What’s the matter with Oregon?

By Steve Buckstein
In: Measure 37
Thursday May 29, 2008

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.

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