skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Ethnic Studies Bill Heads to Governor's Desk

play audio
Play

Friday, June 23, 2017   

SALEM, Ore. – Students and racial-justice groups in the state are among those applauding a bill now on the governor's desk that should make Oregon schools feel more inclusive for students of color.

Under House Bill 2845, the Oregon Department of Education will adopt ethnic studies standards in social studies classes for K-12 schools statewide.

Zahir Janmohamed is policy director of the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, one of the groups that backed the bill. He says Oregon students are the ones who pushed for it.

"It didn't come about from academics, it didn't come about from sort of policy groups, it came about from youth," he says. "So, this is really their victory today."

California is the only other state to establish ethnic studies standards. The new standards will focus on the histories of communities of color, as well as Jewish and LGBTQ communities, and gender groups.

Lamar Wise, the legislative director of the Oregon Student Association says students of color in Oregon have been concerned for a long time about the lack of representation in textbooks and the curriculum.

Wise says the problem has even contributed to higher absenteeism. However, he says the recent rise in hate crimes, such as a racially-motivated stabbing on a Portland train, heightened the urgency of this bill.

"The frustration from students has come to a point where it's climaxed, and there's been an upswell of students and organizations who wanted to address it," he explains. "And I think legislators also felt that same way, which is why they passed the bill."

After Gov. Kate Brown signs the bill, Wise says his group and others will be watching as the Oregon Department of Education develops rules and assembles an advisory committee. For now, he commends the students' grassroots movement that helped get this bill passed.

"There was a lot of planning that went into it, and students did a great job in making sure that they were leading the effort and that their stories were at the forefront," Wise adds.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021