagogical wisdom on its head, asserting that larger class sizes and underpaid teachers are not only feasible but actually beneficial for student engagement and learning.
I'm still bitter over the Oregon State Board of Education's irrational decision to suspend proficiency testing for all high school seniors through the 2027-28 school year on what must surely be specious grounds, namely that the testing is "harmful" to black students.
The announcement came with what seems like another specious claim, namely that the inability to provide proof of proficiency will not disadvantage black Oregon high school graduates in college admissions or in the workplace.
As if the foregoing were not bad enough, I clearly recall a news story in which someone high in Oregon's educational hierarchy stated flatly that black family culture had absolutely nothing to do with black students' disproportionately worse academic performance.
In dealing with black underachievement by lowering the standards, the Oregon State Board of Education has made it impossible for Oregon high school grads who are white or members of white-adjacent minorities to demonstrate their proficiency in the near future. At the same time, the Board has ensured that the proficiency of black high school grads, even those who are high performing, will remain in doubt for the graduating classes of 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028 at the very least.
Following the news about Oregon's public K-12 system is like being trapped in an endless performance of The Emperor's New Clothes. Each scenario seems more preposterous than the last. Is the truth-telling little boy who has the power to expose the mendacity going to stay mum forever?
In closing, as a centrist Democrat I am embarrassed and angry over how progressives have stacked the Oregon State Board of Education with a membership in which white students and their parents are grossly underrepresented in relation to their percentage of the state's population. The arrogance is shocking. If ethnic and racial minorities were as underrepresented on the Oregon State Board of Education as whites are today, it would be treated like a great scandal by the media and politicians alike. It's time to end crayola diversity in Oregon's public boards.
Extremely well put! The State Board of Education has been stacked against truth and reason. It is also lacking the one thing they scream about the most - diversity. Much like other committees and councils around the state, there is no diversity of thought.
There is much more to this story, and I plan to expose it all. All Oregonians deserve to know the truth behind all this madness.
Go for it! Do you think the administrators at Catlin Gabel, the Oregon Episcopal School and the Catholic schools treat their black students with the same banal racism of low expectations?
While you're at it, someone needs to send a shot across the bow of Oregon's public K-12 educational establishment that the public does not tolerate using taxpayer funds, public school personnel and public funds to expose minors to, and indoctrinate them in, gender identity ideology.
I'm a gay man and a Democrat, but I am deeply opposed to the excesses of trans activism that have normalized the idea that kids can change sex/gender and presented scientifically baseless ideas as if they were the truth.
Among other things, it is necessary to establish whether, and to what extent, Oregon public schools are:
1. Aiding and abetting the social transition of children, many of whom are suffering from mental health problems, while keeping the transition secret and not informing the parents.
This is usually a violation of due process because the school will conclude that the parents are hostile to the child's gender identity without conducting any fact finding or giving parents notice and an opportunity to be heard. It is also unlawful interference with parental rights.
Furthermore, there is a strong argument to be made that school policies and procedures for dealing with students who claim to be trans put public school personnel in the position of practicing mental health without a license.
2. Requiring other students to use the preferred pronoun and name of any student who claims to be trans, nonbinary, queer or whatever, and punishing if they don't comply by treating the noncompliance as bullying, harassment, creating a hostile environment or some other thought crime. I maintain that such policies are unconstitutional because they obligate students to engage in impermissible compelled speech.
3. Allowing boys who claim to be girls to compete in girls'-only athletic competitions or letting girls who claim to be boys to do the same. Not only does this reinforce the falsehood that people can change sex or gender, it is fundamentally unfair to real girls. There is a growing list of young female athletes who have seen their years of accomplishments in their sport and their future prospects - including but not limited to athletic scholarships - vanish because they were beaten by boys claiming to be girls. Make no mistake: males have demonstrated physiological advantages over females in athletics.
This is nothing less than institutionalized cheating. Trans activists and their progressive apologists will seek to minimize the gravity of the situation on the grounds that there are few trans girl athletes. That argument wouldn't help someone who cheated on an exam and it shouldn't excuse boys when they compete unfairly against girls on the playing field.
All the above practices and others like them need to end.
Also, I am including a link to a Substack piece by the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) about a lawsuit over a horrific series of abuses that are alleged to have been perpetrated by a number of individuals and organizations, including a public school, in the name of trans rights. FAIR is supporting the Child and Parental Rights campaign, which brought the lawsuit.
Finally, FAIR sent a letter to the top public school official in California in 2022 that challenged the state's policy of withholding information about student transitions from parents. Citing the US Constitution and federal and state law, FAIR explained in detail why California's nondisclosure policy was unlawful. Separately, FAIR also challenged the state's mandatory preferred pronoun policy.
The entire letter can be found at the following link by clicking on "read more" under the heading "California Department of Education Gender Policy." https://www.fairforall.org/legal-letters-comments/
Please note that nothing here is intended as legal advice and that I am not a lawyer. My only connection with FAIR is that I agree with their mission; I am neither an employee or volunteer. Please consult with a qualified attorney for advice on this matter.
I'm still bitter over the Oregon State Board of Education's irrational decision to suspend proficiency testing for all high school seniors through the 2027-28 school year on what must surely be specious grounds, namely that the testing is "harmful" to black students.
The announcement came with what seems like another specious claim, namely that the inability to provide proof of proficiency will not disadvantage black Oregon high school graduates in college admissions or in the workplace.
As if the foregoing were not bad enough, I clearly recall a news story in which someone high in Oregon's educational hierarchy stated flatly that black family culture had absolutely nothing to do with black students' disproportionately worse academic performance.
In dealing with black underachievement by lowering the standards, the Oregon State Board of Education has made it impossible for Oregon high school grads who are white or members of white-adjacent minorities to demonstrate their proficiency in the near future. At the same time, the Board has ensured that the proficiency of black high school grads, even those who are high performing, will remain in doubt for the graduating classes of 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028 at the very least.
Following the news about Oregon's public K-12 system is like being trapped in an endless performance of The Emperor's New Clothes. Each scenario seems more preposterous than the last. Is the truth-telling little boy who has the power to expose the mendacity going to stay mum forever?
In closing, as a centrist Democrat I am embarrassed and angry over how progressives have stacked the Oregon State Board of Education with a membership in which white students and their parents are grossly underrepresented in relation to their percentage of the state's population. The arrogance is shocking. If ethnic and racial minorities were as underrepresented on the Oregon State Board of Education as whites are today, it would be treated like a great scandal by the media and politicians alike. It's time to end crayola diversity in Oregon's public boards.
Extremely well put! The State Board of Education has been stacked against truth and reason. It is also lacking the one thing they scream about the most - diversity. Much like other committees and councils around the state, there is no diversity of thought.
There is much more to this story, and I plan to expose it all. All Oregonians deserve to know the truth behind all this madness.
Go for it! Do you think the administrators at Catlin Gabel, the Oregon Episcopal School and the Catholic schools treat their black students with the same banal racism of low expectations?
While you're at it, someone needs to send a shot across the bow of Oregon's public K-12 educational establishment that the public does not tolerate using taxpayer funds, public school personnel and public funds to expose minors to, and indoctrinate them in, gender identity ideology.
I'm a gay man and a Democrat, but I am deeply opposed to the excesses of trans activism that have normalized the idea that kids can change sex/gender and presented scientifically baseless ideas as if they were the truth.
Among other things, it is necessary to establish whether, and to what extent, Oregon public schools are:
1. Aiding and abetting the social transition of children, many of whom are suffering from mental health problems, while keeping the transition secret and not informing the parents.
This is usually a violation of due process because the school will conclude that the parents are hostile to the child's gender identity without conducting any fact finding or giving parents notice and an opportunity to be heard. It is also unlawful interference with parental rights.
Furthermore, there is a strong argument to be made that school policies and procedures for dealing with students who claim to be trans put public school personnel in the position of practicing mental health without a license.
2. Requiring other students to use the preferred pronoun and name of any student who claims to be trans, nonbinary, queer or whatever, and punishing if they don't comply by treating the noncompliance as bullying, harassment, creating a hostile environment or some other thought crime. I maintain that such policies are unconstitutional because they obligate students to engage in impermissible compelled speech.
3. Allowing boys who claim to be girls to compete in girls'-only athletic competitions or letting girls who claim to be boys to do the same. Not only does this reinforce the falsehood that people can change sex or gender, it is fundamentally unfair to real girls. There is a growing list of young female athletes who have seen their years of accomplishments in their sport and their future prospects - including but not limited to athletic scholarships - vanish because they were beaten by boys claiming to be girls. Make no mistake: males have demonstrated physiological advantages over females in athletics.
This is nothing less than institutionalized cheating. Trans activists and their progressive apologists will seek to minimize the gravity of the situation on the grounds that there are few trans girl athletes. That argument wouldn't help someone who cheated on an exam and it shouldn't excuse boys when they compete unfairly against girls on the playing field.
All the above practices and others like them need to end.
It's not necessary to reinvent the wheel by starting this campaign from scratch. Last year a number of Seattle parents confronted the Seattle school board with the demand that they get gender identity out of Seattle schools. Here is a link to a Substack about the initiative: https://www.pittparents.com/p/seattle-activists-submit-formal-demand?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=374402&post_id=137579027&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=8bzqv
Also, I am including a link to a Substack piece by the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) about a lawsuit over a horrific series of abuses that are alleged to have been perpetrated by a number of individuals and organizations, including a public school, in the name of trans rights. FAIR is supporting the Child and Parental Rights campaign, which brought the lawsuit.
https://news.fairforall.org/p/fair-news-standing-for-parents-constitutional?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=415200&post_id=136568602&isFreemail=true
Finally, FAIR sent a letter to the top public school official in California in 2022 that challenged the state's policy of withholding information about student transitions from parents. Citing the US Constitution and federal and state law, FAIR explained in detail why California's nondisclosure policy was unlawful. Separately, FAIR also challenged the state's mandatory preferred pronoun policy.
The entire letter can be found at the following link by clicking on "read more" under the heading "California Department of Education Gender Policy." https://www.fairforall.org/legal-letters-comments/
Please note that nothing here is intended as legal advice and that I am not a lawyer. My only connection with FAIR is that I agree with their mission; I am neither an employee or volunteer. Please consult with a qualified attorney for advice on this matter.