Portland Public Schools has declared impasse in its months-long negotiations with the teachers’ union. After a 30-day cooling off period, the teachers could strike. Teachers disagree with PPS on issues like pay raises, workday limits, and insurance rates. Additionally, PPS could implement its final offer: essentially, pay the teachers what it wants or have them […]
Schools
Posted inSchools
Giant Hamster Wheel Appears at Reed College
Just in time for finals week, students at Reed installed a giant home-made hamster wheel in the student union building. The wheel looks to be about 12 feet tall and was apparently built by a student group called “Defenders of the Universe.” “It’s built with Swiss precision. There’s no wiggle to it,” gushes Reed’s Director […]
Posted inSchools
Franklin and Marshall High Schools Face Closure
via Sound the SE Portland alarm bells. As part of a major overhaul of Portland Public Schools (PSS) that administrators hope will improve equity and boost graduation rates, PPS is contemplating closing some public schools and shuffling students and classes to fewer, larger neighborhood schools. Potentially on the chopping block are Franklin and Marshall High. […]
Posted inSchools
Pressure on to Allow Oregon Teachers the Right to Wear Religious Clothes
Good news on the overturning-bigoted-KKK-sanctioned-laws front. According to the Oregonian, Labor Commisioner Brad Avakian and state schools Superintendent Susan Castillo sent a letter to every legislator urging them to overturn a 1923 law that bans teachers from wearing any religious clothes in the classroom. If legislators overturn the law, it means teachers wearing head scarves, […]
Posted inSchools
Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?
Okay, so usually the Sunday New York Times style section pisses me off, reporting stories that seem like they’re of interest to mostly upper class New York housewives (like this week’s story about the FASCINATING trend among new Barbie dolls to have more “boho” than luxury accessories). But it was raining so hard this weekend […]
Posted inFashion
Last Catlin Gabel Sale Ever This Weekend
The annual Catlin Gabel school’s giant rummage sale has long been circled on the calendar of every avid thrifter in town—65 years, in fact. It’s had the reputation of being a repository for castoffs from some of Portland’s richest families, where one could therefore plunder for fancy labels and good quality in clothing, housewares, and […]
Posted inSchools
Toxic Air Testing Starts at NoPo School
This morning a dozen students in classy uniforms and just as many parents gathered around a new installation at Harriet Tubman Leadership Academy on North Flint Ave: a white trailer outfitted with jars, tubes and computers designed to figure out exactly what Portland’s students are breathing. Gregg Lande breathing easy in the new air testing […]
Posted inBooks
Adventures with Kindle
As a book-worm college student, I love towering piles of books. I love the smell of old pages and ink. And I hate reading off a computer screen. I spend hundreds of dollars on ink each school year to print my PDF readings just so I can hold the material in my hands. So when […]
Posted inPortland
Portlandsterdam University, Stoney Girl Gardens, and That One Time I Got Real Pot Plants for a Photo Shoot and Then My Cat Was Stoned for Two Days
If you were reading the Mercury back in 2007, you might remember this shot from a photo shoot I did for the fall fashion issue of that year: The models are “smoking” dried kitchen herbs, but the pot plants are real, and were graciously hooked up for me by Stoney Girl Gardens, whose 100% organic […]
Posted inMusic
Today’s Dose of “ADORABLE!”
For those who had a spoiled three-day old Reuben sandwich for lunch (hello, me), and need some quick cheering up, check out this fall-down CA-UTE version of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” as performed by the PS22 Chorus. It’s even better than the one seen on Glee (because it’s REAL, yo, and has an adorably chubby […]
Posted inSchools
Reed, My Love, How Did It Come to This?
As a Reedie myself, I find this story in the New York Times pretty embarrassing to our Fine Institution of Higher Learning. Reed College and other small schools have been forced to amend their accepted students’ list to include fewer incoming students in need of financial aid. I know they have to save money somewhere, […]
Posted inMusic
Lifesavas + Starfucker Put “Music In The Schools”
In honor of their third year, the Music In The Schools benefit is pulling out all the stops with their best lineup yet: Two big name Portland bands—hiphop icons Lifesavas and DayGlo connoisseurs Starfucker—will be sharing the stage with a pair of local acts, Starparty (described as “a 3-part indie group from Wilson High School”) […]