Yup, visual aids today.

You know, it makes you wonder if they think everything is such a problem rooted in white supremacy why they should leave. But, let’s be honest, these teachers have excelled since allowing BIPOC students and others do not need to pass requirements because requirements are more challenging for them, and they can’t handle them.

No, this is not a joke. They actually said that. Time for some receipts. You see, a lot of results are only based on information released every two years, and the last set was 2019, and 2021 has not been released yet. I would wonder why but I can guess the term harrowing shit show does not even begin to describe it. So here is what we know before they try hiding the news that all of this has gone very wrong.

First, this will be based in my home state of Oregon. However, sources will have things so you can look to your heart’s content in your home.

You may have heard all these things about the educators in our state, and you have to think that people are doing so good here that we are just wrapping up details. That we have the rest of the world of education on lock in the state. We may act like it, but we could be no further from that. On top of a racist governor, not one who says anything is racist but an actual one when she claimed through her office that requirements are too hard and colored students cannot handle it. I have gone one about the education in the state with varying levels of patience. So pardon me if the people in this state crow like they have won the game only to act like a pigeon shitting on the chessboard.

Teachers are getting paid more in the state. The average is sixty thousand dollars. It is now more than the average in the state. A lot of them, I am sure, use some of that money and put that towards the class, they should not need to, especially with the budgets of money going to these schools, but there is something else that is going on as well. This will piss off many people, but at some point, the teachers as a whole, their work needs to be looked at, and we have to say, is this what we want for our next generations?

Oregon is against a lot of private schools. They make it very difficult to work here, and I wonder why considering their test scores. We have, as a state, tried to make it more inclusive but less useful. Well, when people are just sitting at a desk for twelve years and cannot make themselves breakfast or cannot balance a checkbook and I see they have a diploma, the blame goes to the schools. Parents should be teaching them something, but they should be able to work within the state system and be comfortable that they are at minimum being taught enough that they can be the best version of themselves. Some may argue with it, saying that it is too high a target. That may be true, except they aren’t even getting the majority of students to hit grade standards. About a quarter can do it, which is taken from the state’s report card. Science-wise, it looks like maybe a third can do it, and reading and comprehension are about as laughable as it gets.

We are in the unfortunate position that people should be looking at the school districts. We wonder if maybe they do not have the best intentions because, as we can see from the results, they do not have the best results for their effort. There is a lot that could be done, but when the results have been so low for so long, and mind you, this is with online schooling capabilities, then we need to wonder.

Is this system working? If not, why is so much money being put towards it when clearly it is not doing the job? The value that money is getting in the hands of the education system is losing value through their actions.

Now, does this mean there are good teachers in the state? Absolutely, I have had a few. The problem is I have also had some nasty ones. I will not think the good ones would be happy knowing that all the time, effort, and energy they put into their craft is being pissed one by someone who can barely read to a standard themselves and has to teach others to do it. Also, that little quip that is the best-case scenario because, let us say, some of these bad teachers who claim everything is racist and claim everything is a microaggression, and it hurts their feelings. When the best case is misunderstanding how things work by people in that position needs to be put in question because it is not good enough by many of the worst parts of it.

I say all of this because it seems we are not done with this year, and I hope things do get better for the sake of our future. I want the state to be the best in education. I want people to come to Oregon so they can say they went through our school system because of the intellectual rigors and challenges we provide. I want people, whether poor, rich, black, white, Asian, or Indian, to come to the state and say…

“If I can make it through the school system here I will be ready to go for anything life can throw at me.”

Unfortunately, this is not being done. In fact, people are leaving with fewer skills than ever as the world competes on higher stages. It seems students through the school systems, which means that we will at some point either take the initiative and fix it or we will have to do it when it breaks completely. Considering how low these test scores are, I wonder when that will be the case.

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/

https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2021/09/24/oregon-dropped-test-requirements-what-that-means-for-the-states-testing-future

https://www.alecreportcard.org/state/