The Vice President of Research for Cascade Policy Institute’s sister think tank in Arizona, Matthew Ladner, just published a blog post about what struck him on a recent visit to Oregon.
“I noticed two things about Oregon while I was out there. First- the kids all have tattoos. Second, the place is very Anglo. All of this is a prologue to wondering: why is a place as well to do as Oregon score so poorly on the NAEP [National Assessment of Educational Progress]?”
He goes on to note that “Florida’s K-12 population is majority minority (50.4%) while Oregon is not (26.4%). According to the Census Bureau, they spend about the same amount per pupil.”
He posts a chart showing Florida’s rising NAEP reading scores for 4th graders contrasted with Oregon’s sinking scores, and concludes:
“One of these states is making substantial progress, and one of them is not. So, what’s going on Oregon? Where is the progress part of being progressive?”
Read his entire post at What’s the matter with Oregon? and feel free to comment here and/or there.
Steve Buckstein is Senior Policy Analyst and founder of Cascade Policy Institute, a Portland-based think tank.