Portland Plan Would Shorten Academic Year

By John Gehring

While the school year in Oregon is already the shortest of any state's, the Portland public schools could cut more than a week from their academic calendar under a controversial cost-saving measure approved by the district's school board.

Like many other districts in Oregon, Portland is reeling from a state budget crisis that has forced lawmakers to hold two special sessions in an attempt to plug an almost $1 billion funding gap for the coming fiscal year. The legislature has proposed a total of about $312 million in overall education cuts, including state aid for literacy and mathematics programs for low-performing elementary school students.

The Portland school board on March 18 approved a budget offered by the 57,000-student district's interim superintendent. Among other measures, the spending plan would reduce the 2002-2003 school year by eight or nine days from the current schedule, freeze teachers' salaries,...