For the past 40 years, the scientific community has been aware that a major earthquake caused by the Cascadia subduction zone could strike the Pacific Northwest. Enter Multnomah County’s $895 million “Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge,” set to open in 2031. County Commissioners decided that replacing the current bridge is necessary to safeguard Portland’s lifeline routes. […]
This month, Cascade Policy Institute is releasing a new report explaining why government-mandated “affordable housing” doesn’t actually make housing more affordable. In The Affordable Housing Scam, author Randal O’Toole writes that while “U.S. taxpayers spend tens of billions of dollars a year subsidizing housing for low-income households,” those units cost “about 20 percent more per […]
Last week, Cascade Policy Institute provided suggestions to the Board of Portland Public Schools to reduce costs on the Jefferson High School modernization project. The project is paused due to the budget ballooning from $311 million (approved by voters in a 2020 bond issue) to $491 million. Cascade’s primary advice for the PPS Board can […]
The Oregonian recently reported that “Oregon students as a whole have failed to regain either math or reading skills” lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, unlike students in 29 other states included in an analysis published in January. The article points out that, despite $1.6 billion in federal pandemic aid being spent in Oregon schools, Oregon […]
The last segment of Oregon’s Interstate Highway system opened in 1982. One would think that since Oregon has a nationally prominent planning system, there would be efforts underway to plan for the next generation of great roads. But that is not the case. Planners almost universally hate highways, so they have made sure that the […]
January 21-27 is National School Choice Week, the world’s largest annual celebration of parental choice and effective education options for all children. This month, 183 participating Oregon schools and organizations will raise awareness about K-12 education options in our state. Oregon students today benefit from district public schools, public charter schools, private and parochial schools, […]
In 2023, eight states passed universal or near-universal educational choice laws. Education Savings Accounts, vouchers, and education tax credits are different policy approaches; but the goal of each is the same: to put parents “in the driver’s seat” of their kids’ education. A strong majority of voters agree that parents should be able to choose […]
In 2000, the electricity grid was named the top engineering achievement of the 20th century by the National Academy of Engineering. In 2021, Oregon politicians decided to dismantle it. Prepare yourself for blackouts. State legislators passed a law two years ago (House Bill 2021) that prohibits the construction of any electricity generating facilities using fossil […]
A long-standing question about taxpayer-funded school choice programs like vouchers, education tax credits, and Education Scholarship Accounts is whether such programs would cause tuition to rise at private elementary and high schools. A new study by the Heritage Foundation shows that school choice programs have kept elementary school costs from increasing in their states and […]
A June 2023 RealClear Opinion Research survey of registered voters shows public support for school choice has increased seven points since 2020. Seventy-one percent of voters—up from 64% three years ago—say parents should “have the right to use tax dollars designated for their child’s education to send their child to the public or private school […]