Portland Parents

Perfect for busy parents, train the dog while the kids are in school!

Pup-A-Razzi is a dog training facility in Beaverton and now offers weekday classes during the day in addition to weekend and evening classes.

Pup-A-Razzi has 2 indoor, matted, climate contolled training arenas, a self serve dog
wash, full service grooming and a small retail store.

Visit http://www.pup-a-razzi.com for more information and the upcoming class schedule.

Pup-A-Razzi - The Home of Good Clean Fun!
16300 SW Hart Road, Ste. H
Beaverton, OR 97007
503-259-8978
www.pup-a-razzi.com

Looming in the shadows of the schools’ budget crisis is a threat to our kids’ happiness.

Hurray! The Multnomah County Income Tax expires next year! Of course, this money has been earmarked for our schools, and when that fund source dries up, we’re back to a deficit operation.

And Oregonian columnist Steve Duin brings to our attention the political equivalent of mindless violence; waiting in the wings to pounce on our school system.

I’m talking about the nefarious “First Class for Education Act.” It sounds all right when you read the title, doesn’t it? The premise of the bill is simple; restrict school districts to spending 65% of their budget on “classroom instruction.”

That seems pretty ok; we want our kids to get the best classroom instruction possible, and spending a solid majority of the available funds on that goal is admirable. The Sizemorian agenda, of course, is to shrink the administration and overhead of running the schools.

So what’s in this “classroom instruction?” Here’s what’s not …

It does not include the cost of heating the classroom, transporting students to it or providing cafeteria meals at lunchtime. It does not include guidance counselors, speech pathologists, information technology or building maintenance, some or all of which would be cut to move money into the “classroom.”

It does include sports, so your afternoon soccer is safe, but not guidance councellors or computers! It does not include music, which has been shown to have a strong correlation to math excellence!

And according to Standard & Poor’s analysts (see www.schoolmatters.com), this sixty-five percent rule doesn’t guarantee any sort of increased performance.

These people pushing for the “First Class for Education Act” want to lower the amount of money we can spend on building heat, music lessons, nutritional food, building maintenance, and yes, administration, without a solid plan for excellence.

What’re they thinking?

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf?/base/news/1137461120143790.xml&coll=7

MLK Day

Thursday, January 12th — Celebrate Portland Public Schools at the Oregon Convention Center! From 5:30 - 8:30 p.m., you and your family are invited to a myriad of fun and informative events.

There is free childcare for children four years and older, free parking and free shuttles. Call 503-916-3304 for more info or check out the Portland Public Schools website!

Celebration of New Years

Many new laws come into effect starting January 1. One of them is particular interest to many families.

In motor vehicles, monitors playing videos, DVDs, television or video games must be behind the driver’s seat when on state highways. There are exceptions for navigation devices and for emergency vehicles.

Does your spouse or kid sit in the front passenger playing their PlayStation Portable? You’re going to have them move to the back. And no more flying down highway 97 with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the Gameboy. There’s a ticket in your future!

source