Oregon Dropped Essential Skill Requirement Through 2023-2024 School Year
Homeschooling Families Still Required To Submit Assessment Testing to State of Oregon
Why does Oregon still require testing for homeschooling families if Governor Kotek doesn't believe teaching should be for standardized tests and voted in favor of SB 744?
The hypocrisy and double standards between expectations for government-run public education and homeschool education continue. States like Oregon continue to change their standards in public classrooms from grades to graduation requirements on the basis of equity. However, monitoring of homeschooled children never seems to decrease.
Despite Oregon having to change policy to incentivize teachers to stay and to incentivize people to become teachers in the future, there is no call for more families to homeschool their children on a government level to relieve local schools experiencing teacher shortages.
Local and state governments can’t admit the failure of Oregon’s education system. All new modifications are for further monitoring under the guise of being for the benefit of the child.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek is quoted saying in response to her voting for Oregon SB 744, ““We don’t need to keep adding on more and more standardized testing beyond what is necessary to monitor student progress,” Kotek wrote. “We need to let teachers teach – and our students will benefit from more instructional time.”
I agree with her, there does not need to be additional standardized testing, however, the need for continued surveillance of homeschooled families does not need to be required.
The Pandemic drew a lot of changes in public education, and allowed a lot of modifications for the sake of "equity”. The passing of Oregon SB 744 was in direct response to the 2020 Pandemic School year. A report was required to be submitted following the 2021-2022 school year and in September 2022 that report was released. It says:
In addition to ordering this report, SB 744 dropped the Essential Skill requirement through the 2023-2024 school year, prompting concern that students would no longer have to prove they can read, write, or do math to graduate from high school.
In addition:
“The review of statewide data shows the Assessment of Essential Skills requirement was implemented inequitably and did not ensure anticipated benefits for students in their preparation for the postsecondary transition,” according to the report.
You can read the full report here:
Source: https://www.opb.org/article/2022/09/01/report-oregon-graduation-requirements-diplomas/
The Essential Skills requirement has been removed from Oregon’s requirement for graduation. As Oregon lessens academic requirements, Oregon’s government is increasing its oversight to social standards and social justice for their students. Increasing the state government insight to local government, despite the failing of Oregon Senate Bill 1045 titled “Relating to improvements in student academic performance as a result of improvements in education governance; declaring an emergency.” Remember, the government can justify all elements of overreach of authority if under the calssification of an emergency. If they do not have an emergency, they will create one. Whose to say the parent is not deemed the emergency. That would, in theory, coordinate hand in hand with California’s Bill AB 957 that has made gender affirmation a factor to be considered in child custody cases.
In August House Bill 2281 was passed, however, which “Under House Bill 2281, all districts will need to have a civil rights coordinator on staff to ensure state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination are followed and enforced, and to investigate allegations of discrimination in Oregon schools. (Oregon Capital Chronicle) ”
Schools are under scrutiny to make sure those of minorities pass even a modified diploma. A civil rights coordinator will be on staff in order to ensure there is no discrimination. How will this play out for those with differing views to the LBTQ+ community? What if a teacher fails to pass a student with English as their second language?
There will always be more policy changes for the sake of bettering public education. While, we have seen modification of standards for public educators to pass their students, we will not see standards lessen for homeschool families. I am not suggesting homeschool families need standards to be modified. I am suggesting that with all the time and energy being devoted to government education, less should be demanded for the monitiorization of homeschool education.
Instead, I believe we will only see an increase in requirements and monitorizations for homeschool families in states that demand overreach of parental rights and local authority in education. The government will not allow itself to be outshined and outperformed. States like Oregon will start to make policy changes in defiance to states like Florida universities accepting Classic Learning Test Scores which you can read more about here:
Public Education is going though a massive overhaul and will be different according to the state you live in. If you send your children to public schools, whether you like it or now, you coparent with the government. Homeschooling families should not be required to do so.