Education

School attendance is compulsory from ages 7 to 18. The superintendent of public instruction heads the state department of education. He or she is popularly elected to a four-year term. The state board of education is appointed by the governor; its seven members serve four-year terms.

The first schools in Oregon were established by churches. The Methodists organized a school at Champoeg in 1834; the Roman Catholic church offered religious instruction as early as 1844 and opened a school in Portland in 1859. The first public school was opened in Portland in 1851; the first public high school, also in Portland, in 1869.

The University of Oregon, chartered in 1872 and opened in 1876, is in Eugene. It is the largest institution of higher learning in Oregon. Oregon State University, a landgrant college, is the oldest public institution of higher learning in the state. It was incorporated as Corvallis College in 1858. It adopted its present name in 1961. Its Marine Science Center, located in Newport, is a research center for oceanography. There are two state institutions in Portland—Oregon Health Sciences University, which has schools of medicine, dentistry, and nursing; and the University of Portland. The Oregon Institute of Technology is at Klamath Falls.

Interesting facts about Oregon
The world's largest forest of lava-cast trees is located on the slopes of Newberry Volcano in Deschutes National Forest, south of Bend. The imprint of pine bark is still visible on the insides of many casts, which were formed about 6,000 years ago when molten lava flowed into a living pine forest. The lava cooled against the tree trunks, which caught fire and burned away, leaving perfect molds. The forest covers about 4 square miles (10 square kilometers).
The first state antilitter law affecting nearly all beverage containers was passed by the Oregon legislature on July 2, 1971, and became effective on Oct. 1, 1972. The “Oregon bottle bill” outlaws pull-tab cans and requires that all beverage cans and most types of bottles be returnable for a cash refund.
The world's smallest official park is located on a traffic island on S. W. Front Avenue in Portland. Mill Ends Park is 24 inches (61 centimeters) across and has a total area of 452 square inches (2,916 square centimeters). A Portland journalist, Dick Fagan, created the park on St. Patrick's Day, 1948, as a colony for leprechauns and a site for snail races. It became a city park in 1976.