Julia Silverman
@jrlsilverman.bsky.social
Education reporter at The @Oregonian, scientist’s wife, mother of twins. Opinions are my own. DMs are open.
A beautiful tribute to a colleague gone far too soon. Zane Sparling's memory will be a blessing. www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
Zane Sparling, reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive, dies of cancer at 33
“He wanted his identity to be a reporter, and that’s what it was,” his father said.
oregonlive.com
TFW the story you've been head down on for months finally publishes.. Please read the first installment of The Undercount, which at its core is a/b Oregon's bonkers+aging school funding formula and its impact on the state's poorest students. 🎁link ⤵️ www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
Oregon’s school funding formula is broken. Its poorest students pay the price
Oregon is the only state in the country to rely solely on U.S. Census Bureau data to account for poverty in school districts, undercounting more than 100,000 students statewide.
oregonlive.com
A beautiful, thoughtful story from my colleague @gosiawoz.bsky.social. Enjoy this long read over the holiday weekend!
Gosia Wozniacka@gosiawoz.bsky.social · 3mo agoOver the past month, I spent many days on and around Ross Island, on my own and with others -- with permission from island owners. Today, read the first part: Portland’s ‘Jurassic Park,’ the island no one is allowed to visit. www.oregonlive.com/environment/...
A lovely obituary from Oregonian colleagues Jonathan Bach, Yesenia Amaro and Mark Graves for former Reynolds school board member Cayle Tern, who died unexpectedly last week after a heart attack at the age of 49. www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...
Portland organizer’s sudden death at 49 shakes immigrant community, Oregon politicians
Cayle Tern, a Reynolds School District board director and APANO civic engagement manager, died last week, leading to a flood of public condolences.
oregonlive.com
Say what you will a/b the Portland Public Schools board, but they pulled off a leadership election tonight with a remarkable amount of comity. Maybe the Portland City Council should take some notes? cc: @shanedkavanaugh.bsky.social. .
I will bring the🍿to the Nov. 19 hearing at the OR legislature's joint committee on Public Education Appropriations on this bombshell new report: www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
In a first, Oregon lawmakers say they’ve met school funding targets. Education advocates beg to differ
The debate centers on whether the state has provided enough money to school districts to provide a "quality education," where 90% of students will graduate on time.
oregonlive.com
If you care a/b public education+OR's future, I am moderating the event for you! Come to the @pdxcityclub.bsky.social forum w/ a panel of heavy hitters, incl. PPS's Kimberlee Armstrong, Stand for Children's Sarah Pope+OR Teacher of the Year Bryan Butcher. Deets: crm.nonprofiteasy.com/6452/Pages/E...
Pages
crm.nonprofiteasy.com
After you've read all the protest news from Portland today, take a minute to dive into the proposed major changes for attendance zones at PPS high schools in N/NE Portland: www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
Families in N, NE Portland face shake-up in where children go to high school; see the 5 scenarios
The changes would affect attendance zones for four high schools: Grant, Jefferson, McDaniel and Roosevelt.
oregonlive.com
My colleague @hborrud.bsky.social is out today w/ a banger of a story on the Oregon families who are stuck waiting for years while the OR Department of Education drags out investigations into their claims of discrimination against their school districts: (🎁'd link) www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
She alleged discrimination. 5 years later, why isn’t Oregon done with its investigation?
One family's wait exposes systemic problems in state's response to school discrimination allegations.
oregonlive.com
All eyes are on the ICE building in PDX. What is happening there is important. But the annual release of test score data from ODE matters too, for the future of Oregon's children, the health of its public school system+the state's economy. 🧵 Gifted link: www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
Minuscule test score gains signal Oregon faces years of digging out from its post-pandemic academic hole
Overall, the state’s students are still performing far below pre-COVID levels, according to results released Thursday by the Oregon Department of Education.
oregonlive.com
Cue the "and the band won't play on" references: www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
Bands won’t play at Portland high school football games this season as music directors protest pay
The move comes after years of negotiations between the school district and the Portland Association of Teachers over a pay schedule for outside-of-class duties.
oregonlive.com
Wondering whether PPS families are in for more early dismissals next week? Here's everything I know about it: www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
Portland schools closed early at 72 degrees Friday as heat wave — and potentially more early dismissals — loom for next week.
The Portland teachers' union is seeking a commitment for early release on next week's "hottest days."
oregonlive.com
There's a LOT to unpack from last night's board discussion at PPS re: closing/consolidating schools+redrawing attendance boundaries (though the district would much prefer that I refer to this by their preferred euphemism "school optimization.' www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
Portland Public Schools weighs big changes to school attendance maps
The school board is gearing up to consider merging some schools and sunsetting the dual attendance zone at Jefferson High School.
oregonlive.com
I feel certain that the social media comments on this column by colleague @billoram.bsky.social will be mostly of the cruel varietal. But those who take the time to read and sit with this McDaniel HS athlete's story will find a lot to think about here. I did.
Bill Oram@billoram.bsky.social · last yr.A year ago, a trans teenager won a track championship in Oregon and became a target for conservative commentators and online agitators. “I think people think I want to be this spotlight for trans people,” she said. “Not at all. I just like running.” Meet Ada: www.oregonlive.com/sports/2025/...
Big news out of the Beaverton school district today, where Supt. Gustavo Balderas has announced that he will leave for a new job in WA in 13 months time. Balderas, previously Eugene’s supe, has been at BSD since 2022.
Important public service journalism from my colleague Julia Silverman: Oregon's school funding formula significantly undercounts student poverty and is likely the most regressive in the U.S. Lawmakers will most likely stick with it anyway. www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
oregonlive.com
A nat'l report says OR is the most regressive state re: funding for high-poverty students. The state has the data to fix it. But the money/political will? Nope. Meanwhile, lawmakers in a key ed budget comm. vote on the state school fund in a few hrs. Gifted link: www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
Oregon’s school funding formula undercounts poverty, denying some districts millions. Lawmakers are poised to approve it anyway.
Oregon has more accurate datasets. But statute requires that the funding formula use on child poverty estimates the U.S. Census Bureau generates each year, which are less precise.
oregonlive.com
Well, THAT got interesting. The Oregonian called this race for Virginia La Forte on Tuesday, and while it tightened up considerably per the below, we've stuck with the call. Why? Because math. More below in a brief 🧵
They don't always get the most clicks, but the stories I get to write that go inside classrooms to explore how students are learning matter the most. Thanks to the teachers+mathematicians at @hillsboro_sd for hosting me for this one: www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
To help middle school mathematicians, a surprising prescription: Get them talking in class
At a Hillsboro junior high, the focus is on student collaboration and teacher quality to boost academic outcomes.
oregonlive.com
Have you got questions about/b the May 20 vote on the PPS construction bond? Send them my way (in the comments or at jsilverman@oregonian.com if you're shy) and I'll try to answer during this week's AMA-special edition of @oregonian.com's Beat Check podcast! www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
Will unanswered questions, fuzzy details derail Portland Public School’s $1.83 billion construction plan?
Specifics on high school modernization costs, how much will be available for elementary and middle schools and which of those schools might get upgrades have been scarce.
oregonlive.com
On my morning walk, I ran into 3 moms from my kids' old elementary school. They wanted to know all about the $1.83 PPS bond that voters will decide in 18 days. I told them to look out for this story: www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
Will unanswered questions, fuzzy details derail Portland Public School’s $1.83 billion construction plan?
Specifics on high school modernization costs, how much will be available for elementary and middle schools and which of those schools might get upgrades have been scarce.
oregonlive.com
The debate over teaching about Palestine, Israel and Hamas flares up again, this time in Beaverton. www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
A union-sponsored ‘Teaching Palestine’ training draws pointed questions in Beaverton
Critics say they are concerned that the workshop won’t promote critical thinking and casts Israel and its Jewish population solely as oppressors. A union leader says the goal is to 'help address compl...
oregonlive.com
My colleague @o_aimee reports this AM on a six-figure settlement agreed to by a now former @PPSConnect teacher who'd raised issues a/b sexually inappropriate behavior from students: www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
Portland teacher who was sexually harassed by middle school boys settles lawsuit for $300K
Among the incidents, a group of boys surrounded the teacher, video-recorded her rear end and exclaimed she was “sexy," according to court papers.
oregonlive.com
Here's what you need to know about/b next year's budget @Portland Public Schools: 💰District has ~ $1.09B for daily operations, up 1.72% from this year. 💰That's not enough to keep all current positions/programs, given rising costs/declining enrollment 💰Result=~156 fewer humans in schools
I can’t stop thinking about this compassionately told story by my colleague @lmonghughes.bsky.social. That could have been my kid in that car that night: it could have been yours. www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/0...
One teen shot, another in jail. Their parents decry Portland gun violence
“These are two teenagers who didn't deserve to be in this position,” one community advocate says.
oregonlive.com
Sifting through lots of reader feedback on my weekend story a/b the post-pandemic rise in the # of licensed educators missing >2 weeks of school. Some thoughts in the thread below+here is a 🎁'd story link: (1/11) www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
In and around Portland, teachers are missing more school than ever. Their bosses don't want to talk about it
It's not just students. Post-pandemic, teachers are also missing significantly more school days. Oregon has virtually no policies in place to counteract the trend.
oregonlive.com
Add Oregon to the small-but-growing list of states that will refuse to comply with the Trump administration's orders to yank DEI initiatives from public schools or risk the loss of federal funding: www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
Oregon says it will refuse to comply with Trump’s DEI order on public schools
Oregon believes it is already in compliance with federal law that prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin.
oregonlive.com
Spent a lot of last week deep down a Beaverton School Board race rabbit hole, where fascinating campaigns are unfolding. This is NOT your garden variety, 2023-era, Moms for Liberty school board season: www.oregonlive.com/education/20...
After fraught contract negotiations, teachers union in Beaverton hopes to gain sway on school board
The Beaverton Education Association is flexing its political muscles as upcoming school board elections approach, and the impact could radically reshape policy, personnel and budget decisions over the...
oregonlive.com
