Oregon Teacher of the Year Turns to Crowdfunding for Legal Battle
Tuesday, April 07, 2015
Annie Ellison, GoLocalPDX Reporter
In a year, one of Oregon's most celebrated teachers went from zig-zagging across the state and dining at the White House to soliciting donations online in an attempt to get his job back.
Bigham, who filed two complaints with the state's Bureau of Labor and Industries against top administrators at MESD over what he claims is retaliation and discrimination over his sexuality, was first placed on leave March 20.
Citing absenteeism, the district terminated Bigham, a transition programs teacher, April 3. The teacher plans to take his termination to court, and has turned to the crowdfunding site GoFundMe for help. Roughly $1,800 of a $6,000 goal has been raised in less than 24 hours.
"I have an excellent case but the expenses of the past year have left us without the savings we need to begin a costly legal battle," Bigham wrote on the campaign's page.
An MESD investigation released in October following a complaint Bigham filed with the Teachers Standards and Practices Commission found Bigham exaggerated claims that he was put under a gag order and had been discriminated against. In an unrelated event, MESD also fired Supt. Barbara Jorgensen in March.
Related Slideshow: Slideshow: Top Portland Metro High Schools
GoLocalPDX has ranked the top high schools in the metro area using a method developed in Babson College, Mass. High schools were ranked based on complete data available.
#46
Roosevelt High
Multnomah County
Enrollment: 771
Economically disadvantaged: 76%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 78.1%
Met or exceeded math standards: 59%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 47.9%
Met or exceeded science standards: 19.5%
Four year graduation rate: 69.9%
Photo Credit: Visitor7 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#45
Madison High
Multnomah County
Enrollment: 1025
Economically disadvantaged: 68%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 72.2%
Met or exceeded math standards: 64.9%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 51.3%
Met or exceeded science standards: 37.4%
Four year graduation rate: 71%
Photo Credit: kamera kızı via Compfight cc
#44
Parkrose High
Multnomah County
Enrollment: 951
Economically disadvantaged: 68%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 83.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 65.3%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 53.6%
Met or exceeded science standards: 52.6%
Four year graduation rate: 69%
Photo Credit: M.O. Stevens - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
#42
Alliance High
Multnomah County
Enrollment: 224
Economically disadvantaged: 58%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 73.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 42.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 33.3%
Met or exceeded science standards: 43.2%
Four year graduation rate: 20.9%
Photo Credit: @RunRockPrincess viaCompfight cc
#41
Hillsboro High
Washington County
Enrollment: 1315
Economically disadvantaged: 55%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 77.3%
Met or exceeded math standards: 68.1%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 52.6%
Met or exceeded science standards: 38.4%
Four year graduation rate: 71.6%
Photo Credit: M.O. Stevens - via Wikimedia Commons.
#40
Molalla High
Clackamas County
Enrollment: 739
Economically disadvantaged: 38%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 86.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 73.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 49.1%
Met or exceeded science standards: 63.4%
Four year graduation rate: 75.2%
Photo Credit: Tedder - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#39
Reynolds High
Multnomah County
Enrollment: 2468
Economically disadvantaged: 65%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 84.6%
Met or exceeded math standards: 67.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 43.5%
Met or exceeded science standards: 58.9%
Four year graduation rate: 62.7%
Photo Credit:
#38
Milwaukie High
Clackamas County
Enrollment: 1053
Economically disadvantaged: 57%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 77.1%
Met or exceeded math standards: 64.2%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 51.2%
Met or exceeded science standards: 67.8%
Four year graduation rate: 70.9%
Photo Credit: Pingveno - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#37
Centennial High
Multnomah County
Enrollment: 1665
Economically disadvantaged: 57%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 86.6%
Met or exceeded math standards: 78.9%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 62.7%
Met or exceeded science standards: 42.3%
Four year graduation rate: 78.7%
Photo Credit: naosuke ii via Compfight cc
#36
Gresham High
Multnomah County
Enrollment: 1667
Economically disadvantaged: 52%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 83.9%
Met or exceeded math standards: 67.4%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 58.7%
Met or exceeded science standards: 59.7%
Four year graduation rate: 72.5%
Photo Credit: M.O. Stevens - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#35
Benson Polytechnic High
Multnomah County
Enrollment: 819
Economically disadvantaged: 68%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 87.1%
Met or exceeded math standards: 75.9%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 40.8%
Met or exceeded science standards: 84%
Four year graduation rate: 82.2%
Photo Credit: EncMstr - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#34
Liberty High
Washington County
Enrollment: 1386
Economically disadvantaged: 46%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 89.8%
Met or exceeded math standards: 76%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 53.3%
Met or exceeded science standards: 65.8%
Four year graduation rate: 79.6%
Photo Credit: Aboutmovies
#30
Banks High
Washington County
Enrollment: 384
Economically disadvantaged: 23%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 91.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 79.8%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 57.4%
Met or exceeded science standards: 81.1%
Four year graduation rate: 80.6%
Photo Credit: frankjuarez via Compfight cc
#29
Clackamas Middle College
Clackamas County
Enrollment: 290
Economically disadvantaged: 28%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 91.4%
Met or exceeded math standards: 76.3%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 59.3%
Met or exceeded science standards: 78%
Four year graduation rate: 32.6%
Photo Credit: Photo Credit: Maya83 via Compfight cc
#16
Tigard High
Washington County
Enrollment: 1835
Economically disadvantaged: 32%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 92.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 83.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 64.5%
Met or exceeded science standards: 67.7%
Four year graduation rate: 80.8%
Photo Credit: Aboutmovies - Own work. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
#9
Cleveland High
Multnomah County
Enrollment: 1457
Economically disadvantaged: 29%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 92.6%
Met or exceeded math standards: 80.2%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 81.4%
Met or exceeded science standards: 59.7%
Four year graduation rate: 76.2%
Photo Credit: Tedder - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#5
Riverdale High
Multnomah County
Enrollment: 242
Economically disadvantaged: <6%*
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 89.8%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 74.6%
Met or exceeded science standards: 74.6%
Four year graduation rate: 94.2%
* For less than six percent an asterisk is used on Oregon Department of Education data.
#4
School of Science & Technology
Washington County
Enrollment: 167
Economically disadvantaged: 20%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 86%
Met or exceeded science standards: 63.9%
Four year graduation rate: 81.1%
Photo Credit: crazytales562 via Compfightcc
#1
Lake Oswego Senior High
Clackamas County
Enrollment: 1224
Economically disadvantaged: 6%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 92.4%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 89.1%
Met or exceeded science standards: 87.7%
Four year graduation rate: 89.5%
Photo Credit: KristinNador via Compfight cc
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