A wide-ranging bill that would expand access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care drew a charged and emotional crowd to the Oregon Legislature on Monday.Both the proponents and opponents who appeared in front of the House Behavioral Health and Health Care committee zeroed in on provisions of House Bill 2002 that would impact minors and their right to seek medical treatments, including a provision that would formally prohibit medical providers from informing parents if a minor sought an abortion and wanted to keep it private.
Author: Julia Silverman
Lawmakers considering bill to require fentanyl education by fall 2024. Advocates say schools shouldn’t wait.
A bill in the Legislature that takes direct aim at fentanyl prevention is up for a likely vote Tuesday in the Senate Education Committee. But Senate Bill 238 sidesteps the Beaverton school district’s ready to use curriculum.
Title IX pioneer tells of bringing girls basketball to Portland
Nearly 50 years after she helped convince Portland leaders to create the first girls’ basketball league in Oregon, Lucy Jane Bledsoe returned to Ida B. Wells High, her alma mater, to mark Women’s History Month.
Free school lunch for all looks to be off the table in Oregon, for now
An ambitious effort to provide free meals for every public school student in Oregon, regardless of income level, appears to have stalled in the Legislature.
Eugene parents decry high school ‘sexual fantasy’ health assignment
The goal of the assignment was to demonstrate that it was possible to “show and receive loving physical affection without having sex.”
Franklin High School closes for a day after gunfire erupts nearby
One of Portland’s largest high schools was closed to students Friday morning, after the campus was shaken by the sound of gunfire nearby on Thursday afternoon.A spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau confirmed that no students or staff members were injured in the incident at Southeast 54th Avenue and Tibbetts Street, about a block south of Franklin High School and a few blocks away from Atkinson Elementary School.
Local school board elections start to take shape
School boards around the Portland metro area are poised for shake-ups this spring, with some long-serving members stepping down in the Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro and North Clackamas districts.
A climate education bill, spearheaded by teachers and students, gets a spotlight in Salem
On Thursday, the Oregon’s Senate Education Committee will hold a public hearing on a far-reaching proposal to incorporate climate education across all grades and all disciplines statewide, starting in the 2026-2027 school year.
Teachers re-float proposal to mandate bargaining on class sizes
A proposal to require Oregon school districts to bargain over class sizes with their local teacher unions has resurfaced in the Legislature, just two years after a similar bill died due to equity concerns.
Special education teachers, aides would get a 20% pay bump under proposed bill
All special education teachers and special education aides in Oregon would receive 20% premium pay over their public education counterparts under a bill being considered by the Legislature.