News At one high school in Portland, only 38 percent of black kids graduate in four years, according to data released by the Oregon Department of Education on Friday. It’s Lincoln High—the worst in the district for black students graduating on time, according to data released for the 2010-11 school year.Lincoln, meanwhile, has the highest overall graduation rate among PPS high schools (84 percent), ...   More

News Local supporters of a public option as part of national health care reform are organizing a march downtown on Oct. 18. “There is citizen discontent with the current bill” working its way through the Senate Finance Committee, says Ian McCurdy, one of the event's supporters. According to the group's website, the demonstration aims to show insurance companies that Portland “has ...   More

News Mayor Sam Adams is weighing in on Portland Public Schools' high school redesign process. Judging from the emails I'm now getting from anxious parents about the upcoming changes, he may want to be careful what he Tweets. Here's the mayor's latest: David Wynde is a two-term school board member. Dick Spies is a former Lincoln High parent from Group Mackenzie Architects. Lincoln, Portland's ...   More

News Jollee Patterson, the Portland Public Schools' general counsel, sent a letter recently to WW and Oregon Women Lawyers, blasting WW for its cover story last week on Lincoln High School's cheerleading team. Here's Patterson's letter, dated Dec. 18: Dear Editor, I have grave concerns about your article about one of our transgendered students. At Portland Public schools, we take very seriously ...   More

News Lincoln High School's principal Peyton Chapman is scrambling to raise $30,000 so the school can keep its new varsity football coach, who has already started leading practices. Mike Fanger, a former head football coach at Lewis & Clark College who came to Lincoln from La Salle Catholic College Preparatory in Milwaukie, was hired this winter. Fanger replaces the interim Lincoln football coaches, ...   More