"Oregon again says students don’t need to prove mastery of reading, writing or math to graduate, citing harm to students of color"

As noted in our Independence Day 2023 post:

In Virginia 84 percent of Black students lack proficiency in mathematics and 85 percent of Black students lack proficiency in reading skills.
The teachers unions and the rest of the educational-industrial complex have achieved what the slave codes and anti-literacy laws could not....*

From The Oregonian, October 21:

Oregon high school students won’t have to prove basic mastery of reading, writing or math to graduate from high school until at least 2029, the state Board of Education decided unanimously on Thursday, extending the pause on the controversial graduation requirement that began in 2020.

The vote went against the desires of dozens of Oregonians who submitted public comments insisting the standards should be reinstated, including former Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan. Backlash against the lowered standard had already delayed the vote, originally slated to take place in September.

Opponents argued that pausing the requirement devalues an Oregon diploma. Giving students with low academic skills extra instruction in writing and math, which most high schools did in response to the graduation rules, helped them, they have argued.

But leaders at the Oregon Department of Education and members of the state school board said requiring all students to pass one of several standardized tests or create an in-depth assignment their teacher judged as meeting state standards was a harmful hurdle for historically marginalized students, a misuse of state tests and did not translate to meaningful improvements in students’ post high school success....

....MUCH MORE
*If interested, here is Virginia's 1831 amendment to the existing slave laws:

6. Be it further enacted, That if any white person, for pay or compensation, shall assemble with any slaves for the purpose of teaching, and shall teach any slave to read or write, such person, or any white person or persons contracting with such teacher so to act, who shall offend as aforesaid, shall, for each offence, be fined at the discretion of a jury, in a sum not less than ten, nor exceeding one hundred dollars, to be recovered on an information or indictment.

The South Carolina Act of 1740:

Whereas, the having slaves taught to write, or suffering them to be employed in writing, may be attended with great inconveniences; Be it enacted, that all and every person and persons whatsoever, who shall hereafter teach or cause any slave or slaves to be taught to write, or shall use or employ any slave as a scribe, in any manner of writing whatsoever, hereafter taught to write, every such person or persons shall, for every such offense, forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds, current money”

And many, many more. Pure History has a chronological list of the slave codes, laws and acts of the various slave states.

Summary: Man reading a newspaper with headline, "Presidential Proclamation, 

Slavery," which refers to the Jan. 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.

[Black man reading newspaper by candlelight] ca. 1863, U.S. Library of Congress

• Title: [Black man reading newspaper by candlelight]
• Creator(s): Stephens, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1824-1882, artist
• Date Created/Published: [ca. 1863]
• Medium: 1 drawing : watercolor.
• Summary: Man reading a newspaper with headline, "Presidential Proclamation, Slavery," which refers to the Jan. 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.
• Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ds-16192 (digital file from original) CaLC-USZC4-2442 (color film copy transparency) CbLC-USZCN4-285 (color film copy neg.) CcLC-USZCN4-311 (color film copy neg.)
• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
  
• Access Advisory: Restricted access: Materials in this collection are often extremely fragile; most originals cannot be served.
• Call Number: CAI - Stephens (H.L.), no. 1 (A size) [P&P]
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print...