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1 week ago | 
wweek.com | Joanna Hou
The Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America said today that it will fiercely oppose any attempt by Gov. Tina Kotek to pause collection of Multnomah County’s Preschool for All tax, or reduce the tax rate on the Portland region’s highest earners. ”Governor Kotek is declaring war on preschool. She is sacrificing the future of Oregon’s children so that her rich friends stop yelling at her,” Olivia Katbi, co-chair of Portland DSA, said in a statement.
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1 week ago | 
wweek.com | Joanna Hou
The Oregon House of Representatives passed Gov. Tina Kotek’s education accountability package on Monday with bipartisan support, by a vote of 39-15. It now awaits her signature, as does a record $11.4 billion spending package for Oregon’s K-12 schools. That the two bills arrive on Kotek’s desk together is no accident.
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1 week ago | 
wweek.com | Joanna Hou
In a letter sent June 10, Gov. Tina Kotek urged Jessica Vega Pederson to consider easing the tax burden on some of the county’s highest earners by restructuring the Preschool for All tax.
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1 week ago | 
wweek.com | Joanna Hou
Erin McCloud finds herself in an odd position. She’s about to close one of the two preschools she operates in Southeast Portland, because of a government program designed to increase preschool capacity. While it sounds like a paradox, the pinch McCloud faces isn’t wholly surprising. Since its launch in the fall of 2022, Multnomah County’s Preschool for All program has disrupted the early child care industry.
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2 weeks ago | 
wweek.com | Joanna Hou
A compromise bill granting striking workers 10 weeks of unemployment benefits passed both chambers of the Oregon Legislature on Thursday. It will now move to Gov. Tina Kotek’s desk, where she’s expected to sign it. Senate Bill 916 faced a surprising setback on Tuesday morning, after four Democrats in the Senate joined Republicans to reject the bill as amended by the House on June 3.
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2 weeks ago | 
wweek.com | Joanna Hou
Portland Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong is commencing one of the toughest tests for superintendents nationwide: a discussion of closing elementary and middle schools. At a Tax Supervising and Conservation Commission hearing on the Portland Public Schools budget Tuesday afternoon, TSCC members raised some questions about whether, given declining enrollment, the district would begin considering school closures.
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2 weeks ago | 
wweek.com | Joanna Hou
Grant High School is the only 6A school in the state that doesn’t have an athletic field with lights. A hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning could change that, drawing to a close a years-long saga to raise money for the project and approve it. That’s because a Portland Permitting & Development staff report and recommendation to the land use hearing officer suggests approving criteria to install new lights at Grant Bowl.
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2 weeks ago | 
wweek.com | Joanna Hou
A surprising vote on the Oregon Senate floor Tuesday morning saw four Democrats join with Republicans to reject Senate Bill 916, the controversial bill that would have allowed striking workers to collect unemployment benefits after two weeks of a work stoppage.
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2 weeks ago | 
wweek.com | Joanna Hou
Gov. Tina Kotek’s first veto of the legislative session saw her break with Democrats on a bill that would have directed the Oregon Department of Education to conduct an audit on kindergarten assessments. Senate Bill 302, which came from Sen. Lew Frederick (D-Portland), was an attempt to learn whether assessments were useful for some of Oregon’s youngest learners.
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3 weeks ago | 
wweek.com | Joanna Hou
Portland State University President Ann Cudd placed a faculty member on administrative leave who was shown in a video saying, “I am Hamas. We are all Hamas.” In the Friday statement, Cudd condemned the remarks and said the university is actively investigating the incident. “PSU stands unequivocally against antisemitism, terrorism, and hate of any kind, including the statements made in this video,” Cudd wrote.
