Multnomah County health officials concerned over rising COVID cases in the African American community
Between April 1-May 25, African Americans were twice as likely to test positive for the virus and 80% more likely to be hospitalized than white people. Author: Bryant Clerkley Updated: 5:30 PM PDT June 14, 2021
PORTLAND, Ore. Despite vaccine availability for people 12 and older, Multnomah County health officials are concerned about the increase in cases and hospitalizations within the African American community. Lead health officer Dr. Jennifer Vines said this is a signal that the system is not serving Black and African American people adequately. We are seeing Black and African Americans come in sicker and probably later in the course of their illness, Dr. Vines said. We want to make sure they have a place to go that is welcoming and culturally specific.
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Pamplin Media Group May 07 2021
Readers sound off on funding Oregon s schools, state COVID-19 restrictions and electing a new PCC board member.
Lawmakers in Salem recently released their proposed education budget for the State School Fund, the operational budget for our schools. Experts recently found that if Oregon hopes to maintain current service levels for students, the operating budget must be $9.6 billion for the next biennium. The current proposed budget at $9.1 billion falls woefully short of that amount a $500 million deficit that will directly affect students.
In 2019, the Legislature passed the Student Success Act, the boldest and most encompassing piece of education legislation passed in Oregon s history. It was an assurance that our schools would finally receive the funding they needed. With its proposed budget, the Legislature is asking schools to revise their expectations and determine what to cut. Teachers, staff, sports, clubs, after-school programs
The pandemic has taken a toll on our students over the past
year-plus particularly those living in poverty and in our Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities.
That is why it is more important than ever that Oregon focuses its attention and funding priorities on our K-12 schools.
Instead, legislators are considering underfunding the State School Fund by $500 million. School budget officials have concluded that just to keep pace on paying the bills over the next two years our schools need $9.6 billion not the $9.1 billion currently under consideration.
Just two years ago our legislators took the bold step of passing the Student Success Act, designed to address inequities in our schools and provide greater resources to our historically underserved students.
Top players in North Clackamas school board election not on ballot
School officials running for reelection face campaigns supported by former state representative
Two of the most important figures in the future of the North Clackamas School Board are not on the May 18 ballot.
North Clackamas School Board Chair Libra Forde and former state Rep. Patrick Sheehan, R-Happy Valley, were on opposite sides of the 2019 naming of the district s new high school after Adrienne C. Nelson, the first Black woman to become an Oregon Supreme Court justice. Forde and Sheehan are now associated with two opposing slates of candidates vying for three spots on the school board.