Portland schools audit follow-up shows more work remains

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Portland Public Schools audit in 2019 from the Oregon secretary of state’s office revealed problems including shortcomings at schools serving large numbers of historically underrepresented and lower-income students. A follow-up report released on Wednesday shows the district still has a lot of that same work to do. The original audit said Portland Public Schools had failed students of color as well as students from low-income households in terms of student success, hadn’t made adequate efforts to mitigate high turnover of employees and didn’t have a transparent budget. In its response, PPS highlighted progress it says the district is making, while acknowledging that it has work remaining, particularly to improve outcomes for students of color.