Letters to the Editor Week of 3/02/20

Support OCS levy
To the editor: I would like to voice my support for the upcoming levy for the Oregon City Schools. I would also like to use some of the statistics that were used in a letter to the editor, with a slightly different twist to these stats.
I would like everyone to know that our state legislators have been listening to hours of testimony on the EdChoice bill and the one common theme at these testimonies is almost all of the legislators agree, the grading system currently being used is flawed and broken. So I am not going to put a whole lot of stock in the negative grades on a broken and flawed system that is judging our school in the first place. I will judge the success of our schools on my three children who are proud products of Oregon City Schools and granddaughters at Starr Elementary receiving a top notch education.
The letter also used some numbers about salaries and fringe benefits of the employees of OCS being above the state average. In order to have above average schools you need above average teachers. To hire above average teachers you must have above average wages and benefits. I applaud the administration of OCS for making sure they are offering their employees above average wages and benefits to keep the best possible teachers in front of my current grandchildren that attend OCS and those who will attend in the future. You get what you pay for.
In the (Feb. 24 issue) letter, the writer questioned the skills of OCS graduates. The last time you called 911 and had the Oregon police of fire departments respond to an emergency at your house were these people lacking in skills?
As we live our daily lives in Oregon are we fearful that one of the refineries will blow up? When you put your money in the banks on Navarre Avenue are you fearful it will be lost? Many of these places are staffed with OCS graduates and they provide this community with top notch skills.
Go into the OCS Career and Technical building or any classroom for that matter and ask yourself are these students being prepared for the 21st century, and the answer is yes. A yes vote for OCS preserves our ability to be just a little above average, maybe even moderately above average, and I for one think that is a good thing.
Marty Perlaky
Oregon

What tradition?
To the editor: The three pillars of the Oregon City Schools are tradition, family, and community. However, one of these will be missing from the 2020 graduating class - tradition.
Traditionally, the valedictorian is the student who has achieved the highest cumulative grade point average. As printed in the Feb. 24 issue of The Press, our daughter, Rylee Clark, is that student. In fact, Rylee has had the highest grade point average in this class since the 7th grade.
Unfortunately, this year’s valedictorian is based on the ACT (American College Testing), a one-day standardized test.
Recently, the district superintendent, Hal Gregory, traveled to Columbus to voice his disapproval of the EdChoice voucher system; a system in which vouchers can be obtained by students to attend private schools if their home school district is in Academic Emergency or on Academic Watch based upon standardized test scores.
Gregory doesn’t want the success and excellent education provided by the Oregon City School district to be determined solely by “test scores.”
How hypocritical is it to then determine the valedictorian by a one-day standardized test?
Ryan and Nicole Clark
Oregon

Editor’s note: According to the district administration, the valedictorian policy was changed four years ago when the current senior class members were freshmen. This is the first year it will take effect.