OlsonOnline

Leading the charge is my pal Lynn Schore of the Neighborhood Schools Alliance. Lynn and Shei' Meka Newmann, in testimony to the Portland Planning Commission, claim that the reconfiguration of the district's poorest high schools into small school "academies" is in direct violation of Portland's City School Policy, in particular the first goal, Equal Access to Education:"Promote equal access to and...

Leave aside for the moment the argument over whether the 2nd Amendment confers an individual, rather that collective, right to "keep and bear arms." Focus instead on the cultural, political, and ideological underpinnings of the Supreme Court's recent narrow decision to overturn the District of Columbia's ban on handguns.Seven members of the current court are Republican appointees --one by Ford...

(Guest post by Craig Olson. Craig is a longtime resident of the Washington D.C. area and a recently retired employee of the Sate Department. He's also my older --and smarter [or so he would claim]-- brother.) The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision to declare unconstitutional a Washington, D.C. law that outlaws the right of individuals to possess handguns was predictable given the Court's conservative...

In a scathing condemnation of the PPS' school board's inaction on the glaring educational inequities that exist between the district's wealthy and poor schools, Nancy Smith (my proposed board replacement for the departing Dan Ryan) takes head on the sacred cow of school choice. Here's a excerpt from her post at PPS Equity:"The district’s rationale’ Changing these policies would result...

More precisely, its four poorest high schools, the four that have been hit hardest by Portland Public Schools' unconscionable transfer policy. Added to the list is Benson Polytechnic, the once renowned vocational technical high school hard hit by recent district cuts to staffing.Steve Buel, a former school board member, proposes adding twelve full time equivalent positions to each of the schools...

I'm neither a psychologist nor a mind reader, so it's impossible for me (or any one else for that matter) to divine the motives behind the Bush Administration's ill-advised and illegal invasion of Iraq. We can, however, after considering the evidence, exclude the putative motives for the war --weapons of mass destruction, removing an imminent threat to America, Saddam's support for the terrorists...

Barack Obama's disappointing slide toward the center doesn't translate into a vote for John McCain. Not by any means. But it does make Ralph Nader look like a more attractive option, especially here in Oregon where Obama, in my opinion, is a sure-fire winner.The latest blow to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is Obama's support of the new FISA bill. Obama's acolytes may try to explain...