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JULY 14, 2012
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Oregon 5 hearts for 5 siblings awaits No Child McLane seeks a pivotal role in setting GOP agenda waiver All of the Bingham children have been diagnosed with heart abnormalities. The eldest received a transplant. A second is on the waiting list for a donor heart, a third likely will need one, and the others may not be far behind.
By Lauren Dake The Bulletin
IN SALEM
SALEM — Rep. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, is vying for a leadership position in the Republican Party that would grant him influence over the state’s legisla-
tive agenda and could put him in the pipeline to someday lead the caucus. Next week, state Republican lawmakers will vote to determine who will serve as the party’s next deputy Republican leader.
Rep. Julie Parrish, R-West Linn, is also making a bid for the spot. “It’s an important position, probably more important than people realize,” said Nick Smith, a spokesman for the House
Republicans. The leadership team helps set the agenda and wields significant influence over the way the caucus decides to vote on major policy changes. See McLane / A4
McLane
• State will likely join 26 others, avoiding many ‘failing schools’ By Andrew Clevenger The Bulletin
1,300 quilts will blanket Sisters
Joe Kline / The Bulletin
Mary Richards, of Sisters, measures some quilt fabric for a customer at Stitchin’ Post on Friday. The store saw lots of activity ahead of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, which begins today downtown. The forecast calls for more than 1,300 quilts from around the world, and even more visitors. For details, see the calendar on Page B3 or visit www.bendbulletin.com.
WASHINGTON — In the coming weeks, Oregon hopes to join the 26 states that have already opted out of key provisions of No Child Left Behind, the sweeping federal education law that sought to hold schools accountable for students’ performance. Last September, the Obama administration announced it would grant waivers to states that would allow them more flexibility in dealing with schools determined to be failing under the 2002 law. Instead of using test scores as the means of measuring a student’s proficiency and evaluating a school’s performance, states can focus on new goals of preparing students for careers and higher education after high school graduation. “To help states, districts and schools that are ready to move forward with education reform, our administration will provide flexibility from the law in exchange for a real commitment to undertake change,” President Barack Obama said at the time. “The purpose is not to give states and districts a reprieve from accountability, but rather to unleash energy to improve our schools at the local level.” Oregon is one of 10 states with waiver approval pending from the U.S. Department of Education. “We believe we are very, very close to receiving it,” said Ben Cannon, education policy adviser to Gov. John Kitzhaber. See No Child / A6
North Koreans who defect find suffering isn’t over By Martin Fackler New York Times News Service
TOP NEWS IRAN: British spy chief: Nukes within 2 years, A3 ROMNEY: On Bain, A3 TODAY’S WEATHER Chance of storms High 87, Low 52 Page C8
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“If divorce is difficult for children who have two parents, imagine it with three or four.” — Diane Wasznicky, family law expert, about the push to legalize multi-parent households
3, 4 or more: the parent question By Ian Lovett New York Times News Service
LOS ANGELES — Bill Delaney’s two girls spend three nights a week with their fathers, at the home that Delaney shares with his husband in San Francisco. The other nights, they stay with their mothers, a lesbian couple who live nearby. The girls have four parents — a result of a kind of nontraditional family arrangement that has become increasingly common. But officially, California, like most other states, recognizes no more than two legal parents. That limit could soon be lifted. A bill moving through the Legislature would allow judges to recognize more than two legal parents for a given child, opening the door for alternative families to seek legal recognition of their relationships.
‘De facto’ 3rd parents California isn’t the only place multi-parent arrangements may become the norm. Delaware and the District of Columbia have passed laws that allow for third “de facto parents,” who have the same rights and responsibilities toward their children as adoptive parents. Courts anywhere from Oregon to Massachusetts (and abroad in Canada and New Zealand) have also recognized three legal parents in a handful of cases. Source: Bulletin wire reports
“There are literally scores of different families and circumstances,” said Mark Leno, the state senator who sponsored the bill. “This is about putting the wel-
fare of the child above all else.” As fewer children are raised in traditional two-parent households, Leno’s bill has moved California to the center of a growing debate over how — and whether — such alternative family arrangements should be legally recognized. Nancy Polikoff, a professor at the American University Washington College of Law, said cases like this merely allowed the law to reflect the many kinds of families that already exist in the 21st century. “This is about looking at the reality of children’s lives, which are heterogeneous,” Polikoff said. “… Families are different from one another. If the law will not acknowledge that, then it’s not responding to the needs of children who do not fit into the one-sizefits-all box.” See Parents / A7
SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Seong-cheol is a survivor. He left his home in North Korea at the age of 8 for a Dickensian existence, begging on the streets with a pack of boys when famine struck and his parents could not feed him. By his account, he endured several stays in brutal North Korean and Chinese prisons for attempting to cross into China. But when he finally made it to South Korea, and freedom, Kim faced an obstacle that even his considerable street smarts could not help him overcome. He had placed into a university under a new affirmative action program but was haunted by the deprivations of his past and quickly slipped behind South Korean classmates who had already made it through years of a pressure-cooker education system. “I just couldn’t shake the memory of hunger from my mind,” said Kim, 26, who dropped out after just one semester and fell into a deep, alcohol-fueled depression. See Defectors / A6
Lee Jin-man / The Associated Press
Tens of thousands like Oh Kil-nam have left North Korea for the South, but many haven’t found the transition easy.