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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Kyron Horman vigil draws about 400 to Sunset Presbyterian Church | OregonLive.com

Kyron Horman vigil draws about 400 to Sunset Presbyterian Church | OregonLive.com


Kyron Horman vigil draws about 400 to Sunset Presbyterian Church

Published: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 8:00 PM Updated: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 9:03 PM
Michael Russell, The Oregonian Michael Russell, The Oregonian
IMAG0043.jpgMichael RussellVolunteer Dottie Adams and adult ministries administrator Karen Carroll hand out candles to participants in a vigil this evening at Sunset Presbyterian Church.
Friends and neighbors of missing Kyron Horman gathered at a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening in Northwest Portland to comfort one another and pray for the 7-year-old's safe return.

Those attending, including Kyron's parents and stepparents for a brief time, sang songs, read prayers and held white candles at Sunset Presbyterian Church, 14986 N.W. Cornell Road.

Many grappled with the idea that Kyron, a bespectacled second-grader last seen June 4, might never be seen again. But they held out hope that he would be found alive.

"We know that time has passed. ... We know that time isn't necessarily on our side," said Michael Cook, 37, who helped to organize the event and is a friend of Kyron's father, Kaine Horman. "But every case is unique, and we're hopeful that Kyron is found soon and returned to his family, safely, where he belongs."

Cars began to gather in the parking lot before 6 p.m., some with "Missing" fliers featuring Kyron's smiling face taped to their side windows. By 7 p.m., the persistent rain had stopped, the sun was shining, and the large parking lot was nearly full.

The drizzly weather Tuesday was a far cry from the weekend, when temperatures pushed into the 80s and searchers mounted the final stand in their massive search, which some have called the largest by manpower in the state's history.

By Monday, the search efforts had been scaled back drastically, and crews from three states and all Oregon counties were told, "Thanks, but no more." Instead, the case was called a criminal investigation.

By Tuesday, smaller groups from the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office Dive Team were seen wading through waterways around the Horman family home and on Sauvie Island, about five miles to the north.

Bob and Judy Bobosky were typical of those attending the vigil. Both church members, they have a grandson near Kyron's age.

"When human efforts alone don't bring abou



Clear Channel donates billboards to help bring Kyron Horman home

Published: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 7:15 PM     Updated: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 7:20 PM
The Oregonian The Oregonian 
Clear Channel Outdoor of Oregon and Southwest Washington donated materials and space for the 30 billboards today in an effort to help bring Kyron Horman home.

Ten of the billboards are written in English, 10 in Russian and 10 in Spanish, according to Lt. Mary Lindstrand, a Multnomah County sheriff's spokeswoman.

All of the billboards except two in English were put up today.

-- The Oregonian
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Suit challenges part of Mich. school retiree plan - Boston.com

Suit challenges part of Mich. school retiree plan - Boston.com

Suit challenges part of Mich. school retiree plan

By Tim Martin
Associated Press Writer / June 15, 2010
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LANSING, Mich.—Five members of the state's largest teachers union have filed a lawsuit challenging part of Michigan's new law related to the public school employee retirement system.
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The Michigan Education Association said Tuesday the class-action suit filed in a state court seeks to overturn a provision that requires school employees who don't retire this summer to start paying an extra 3 percent of their compensation into a fund for retiree health care starting July 1.
The union said the suit doesn't challenge a provision that gives slightly higher pension benefits to school employees who retire this summer. At least 17,000 school employees have applied for the retirement incentive and have informed the state they plan to retire this summer.
The expected retirement wave is the major reason state officials project schools statewide could save more than $500 million in the first year of the program. But the longer-term, more stable savings behind the plan relies heavily on the higher contributions to retiree health plans from employees who remain on the job.
The suit claims the contribution provision violates the contract formed when the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System was set up in 1980. The



Hawaii passes law mandating 180-day school year

by Mark Niesse, Associated Press Writer
A new Hawaii law enacted Tuesday requires at least 180 school days a year as the state tries to shed its reputation for having the shortest amount of instructional time in the nation.

Pittsburgh teachers, schools hail 5-year contract

by Jennifer C. Yates, Associated Press Writer
Call it collaborative bargaining. When the Pittsburgh Public Schools and its teachers' union began talks last year for a new contract, the tone was decidedly different from the usual collective bargaining process. Tense face-to-face meetings, lawyers and demands were replaced with a weekend retreat at a downtown hotel, input from principals and teachers, and discussions.
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Brandon Roy comforts students at Skyline School with Kyron Horman still missing | OregonLive.com

Brandon Roy comforts students at Skyline School with Kyron Horman still missing | OregonLive.com

Brandon Roy comforts students at Skyline School with Kyron Horman still missing

Published: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 4:58 PM Updated: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 6:08 PM
Lynne Terry, The Oregonian Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
brandon roy at skyline.jpgPortland Public SchoolsBrandon Roy, an All-Star guard for the Portland Trail Blazers, shares hugs at Skyline School today during an assembly. He was one of a few people giving motivational talks.
Classes ended at Skyline School in Northwest Portland today on a bittersweet note without Kyron Horman, the 7-year-old who vanished from the school 11 days ago.

"I'm disappointed the year is over already because I think the kids need each other right now," said Beth Smith, walking onto school grounds to pick up her 12-year-old daughter, who was Kyron's reading buddy.

"She's still scared," Smith said. "Her whole security has been taken away from her."

Smith said her daughter, a sixth-grader, is worried that the person who snatched Kyron could return to the school.

"She said from the get-go he didn't just walk off," Smith said. "He's a quiet boy. He follows the rules. He listens. He loves his family."

His disappearance has cast a pall over the elementary school like the shroud of gray clouds that hammered it today with hail. Still, teachers, staff and parent volunteers tried to end the school year on an optimistic note with a mid-day school assembly planned long before Kyron went missing the morning of June 4.

"The overall message was to celebrate the entire school year while recognizing it had been a difficult last week and a half," said Matt Shelby, spokesman for Portland Public Schools, who was on hand for the last day of classes.


With reporters kept off school grounds, everyone gathered for the assembly, which was opened by Principal Benjamin Keefer, who said everyone was wishing for Kyron's safe return. Nate McMillan, coach for the Portland Trail Blazers, talked about the importance of taking responsibility and staying safe over the summer, and Brandon Roy, an All-Star guard for the Blazers, gave his own motivational talk.

The assembly also included a speech by the recently signed goalkeeper for thePortland Timbers soccer team, Adin Brown, and a performance by pianistMichael Allen Harrison, an artist-in-residence for Portland Public Schools.

The mood was generally upbeat both before and after, with kids playing and laughing on school grounds, Shelby said.

"It was good to see the students being kids," he said.

But Kyron's disappearance continues to haunt the K-8 school on a day when law enforcement plumbed leads and divers were sighted suiting up on private property in Northwest Portland.


Enrollment caps at popular Portland high schools limit transfers for fall

by Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian
New district statistics show which high schools attract the most students, which neighborhoods lose the most students to schools in other parts of town


Oregon university system uses extra student tuition to plug budget hole

by Bill Graves, The Oregonian
Oregon's university system will use the tuition money from record enrollments to plug its portion of the state budget shortfall.
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Remainders: Having a home computer hurts student learning | GothamSchools

Remainders: Having a home computer hurts student learning | GothamSchools

Remainders: Having a home computer hurts student learning

by Elizabeth Green
  • A home computer causes slightly lower reading and math scores. (Freakonomics)
  • Meanwhile, a city teacher uses video technology to teach writing. (Innovative Educator)
  • One city school didn’t have calculators for Regents-taking students. (Pissed Off Teacher)
  • Three ways for schools to get better and cut their budgets at the same time. (Learning Matters)
  • The Times picks up the school safety budget increases we reported on first. (CityRoom)
  • Three funders will gather here next week to talk about educating ELL’s. (EdWeek)
  • Grading each other, Chicago teachers gave more “unsatisfactories” than principals. (Catalyst)
  • Pittsburgh has a new teachers contract, negotiated partly by the Gates Foundation. (AP)
  • The contract includes voluntary individual merit pay and a school-based program. (EdWeek)
  • A study of a more learning time program finds disappointing results. (Quick and the Ed)
  • A write-up of the study showing Harlem Success lottery winners outperform losers. (EdWeek)
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AB 919: Confronting a Bad Supreme Court Ruling | California Progress Report

AB 919: Confronting a Bad Supreme Court Ruling | California Progress Report

AB 919: Confronting a Bad Supreme Court Ruling

by kaldveer
By Pedro Morillas
CALPIRG
In January, the Supreme Court ruled in a contentious 5-4 opinion that corporations have the same free speech rights as people. In the eyes of the court, the ‘We the People’ preamble to the Constitution applies to corporate entities because corporations are, well, groups of people.
Flowing from this skewed logic, the court struck down nearly a century of law that forced corporations to seek contributions from individuals affiliated with the corporation to fund their political contributions, people like shareholders, employees and board members.
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