Oregon’s Clackamas County has removed its Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion after officials voted to end its $828,000 budget.
County Commissioner Ben West told The Post Millennial that the decision shows “moral clarity.”
“Clackamas County has shown moral clarity and leadership by dismantling its EDI department. In Clackamas, we promote classical liberal and American values, good government over ideology, promoting and hiring based on merit and competency, and not incessantly focusing on a person’s immutable traits,” he said.
“In Clackamas, EDI work was divisive and heavily influenced by a radical ideological worldview that measures fairness on the equality of outcomes rather than equality of opportunity. Now, Clackamas County can better serve its constituents regardless of their immutable characteristics,” West explained.
County Commissioner Mark Shull, who previously attempted to disband the DEI office, said last year that Clackamas County “operated just fine” prior to developing a DEI program.
Oregon has also suspended competency standards for reading, writing, or math in order to graduate high school.
According to education officials, such requirements are unnecessary and disproportionately “harm” students of color.
“At some point, our diploma is going to end up looking a lot more like a participation prize than an actual certificate that shows that someone actually is prepared to go pursue their best future,” former Oregon gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan said.
The essential skills requirement has been on pause since COVID began, and last week the Oregon State Board of Education voted unanimously to continue suspending the graduation requirement through the 2027-2028 school year.
