December 18, 2005 -- According to Bill Graves and Steven Carter of the Oregonian, (State Supt. of Edu.) Susan Castillo is making a huge mistake by calling for an end to the State's CIM/CAM school  reform.  According to Graves' and Carter's story all that really needs to happen is for every school district to adopt the highly successful approach North Clackamas is using -- that is, their requirement that all graduates earn a CIM.    (Certificate of Initial Mastery)  

Graves and Carter wrote, "North Clackamas district is the only one in the state to require it for graduation." 

The problem is, North Clackamas does not and has not ever required the State CIM for graduation.  Although they once intended to adopt the state version, it seems that in order to avoid the prospect of punitively withholding diplomas from hundreds of graduates the district found it necessary to create their own "District CIM."  So watered down did this new CIM become that every single graduate was awarded one. 

So much for high standards. Simply lower the bar until every student qualifies. 

So here we are pondering the 14 years of benchmarks, outcomes and world class standards which one district is supposed to have mastered. We know that two writers for the largest newspaper in the state have intentionally or unintentionally misled their readers.  They are comparing two things which are similar only with respect to their names -- their descriptive titles. One of these things, the original CIM/CAM which has been promoted at the state level, is an expensive waste of time.  The other of these things, the CIM  which was, apparently without the knowledge of these two Oregonian reporters, created by the North Clackamas school district, is also an expensive waste of time.  The difference between these two wastes of time is that to pass the second one, you merely have to have recently been alive.

Simultaneous to this 14 year failed experiment Oregon has maintained one of the least rigorous High School diploma course requirements in the country.  With (some of the lowest) math and english course requirements in the country, Oregon has at the same time (claimed) successful high standards.  With much help from the Oregonian's journalists and editorial board, the real Oregonians (the people who live in this state) have been and remain in the dark about all this.  They have been duped, students have been robbed of quality class time, schools have wasted resources and at the end of the road no one will be held accountable.

Quite the contrary. According to the Oregonian the champions of CIM/CAM should be rewarded. 

                  -- Steve Schopp

© 2005 Oregon Magazine for Steve Schopp