We've got issues.
Amy Klarup was Eugene Weekly's special sections editor and education reporter.
According to Oregon’s Quality Education Model, Oregon is shortchanging its schools by about $2 billion every two years. On March 29, a panel of education funding experts will convene at the University of Oregon to discuss “Solving Oregon’s K-12 Funding Crisis: Where We’ve Been and Solutions for the Future.” Continue reading
Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail in 2008 at South Eugene High School. Photo by Todd Cooper. Continue reading
Five candidates for mayor of Eugene — four men and one woman — lined the stage at First Christian Church March 3. When asked if they believed in human-caused climate change, candidate Lucy Vinis’ answer stood out from the rest: “I don’t think it’s a matter of belief,” she responded. Take a look at the facts, Vinis said: They show that human activity has caused climate change. Continue reading
On March 15, Gov. Kate Brown signed HB 4040 into law and effectively shut down a lawsuit that seeks to protect Oregon’s wolves. Wolf advocates at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) earlier this month lamented the Oregon Legislature’s decision to pass HB 4040, a bill that both ratifies the decision to delist wolves from the state’s endangered species list and prevents environmental groups from pursuing their lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), which voted to delist wolves last November. Continue reading
She advocated for reproductive rights; she performed abortions as a doctor; she fell in love with women; she fought for a living wage — and she was born in 1872. Marie Equi, a Portland doctor who upended society’s expectations of a turn-of-the-century woman, is the topic of a March 18 talk by San Francisco author Michael Helquist. He wrote her biography, which was published last year through Oregon State University Press. Continue reading
Late-night bar trivia is only fun if you occasionally know an answer or two. Otherwise you end up quietly resenting your teammates for knowing so much about 1980s sports and leisure. Not that I’m speaking from experience. So when I heard about Star One, Eugene’s science fiction and fantasy happy hour at Starlight Lounge downtown, I squeaked with delight. The nature of the event varies month to month, but when I attended in February, trivia maven Dr. Seven Phoenix had taken the helm and was orchestrating a killer game of science fiction-themed trivia. Continue reading
Fixing large class sizes in Eugene School District 4J can be like “moving around deck chairs on the Titanic,” 4J School Board Chair Anne Marie Levis said at a Feb. 25 meeting. Parents, teachers and staff from across the district filled the library at Edison Elementary School last Thursday to discuss class sizes in the 30s at the elementary school level. No clear answers came out of the meeting, although school officials suggested that parents write letters to 4J’s Budget Committee and to the Oregon Legislature. Continue reading
Listen up, Oregon — your schools are underfunded by $2 billion. Just ask Sabrina Gordon, a reading teacher at Awbrey Park Elementary School in Eugene. She started teaching in Eugene School District 4J in 1999, but prior to that she was a student in 4J schools. Gordon experienced 4J at its peak in the ’80s, before the devastating passage of Measure 5 in 1990, which capped property taxes for school funding and shifted budgetary responsibility from local government to the state. Continue reading
When NPR education correspondent Claudio Sanchez visits a town to give a lecture or public talk, he likes to take something back home with him — a story. “I try to report on something local every time I’m invited to one of these things, because I think it’s a great opportunity to get to understand the community better,” he says. On March 2, Sanchez will speak at the University of Oregon about his experience as an education reporter. His visit is sponsored by KLCC and supported by the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics. Continue reading
A Victorian-style apothecary with steampunk-inspired, post-Industrial flair will soon join the businesses in the Farmers’ Union Marketplace at Fifth Avenue and Olive Street in downtown Eugene. Mountain Rose Herbs, national purveyor of tea, spices and other herbal offerings, moved to Eugene in 2010, but the company has never before operated a formal storefront. Continue reading