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https://thehill.com/opinion/education/4288044-oregon-just-dropped-all-graduation-standards-failing-all-of-its-students-in-the-name-of-equity/

Oregon just dropped all graduation standards, failing all of its
students in the name of ‘equity’
BY AARON WITHE, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 11/02/23 8:00 AM ET
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In public education’s latest blunder, the Oregon Department of Education
has just decided that basic reading, writing and math skills are not
required for students to graduate with a high school diploma.

Prior to the passage of Senate Bill 744 in the Oregon Legislative
Assembly’s 2021 session, the state’s “Assessment of Essential Skills”
requirement for high school graduation was sensible: “read and
comprehend a variety of text, write clearly and accurately,” and “apply
mathematics in a variety of settings.” Students were required to
demonstrate these skills by “earning at or above a cut score on the
Oregon Statewide Summative Assessment test.”

Citing the effects of COVID-19 school closures, however, SB 744 required
the state to review “requirements for high school diploma options.” To
address learning-loss throughout the pandemic, the bill led to the
suspension of Oregon’s essential skills proficiency requirement through
the 2023-24 school year.

Last month, Oregon’s State Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt
an additional extension of this suspension through the 2027-28 school
year. Board members, alongside Oregon Department of Education
leadership, argued that requiring students to complete standardized
tests both presented a “harmful hurdle for historically marginalized
students” and represents a misuse of state tests.

The Oregon Education Association (OEA), the union representing more than
40,000 teachers throughout the state, is a like-minded opponent of
standardized testing. “Standardized tests are inaccurate, inequitable,
and don’t accurately measure student learning and growth,” it declares.
Further, the union labels standardized tests like Oregon’s Statewide
Summative Assessment as “instruments of racism and a biased system.”

With this in mind, the OEA’s role in the development of SB 744 is
unsurprising. The OEA Special Education Committee “helped to develop…and
helped OEA pass…Senate Bill 744 during the last legislative session.”
Further, the union brags that SB 744 “passed with OEA member support in
the 2021 session” due to “several equity concerns” surrounding Oregon’s
essential skill requirements.

Since Oregon abandoned its essential skill requirements for high
schoolers, graduation rates have skyrocketed. With a graduation rate of
81.3 percent, Oregon’s class of 2022 set a record for the second highest
four-year graduation rate ever recorded in the state. Unfortunately,
this is not indicative of student skills. Only 43 percent of students in
that year’s graduating class were proficient in English, and less than
31 percent were proficient in math.

The OEA’s mission statement is clear. In addition to representing its
members, the union makes a commitment to “ensure quality public
education for students in Oregon.” By advocating for policies that do
not require students to learn basic language and math skills in order to
graduate, the OEA, alongside the State Board of Education, has placed
Oregonian graduates at a significant disadvantage while substantially
lowering the quality of public education.

The OEA’s falling membership rate — down 4.4 percent from 2020 to 2022 —
indicates that teachers in Oregon have begun to realize the destructive
impact of teachers’ unions that consistently prioritize ideology over
the success of teachers and students.

As Oregon considers additional changes to public education, parents and
teachers should hold the state accountable while paying close attention
to groups like the OEA, which are not only complicit in but actively
contributing to the bleak future of public education in their state.

Aaron Withe is CEO of the Freedom Foundation.

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TAGS EDUCATION GRADUATION OREGON
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