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Happy Sunday, Lookout Eugene-Springfield,
There’s been a lot of ink spilled about the performance of Oregon’s public school system since the pandemic. Declining enrollment and poor attendance rates. Bottom-of-the-barrel national rankings in elementary reading and math. All despite increased state investment in K-12 education going back to 2019.
In a May 28 column, Lookout contributor Joshua Purvis called for more accountability from local and state education leaders.
Since then, we’ve heard from a lot of readers about education issues facing Oregon – some agreeing with Purvis’s column, others weighing in on program cuts or class sizes at Eugene School District 4J, curriculum issues at Springfield Public Schools, and state tax measures that have put institutions like Lane Community College in seemingly perpetual financial distress.
Give these community voices a read below, and let me know what you think: lte@lookoutlocal.com
Education challenges
Eugene resident and longtime educator Carrie Ann Naumoff responded to the state investigation into Springfield Public Schools’ curriculum issues. Naumoff praised the potential for more classroom time on science on social studies, but cautioned that “simply blending (them) into the reading curriculum using brief excerpts from texts and other sources is not sufficient.”
Larry Lewin and Roscoe Caron, fellow educators and co-founders of the Community Alliance for Public Education, also wrote about the curriculum investigation, arguing that “Springfield and many other districts took (the) flawed shortcut” of narrowing their curriculums to focus on standardized testing subjects.
Over in Eugene, South Eugene High School junior Vivienne Passaro weighed in on the 4J district’s budget cuts, lamenting the indefinite pause of the Integrated Outdoor Program and arguing that “Programs like IOP are crucial because they allow kids to explore and learn using hands-on experiences.”
Eugene resident Tricia Hedin agreed with Purvis’s call for accountability, and added that she “would also like to see the comparative statistics about class sizes between the higher-rated school systems and Oregon’s.”
Lane Community College Budget Committee member Jim Arnold wrote a guest column about the structural budget problems facing colleges and universities around the state, driven by property tax-limiting ballot measures. He argued that many of today’s discussions about costs make “no acknowledgment that Oregon’s higher education funding problems have been shaped by political and economic choices stretching back decades.”
Finally, Walterville resident Bob Burns took in Purvis’s column and the latest Springfield school board resignation, and concluded that “what we have here is nest-feathering at the expense of producing children who are ill-equipped to deal with an increasingly complex world.”
Safer streets
Public education wasn’t the only topic on letter-writers’ minds last week. The four bicyclist deaths on Eugene streets since August has increased calls for greater safety measures from the cycling community and traffic safety advocates.
For Eugene resident Greg Gardner, the main issue keeping Eugene from reducing traffic injuries is the design of some of the city’s busiest streets – particularly one-way streets Like Hilyard and Patterson, where a University of Oregon doctoral student riding a bicycle died after a collision with a vehicle in January.
“Research on one-way to two-way conversions suggests that converting multi-lane, one-way streets can reduce speeds, improve conditions for people walking and biking, and in some cases decrease crashes,” Gardner wrote.
If you frequently drive on Hilyard and Patterson, how would you feel if they were converted to two-way streets? What safety improvements do you think would be most effective? Let me know: lte@lookoutlocal.com.
Housing and wildfires (not at the same time)
Sometimes I use this space to share an opinion article or podcast episode that’s struck a cord with me.
Last week I read – and listened to – several.
I started with the second New York Times editorial in two weeks about the lack of housing supply in coastal states. “How to Stop the Affluent from Rigging the Housing Market” (gift link included) focused on why the biggest cities in Massachusetts don’t build more housing. It includes an interactive graphic of all U.S. metro areas, broken out by home-price-to-median-income ratio, and the number of new housing starts.
Right next to Boston, with housing prices over six times the area median income? You guessed it, Eugene.
I’ve also been thinking about what the 2026 wildfire season might have in store for us. I love a relaxing podcast before bedtime, so I started listening to The Institute for Science and Policy’s recent 10-part series, United by Fire. Each 30-to 45-minute episode covers a different wildfire-related issue, including how hotter, drier summers have set the stage for megafires; how prescribed burns can strengthen forests; and what “the forest of the future” might look like.
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last week’s Letters TO THE EDITOR
When will Oregon leaders turn our public schools around? | Letter to the editor
How do we restore confidence in Oregon’s public schools? | Letter to the editor
Eugene police must recommit to serving the public. It can start with new leadership. | Letter to the editor
4J leaders cut valued programs in their rush to reduce costs | Letter to the editor
Our president resembles the worst of Greek mythology | Letter to the editor
Lookout’s PeaceHealth reporting set a high bar for journalism | Letter to the editor
This Vietnam veteran’s legacy cannot be forgotten | Letter to the editor
Springfield school curriculum changes are a welcome start. More is needed. | Letter to the editor
By supporting Sean VanGordon, Springfield voters chose respect over rudeness | Letter to the editor
Corporate interests defeated the Watersheds Bill of Rights. Supporters will keep fighting. | Letter to the editor
Letter complaining about farmers market street closures reached the wrong conclusions | Letter to the editor
Springfield schools’ defensiveness over curriculum lets students and parents down | Letter to the editor
Eugene leaders seem content to roller blade while Rome burns | Letter to the editor
Oregon’s Prosperity Council forgets the very people who make Oregon prosperous | Letter to the editor
last week’s guest opinions
Eugene needs a stronger effort to redesign streets to make them safer
Higher education and the long shadow of Oregon’s tax-limiting Measure 5
A brief history lesson for Springfield Public Schools: Will it learn from its mistakes?
Two centennials in one event: The Eugene Gleemen concert at Mac Court
Send us your Letter to the Editor — lte@lookoutlocal.com
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