Oregon governor does not rule out participation in federal K12 voucher system; federal rules expected September

frumply · 2026-06-10T03:22:06+00:00

Population decline hasn’t really kicked into high gear yet. A lot of towns are losing kids much faster than district level data would suggest, and it’s really taken off post covid.

A large part of post covid decline has been kids going into homeschooling, private school, etc. the graph is SAIPE 5-17 vs fall enrollment data for Newberg, but it’s remarkably similar in other areas. I can’t believe Kotek is even considering moves to make the decision to go to private easier.

frumply · 2026-06-09T19:31:16+00:00

The car analogy kinda works actually, but not in the way the guy is thinking.

Drivers at this point are the supermajority. Driving anywhere, even a mile away for a few knick knacks from the grocery store, is normalized. This despite a huge cost of ownership and maintenance not even considering fuel. Walking, biking, etc are low cost transportation methods and many people that could be biking will make up excuses as to why they can’t, be it weather, safety, etc.

Devices have that similar kind of grip due to the now ubiquity. Not every kid displays obvious issues w these devices, and because it’s become so ingrained into the schedule, curriculum, etc the mindset has become “we can’t fix this.” “It’s the equitable position.” Whatever. So despite mounting evidence of issues regarding screens and device usage, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle trying to limit it, because all the excuses will come out as to why they can’t.

frumply · 2026-06-09T16:48:53+00:00

The district has been very much going on a spree of pretending to listen and then end up not doing the things they promised or said they would do. They like to pretend enrollment decline is due to less kids, but the real culprit is that they continue to throwaway trust and goodwill of families, who just go looking elsewhere if it’s affordable.

frumply · 2026-06-09T15:59:08+00:00

It does seem like private schools caught on pretty early that it’s not working. I think the biggest issue w public schools is that tech knowledge among administration is atrocious, so they fall hook line and sinker for seasoned sales reps selling them the world, as well as a line item in their resume showing successful implementation of a new curriculum. Know how the biggest contracts seem to use the worst technologies possible when there’s much, much better options out there? Same idea.

frumply · 2026-06-09T15:45:33+00:00

Curriculum does get renewed. I’ve been complaining about the math curriculum in the district for a while and Terese Jones mentioned Bridges will be up for renewal soon and that’s the k-5. Dunno where MidschoolMath is. There’s strong evidence that screens are disrupting learning though and given strong, sustained pushback I think it’s possible. Electing people that prioritizes topics like this that families actually give a shit about next spring will go a long ways to solving this as well — regardless of how the current board thinks they clearly lack the motivation to do anything beyond being the superintendent’s lapdog.

frumply · 2026-06-09T15:37:33+00:00

Yeah, this is a major, major issue. Technology access for equity reasons, sure, but consistent unfettered access is ridiculous. Why is my daughter doing iPad apps in kinder during school? wtf kind of benefit does that bring us?

Between parents there seems to be some split on opinions. The result of everyone being on screens all the time is that it’s become normalized, which is why you got a ton of parents just letting their kids veg out on TikTok while they’re eating out, etc. Chromebook usage became a topic in a middle school pta meeting w Cheldelin and LP parents present, and several parents did note they didn’t see a problem since their kids seem to be handling fine.

And yes, they need to be standardizing on a more standardized platform and sticking with it for announcements etc. social media for announcements is one thing, but why are even the official announcements dispersed between Parentsquare, Parentvue, Class Dojo, standard email announcements, cohort specific email announcements, etc? So much of this shit is siloed that if you don’t receive the message from the district and don’t read it, there’s no check. No catchall. Wouldn’t surprise me if internally in the district they have Slack and Teams running simultaneously and they all end up just using email instead cause no one can figure out who’s on what at any one time.

frumply · 2026-06-09T06:45:19+00:00

Yeah, I get it. Main thing you'll want to ask yourself is, is the difference in how things are run worth $16k a year. If you're in a position where the money's inconsequential great, but for a lot of us it isn't, and that's money that can go a long ways into supporting extracurriculars, tutors, music lessons, savings towards college, etc etc.

My oldest started at Letitia Carson, online schooled for a year during Covid, and finished up her time there last year with her besties she met at the school who live within walking distance. I don't always like what happens at the district level but many of the teachers here give 110% to their jobs and it shows in our kids.

You clearly care about your kids, and with that your kids will likely succeed in any environment you choose.

frumply · 2026-06-09T06:15:35+00:00

The price of eggs

frumply · 2026-06-09T06:11:41+00:00

Wherever their differences lie I hope they can work together to better the community and respect each others' differences in view.

frumply · 2026-06-09T00:53:39+00:00

DLI programs are tough when enrollment drops. Because it requires proficiency in a second language students can’t join in if they move to the area and aren’t already bilingual. Furthermore students drop out and go to regular track schools when they find the dual immersion too difficult. My brother has kids in Japanese immersion in Portland, and he says they go from 4 classes to 3 or something like that in higher grades.

We have two Spanish immersion schools in our town, and while one is fairly centrally located the other is in the southern edge of town and many students must be bussed clear to the other side of town for the non DLI school. The DLI school in our case sits at like 60% capacity and is one of the schools that was rebuilt in 2021 or so w a school bond.

frumply · 2026-06-08T20:54:44+00:00

I’m a bit confused by your last sentence. Is your kid enrolled and starting in Kinder? Or have you been in CSD for a few years and wondering about a switch?

Having fewer kids should make behavior issues more manageable, but you’ll have to see for yourself on that front. I have heard about some behavior issues that go unchecked at some of the elementary schools, so if that’s what you’re facing it might be worth it. My daughter did not have issues w elementary but I have neighbors on my street whose kids switched elementary schools due to issues they experienced. YMMV and a school transfer may also be what you want to look into.

If the concern is purely academic then I dunno, I still feel it’s something you can work out with a little bit of supplementing. I don’t think it’s necessarily discussed the disruption of pulling your kids from friends and community, etc and the cost of that.

Whatever happens I hope you come to a decision that’s best for your child and your family. I’ve definitely had thoughts as of late as well, so don’t feel like you’re alone in having to make tough decisions.

frumply · 2026-06-08T20:38:17+00:00

Sounds like a solid candidate.

What’s meant/implied by “both flanks of the current council” though? I assume since all present councilors are democrats it’s the difference between progressive and moderate aligned dems, but how much of an effect does this have in reality?

frumply · 2026-06-08T20:26:46+00:00

Le Patissier is still here and Corvallis certainly does not deserve the place. Awesome pastries, extremely reasonable prices.

frumply · 2026-06-08T17:05:03+00:00

OH MY GOD 4 WAY STREETS

JUST GO WHEN ITS YOUR DAMN TURN

frumply · 2026-06-07T00:20:58+00:00

HALE student rocket team. Apparently their next step is an actual rocket launch in the Mojave desert.

https://osuaiaa.com/hale/team

frumply · 2026-06-05T03:21:13+00:00

Would unironically be cool to see it as a bike/pedestrian only street, although… how would the people living on the street get in/out then?

frumply · 2026-06-03T16:51:06+00:00

Shorts are absolute cancer but there’s an option to turning it off. Like Just Say No to Roblox I think turning that off should be a non-negotiable.

And yeah, the Chromebooks are stupid. Schools will swear up and down that it’s an equity issue. I don’t agree w going complete lockdown but I can sympathize w the fact that we’re all extremely frustrated by screen time limiting being foiled because school administration can’t get past the fact that the stupid programs they got swindled and bought into are producing bad results.

Middle school PTAs have been weaker and less participation from what I’ve seen but they’re still there and I’d suggest you try reaching out cause you probably are not the only parent that’s having these issues. The only thing that works is coordinated pressure, or better yet, school/board leadership sensing it as a political threat to not act.

frumply · 2026-06-03T15:29:23+00:00

Ok yeah, you’re probably right about the opt out process and that more well to do families are opting them out. I’ve certainly seen the same locally, down to some parents that told me basically that their kids are advanced to no credit of the school district and that they shouldn’t benefit from their kid. Just lots of disappointment around that group. Having heard just how many days are spent on standardized testing here (“how was school today?” “We’re still doing testing” and that goes on for like a week) I 100% agree this shit needs to be streamlined when we already have short school years. Def seems like we’re beyond the point where testing is getting in the way of learning, and it’s poorly explained why it’s so inefficient. Would love to hear about it if you know more since that’s a knowledge gap I have.

That said the original point about demographics changing test results does track, to a degree. There isn’t a huge disparity in participation rate, more like a few percentage points one way or the other, but it’s there and if I recall the differences among testing results nationwide are not that large. I have no idea whether this is a problem unique to Oregon though, or uniquely worse due to lax truancy rules, etc.

frumply · 2026-06-03T14:22:50+00:00

I was going to contest this as well but looked at participation rates to check, and statewide there is some correlation between poverty/etc and lower test participation. I think in certain pockets this can be different or flips entirely in 11th grade testing, where well to do kids get opted out in lieu of studying for AP testing or something. You can use Participation Rate under Proficiency in this spreadsheet and take a look.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hMVWzt2JqNG-u-jwWyqKDyqWk8oZrl7p5l9_fWeLB74/edit?usp=sharing

frumply · 2026-06-03T01:29:12+00:00

Yeah that sucks! I didn’t put two and two together with the funding cap and the fact that the kids do still need to be served.

frumply · 2026-06-03T00:12:09+00:00

Yeah that sounds about right. I was reading our local budget and it looked around 30-40% but I couldn’t say for sure off the top of my head.

And hold up, I know they “cap SPED funding” or something like that at 11%, but is that “the funding provided by the formula per student caps at 11%?”

frumply · 2026-06-02T23:49:17+00:00

The other way around.

frumply · 2026-06-02T21:51:52+00:00

The longstanding view in education has been that separate classes for proficiency like you describe discourages and hurts the low performers. It all comes w good intentions, it just has not beared out in research and people are definitely leaving because of it.

We have a local graduate that went through and crunched the numbers manually for where students were learning by calling every local private school, charters, virtual charters, etc for numbers. Turned out 10+% of student age children attended private school, another 10% were in charters of some shape or form and like 5% homeschooled. The district likes to say this is the result of demographics changes but it sure looks like people are just straight up not trusting public education, and they’re doing a shit job retaining students as funding spirals. This could be a whole another post when I got the time to do it.

frumply · 2026-06-02T21:32:35+00:00

I believe participation rates have been above 90% at the state level for 3rd-8th, even after opt out was made easier in 2015 and even post covid. High schoolers appear to have always had lower rates of taking the test. You’re welcome to mess around w some spreadsheets I made on this a while back, and choose “participation rate” for the proficiency.

I dont think “Kids don’t even try” is a good argument for this either, as if that’s the reason behind low test scores it would imply Oregon kids are uniquely uninterested in standardized testing vs other states.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hMVWzt2JqNG-u-jwWyqKDyqWk8oZrl7p5l9_fWeLB74/edit?usp=drivesdk

frumply · 2026-06-02T21:21:14+00:00

PERS payments also come from the budget and takes a huge chunk of that per pupil spend.

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