Portland Public Schools is failing students of color and carelessly monitoring spending, a new state audit finds.
The audit of PPS and the Oregon Department of Education was released Wednesday by Secretary of State Dennis Richardson's office. It shows PPS has a 53-percent achievement gap between its white and African-American students, and similar gaps exist for students who are Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander and those who are economically disadvantaged.
“Portland Public Schools and the state continue to struggle substantially with students of color, and this inequity must end,” said Richardson. “Portland Public Schools has more funding per student than all Oregon peer districts and more than many national peer districts, yet management challenges and an inconsistent focus on performance are hurting students and teachers.”
Richardson said the Oregon Department of Education and PPS must do more to better evaluate costs and eliminate student performance barriers.
The audit points to high rates of teacher turnover, teacher inexperience and a disconnect between teachers and administrators as several factors that hurt students in high-poverty schools.
"The ODE's limited enforcement of district standards, a reliance on short-lived improvement initiatives, and a disjointed system of education funding all increase the risk that student performance will continue to lag," Richardson said in a press release.
The Department of Education does little to monitor efficient spending by the district, Richardson said.
Auditors noted several questionable card expenses, the most notable of which was a $13,000 retirement party in 2017. The district spent $9,475 to rent the Portland Spirit river cruise ship for 125 people, $1,068 on leis and flowers to be flown in from Hawaii, and $1,725 on crystal clock retirement gifts. In 2018, the district paid $3,800 to reserve the Portland Spirit for another retirement party, according to the audit.
Additionally, the audit found PPS employees spent nearly $1.4 million on Amazon purchases of school supplies and other goods with their cards, plus monthly or annual Amazon Prime memberships for about 70 cardholders at a cost of nearly $8,000.
The audit recommends that PPS do more to monitor spending, focus on measuring results and addressing inequities at high-poverty schools, and the district investigate and report on potential savings areas.
Both the ODE and PPS agreed with the audit recommendations.
"We are addressing each and every concern raised in the audit,” district leaders said in a statement on the PPS website. “We will continue our transformative work, guided by research, by data and other best practices to ensure we are raising educational outcomes for of our students.”