Oct. 30, 2006: Fall Round-up

We took the summer off from issuing press releases, but here we are again. To view the text of this press release, go here.

April 24, 2006: NSA draws line in the sand; supports Sten

The April 24 press release against the closure/reconfiguration proposals and in support of Erik Sten's leadership on schools and housing can be found at:

http://www.neighborhoodschoolsalliance.org/node/306

April 5, 2006: NSA Comments on Closure/Reconfiguration Proposals

The April 5, 2006 press release with NSA's initial reactions to the Superintendent's closure/reconfiguration proposals can be found at:

http://www.neighborhoodschoolsalliance.org/node/247

April 1, 2006: PPS using dubious data

Our April 1 press release responding to PPS's touting of its online poll results can be found at:
http://www.neighborhoodschoolsalliance.org/node/222

March 25, 2006: Lessons Learned? How last year’s school closures harmed our schools and city

This press release can be found at:
http://www.neighborhoodschoolsalliance.org/node/192

March 18, 2006: NSA Applauds Commissioners Sten & Saltzman

Our March 18 statement applauding Commissioners Sten and Saltzman for speaking out against school closures can be found at:

http://www.neighborhoodschoolsalliance.org/node/165

March 16, 2006: Drastic & undemocratic

View our March 16 statement on the draft closure proposals at:

http://www.neighborhoodschoolsalliance.org/node/149

March 7, 2006: Church-sponsored School to be housed at Jefferson

Visit our new website and blog: www.neigbhorhoodschoolsalliance.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 7, 2006

Church-sponsored school to be housed at Jefferson

“Academy of Character and Ethics” resurfaces at Jeff, despite Board’s recent rejection of this church-sponsored charter.

·CONTACTS: Anne Trudeau, 503-228-6384; Julie Poust, 503-235-2968; Cindy Young, 503-232-6559

Portland, OR Four new small schools at the reorganized Jefferson High were approved by the School Board at the March 1st School Board meeting. What could have gone by unnoticed, were it not for Board member Sonja Henning, is the addition of a fifth school at Jefferson, the Academy of Character and Ethics. ACE, a program sponsored by Mount Olivet Baptist Church, will operate as an alternative school.

In response to Director Henning’s questions about the approval process for alternative schools, Superintendent Phillips said it was a “miscommunication.” She thought the Board wanted the rejected charters to be considered for alternative schools, and that Mt. Olivet was the only rejected charter applicant that took the opportunity to be considered. But as Director Henning continued to point out, there was no miscommunication, but a clear lack of communication. The issue of establishing ACE as an alternative school was not brought before the Board or the Educational Options Committee that reviews proposals for new schools until the March 1 meeting. Director Henning stated that she should have known this prior to voting on the Design Team’s recommendations in January.

Why is ACE resurfacing at Jefferson, relabeled as an “alternative program,” when its charter school application was unanimously rejected by the Board in November 2005? It appears that Supt. Phillips made a decision to approve ACE without going through the alternative school approval process as detailed on the PPS site. http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts-c/edoptions/handbook_new_options/b_sectio...

The Portland community looks to the Superintendent to lead with openness and democracy. Yet ACE was not brought up to the Jefferson Design Team that met in 2005 and now the Jefferson Implementation team that was formed in February includes the Mt. Olivet pastor. There are no independent Jefferson parents, no members of Site Council, or Jefferson PTSA on the Implementation team. The only Jefferson parent on the team is also a PPS employee.

How can the existence of a church sponsored academy in a PUBLIC school be justified? Mt. Olivet includes ACE on the list of ministries on their website www.mtolivet.com and also states: “We are a church that unapologetically stands on God’s word as absolute truth.” The site's 'What we believe and teach' page includes this quote: “There is eternal punishment for all who refuse to receive the Lord, Jesus Christ, as their personal Savior during this life.” Mt. Olivet was a major contributor to the Yes on 36 campaign, donating $15,000 to the 2004 measure that opposed gay marriage.

If ACE is allowed to open its doors at Jefferson it would violate PPS's own anti-discrimination policy and the principle of separation of church and state, the foundation of religious liberty in our country.

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The Neighborhood Schools Alliance is a diverse group of parents, teachers, and community members from all areas of Portland working together to support and strengthen our neighborhood schools.

March 15, 2006: Chaos and Broken Promises

View our March 15 press release against school closures/consolidations at:

http://www.neighborhoodschoolsalliance.org/node/145

March 3, 2006: School closures cost us all

Our March 3 press release in opposition to school closures is located here:

http://www.neighborhoodschoolsalliance.org/node/105

Feb. 27, 2006 Response to Tribune "Rethinking Schools"

Our Feb. 27 email in response to the Portland Tribune "Rethinking Schools" issue can be found here:

http://www.neighborhoodschoolsalliance.org/node/92

Feb. 20, 2006: Why are PPS School Board members attending seminars at a right wing think tank?

Visit our new website: www.neighborhoodschoolsalliance.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Feb. 20, 2006

Why are PPS School Board members attending seminars at a right-wing think tank?

This is the second time in a year that our Board members have been “trained” by the Broad Foundation—a right-wing group that promotes school privatization and charters

Disturbing pattern developing as Portland Schools Foundation promotes interactions with right-wing think tanks and their agendas

NSA To School Board Members: Please sever ties with the Broad Foundation!

CONTACTS: SW-Lynn Schore and Steve Linder, 503-245-0870; SW-Ruth Adkins, 503-977-2933, SE-Anne Trudeau, 503-228-6384.

Portland, OR – The Portland School Board has cancelled their February 27 meeting so that board members can attend a Broad Foundation seminar. Not only do we question the timing of this retreat in the midst of a funding crisis: NSA is disturbed by the pattern of our school board’s attendance at this right-wing think tank’s “training” sessions, as well as the influence of right-wing think tanks in the recent Jefferson redesign process.

The Broad Foundation—reactionary and right-wing, pro-privatization and pro-charters—
is insinuating its agenda into our school district. We urge the School Board to:

· Cancel the upcoming training
· Sever their connection with the Broad Foundation
· Take a hard look at the Jefferson redesign process

What is the harm in our volunteer board taking advantage of professional development opportunities? The problem is that the Broad Foundation has a specific agenda:

· The Broad Foundation and other reactionary think tanks hail high-stakes testing because it is "data driven" — but THEY get to select the data, determine how it is used, and how hard to drive students and parents.
· Broad takes the worst of corporate management models — a GM-style, top-down, CEO-driven business model — and applies it to public education. The School Board is charged with representing the citizens of Portland, not the corporate profit-driven Broad Foundation of Los Angeles, which treats children like business capital.
· One of Broad's stated goals is privatization. Broad advocates for privatization and reform schemes to create more "knowledge workers" for corporations.
· Broad promotes charter schools.

This insidious push toward privatization and charters, advocated by the Broad Foundation, is the wrong direction for a progressive town like Portland. We need our Board members here at home, to craft solutions to our current funding crisis and to lobby in Salem. The destruction of our public schools by the Bush Administration and right-wing groups has already begun – we don't need to train our local School Board to better foster the privatization process.

Broad Foundation—reactionary and right-wing, the WRONG direction for Portland

· Established in 1999, the Broad (rhymes with "Load") Foundation began as a $400 million venue for Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad. Education News calls Broad a "philanthropist with privatization lesson plans."
· Broad attempts to reform urban public schools through corporate-trained leadership, using mayoral and school board take-overs.
· A major Broad treatise is entitled: "Public Education Needs: A – More Money. B – Better Teachers. C - Privatization."
· Seeking to "reform" K-12 education, Broad supports creating a workforce of so-called "knowledge workers." (The charge of Portland Public Schools is to create knowledgeable citizens — not corporate drones.)
· The Broad Foundation promotes charter schools. Broad-trained School Board members recently approved two new charter schools.
· Laura Bush's previous press secretary, Noelia Rodriguez, is Chief of Staff to Broad, and serves as Director of External Affairs for the Broad Foundation.
· Eli Broad has stated: "Charter schools, private schools, Edison schools, parochial schools and opportunity scholarships all provide healthy competition to our K-12 public school system. I support rapidly increasing the number of seats available outside of our public school system … in line with the third school of thought – that we must focus our attention and resources on reforming and reinvigorating the public school system itself."
· Broad's "heroes" and "leading lights" include President Bush's first-term Secretary of Education Rod Paige. This is the man who referred to the national teachers union as “terrorists.”

Disturbing pattern of growing influence within PPS

· This is the second time within a year that PPS board members have attended a Broad Foundation seminar. At the 7/6/05 school board meeting, Director Regan and three new school board members (Henning, Ryan, Sargent) discussed their attendance at a weeklong Broad Institute training for school board members.
· A Portland Schools Foundation (PSF) document notes "PSF leadership helped recruit three of the new board members and connected the school board with the Broad Institute for vital training and support."
· Soon after the Broad training session, the new School Board members (all of whose campaigns were bankrolled by Portland Schools Foundation) voted to approve new charter schools in Portland.
· Broad “Fellows” are currently involved in public high school reform in Portland, and will work on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation "Secondary Level Transformation Initiative Grant" for Jefferson. (This grant was obtained last week by NSA pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act Request to the Portland Schools Foundation.)
· PPS and the Portland Schools Foundation documented their support for charters and school "governance models" in the Gates grant, without the input or knowledge of the public.
· Broad also supports KIPP schools, touted as successful school models in two books, both entitled No Excuses, by the right-wing think tanks the Heritage Foundation and Manhattan Institute.
· The Jefferson Design Team recently visited two KIPP schools in Houston and New York. In her compelling 1/23/06 statement to the School Board, Jefferson High School PTSA President Glenda Walker called into question the validity of the design team process, calling the process "dishonest, and orchestrated, with predetermined outcomes.”

PPS's customers have NOT asked the School Board to participate in right-wing seminars! PPS must finally put its customers in direct contact with the people who actually run the PPS organization. Whether that is the School Board or the Portland Schools Foundation, NSA insists we pop the bubble that the Superintendent, Board, and Portland Schools Foundation exist in --- insulated from meaningful customer contact by a lack of democratic process.

NSA stands ready to join with parents, students, educators, grassroots groups and our Board to fight the high-stakes testing juggernaut. We stand against “philanthropic” foundations like Broad and similar groups who are privatizing our public schools in the name of testing and No Child Left Behind.

Read more about the Broad Foundation

· Broad's "Public Education Needs … Privatization" treatise:
http://www.broadfoundation.org/brochure/tbf_brochure.pdf
· For analysis of Eli Broad and the Broad Foundation, see the Data Center's Youth Strategy Project's excellent analysis of school takeovers in Oakland and other California cities: http://datacenter.org/research/oaklandtakeover.pdf .
· "Philanthropists with privatizations lesson plans," Education News:
http://www.educationnews.org/writers/daniel/philanthropists-with-privati...
· A 12/05 editorial in Substance: The Newspaper of Public Education in Chicago discussed the "union-busting, teacher-bashing Broad" in relation to Mayor Daley's "privatization, militarization, and charterization schemes":
http://www.substancenews.com/Mambo/content/view/327/84/
· From 1989 to 1997, a powerful group of CEOs called the Business Roundtable became enamored of education reform theories that feed the growing service economy. They have locked into this model, creating an elaborate network of corporate educational foundations that all work off of the same talking points (examples of these organizations, popular with the School Board, include the Broad Foundation, the Education Trust, Annenberg Institute, Harvard Graduate School of Education). In addition to this network, the national Business Roundtable organization instructed each of its state Business Roundtable affiliates to directly lobby state legislators to introduce and support high stakes testing reform. "High Stakes Testing and the New Tracking System" by Kathy Emery:
http://www.educationanddemocracy.org/Emery/Emery_NewTracking.htm
· Why Is Corporate America Bashing Our Schools?, written by Kathy Emery and Susan Ohanian. See Amazon reviews.
· Portland Schools Foundation sends 3 new Board members for Broad training: http://www.annenberginstitute.org/EKF/images/pdfs/Context_Portland.pdf

The Neighborhood Schools Alliance (NSA) is a diverse group of parents, teachers, and community members from all areas of Portland working together to support and strengthen our neighborhood schools. We believe that our neighborhood schools are the heart and soul of a livable community and that all children deserve a high-quality school in their neighborhood.

For more information on NSA, visit www.neighborhoodschoolsalliance

Feb. 13, 2006: NSA urges equitable budget cuts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —Feb. 13, 2006

Don’t cut the budget on the backs of neighborhood schools
Any cuts in next year’s PPS budget must be equitably distributed

NSA CONTACTS: NE-Lakeitha Elliott, 503-484-4930; N-Nancy Smith, 503-285-0500; SE-Cindy Young, 503-232-6559; SW-Ruth Adkins, 503-977-2933

Portland, Ore. - As PPS decision makers discuss ways to handle the impending budget crisis, the parents and other community members of the Neighborhood Schools Alliance encourage the Board and Superintendent to craft a budget that spreads the burden of cuts equitably among all students and workers in the district.

Without a replacement for the local option, and until there is a statewide funding solution, these are tough times for EVERYONE in the district. Our neighborhood schools and the District’s lowest paid workers (such as maintenance or custodians) should not bear the brunt of these cuts. If everyone shares the burden equitably, together we can make it through this latest challenge to our public schools.

Although there are no good choices with a $57 million budget shortfall, for equity and common sense NSA proposes:

• Cut school days, not staff, so that schools with large foundations cannot buy their way out of the crisis and so that we do not lose our teachers. By instituting a four-day school week, instead of cutting weeks off the year, PPS can better meet the educational needs of all its students. If school days are cut, PPS should work with parents, the City and County and community groups to ensure that all students have a safe place to go during those days.
• Rescind previous commitments to expanding special programs at the Japanese Immersion Magnet and the Mandarin Immersion Magnet schools.
• Cut extra FTE that was granted to individual magnet schools (e.g., Buckman and DaVinci).
• Rescind any charter school approvals granted in the last 6 months.
• Impose 10% pay cut for all PPS administrators, from principals to Superintendent
• School closures should not be on the table because of their high costs.* Every school closure costs the district in a myriad of ways, including exodus of families from PPS, erosion of neighborhoods, increased transportation costs, and most important, decreased trust in the district.

PPS's image can change. This is not a time for increased PR, it is a time to act with honesty and forethought. It is time for PPS to genuinely reach out to parents, their primary customers, and LISTEN. It is time to demonstrate commitment to equity and democracy in every decision.

* For example, since the 2003 proposal to close Edwards, NSA conservatively estimates there are 53 children of Edwards families who will not attend PPS schools, most of whom left because of the threat of closure or actual closure. Many of the parents of these families were highly involved in the school, including a PTA president, PTA vice president, four school foundation members, a site council member, and the before-school Spanish program coordinator.
Losing 53 students from PPS translates to an ongoing financial loss of $265,000/year to the district from just one school closure.

The Neighborhood Schools Alliance is a diverse group of parents, teachers, and community members from all areas of Portland working together to support and strengthen our neighborhood schools.
For more information on NSA and to sign up for NSA updates & info, visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NSANews/ Website coming soon!
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Jan. 24, 2006: NSA reaction to Board vote on Jefferson proposals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —January 24, 2006

Moving forward in the Jeff cluster: NSA’s hopes and expectations

NSA CONTACTS: NE-Lakeitha Elliott, 503-484-4930; N-Nancy Smith, 503-285-0500; SE-Cindy Young, 503-232-6559; SW-Ruth Adkins, 503-977-2933 Portland, Ore. - Last night the Portland School Board, as expected, unanimously endorsed the Superintendent’s redesign proposals for the Jefferson Cluster. Some of these proposals are very good; others are not. The Neighborhood Schools Alliance (NSA)—a racially, economically, and geographically diverse group that formed nearly a year ago in opposition to school closures and the reconfiguration of the Jefferson cluster—will continue to fight for accountability and equity in Portland’s public schools. We are not going away. As we move into this new phase in the Jefferson cluster, here are NSA’s hopes and expectations:

• We stand by every one of our stated concerns, comments, and objections to the Jefferson proposals. Board members may scold all they want, but the objections are genuine and they are valid.
• We sincerely hope that all the proposals are successful in doing what they are supposed to do: raise enrollment and achievement in the Jefferson cluster.
• We hope that this year—and every year from now on— Jefferson students will have a yearbook, just like every other high school in town. Not to mention a prom, graduation party, chorus, marching band, regular band, jazz band, working grand piano, journalism classes, updated science labs….
• We hope that there will be sufficient enrollment in the four new vertically organized schools at Jeff and Tubman.
• We still don’t know where all the money is coming from, but we will do our best to track the dollars and grant monies.
• We hope PPS's legal bills will not mount, and that they will not be presented with legal challenges under Title IX.
• We look forward to the establishment of a citywide dress code and “encouragement” of each school to explore uniforms. That should be an interesting process.
• We hope the tardy bell/ policy are changed so that students have enough time to pass between classes and are not penalized by missing precious class time.
• We will hold the Board to their promise to keep the Jefferson cluster reforms on the front burner and in the public eye.
• We expect to see public evidence of progress along the way, and we intend to keep watch to see that this happens.
• We hope that in ten years, Tubman and Jefferson will still be public neighborhood schools.
• We look forward to seeing all the great things that Jefferson students will accomplish in the years ahead, despite the inequities in their schools and the obstacles placed in their way.

Although we remain skeptical about the Jefferson redesign process, we are encouraged by the movement that is growing in support of neighborhood schools, equity, and democratic decision-making in public schools:

• Jefferson students led the charge and defeated the uniform proposal.
• Jefferson PTSA created a revised set of proposals that provides a detailed blueprint for productive change.
• Portland teachers’ union president Ann Nice spoke eloquently about neighborhood schools at MLK day. (“Every child deserves a quality public education and they deserve to find it right in their own neighborhood. Every child deserves a neighborhood school that offers equal access to programs.”)
• NSA joined forces with ACORN to fight for children’s safety getting to school.
• Long-standing community groups such as ACORN, Sisters in Action, and OABA continue to provide outstanding and inspiring leadership.

The Neighborhood Schools Alliance is a diverse group of parents, teachers, and community members from all areas of Portland working together to support and strengthen our neighborhood schools. For more information on NSA and to sign up for NSA updates & info, visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NSANews/

Jan. 23, 2006: Final comments on Superintendent's revised proposals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —January 23, 2006

NSA comments on Superintendent’s proposals for Jefferson cluster—Lack of accountability, reckless reconfigurations put Jeff’s future at risk

NSA CONTACTS: NE-Lakeitha Elliott, 503-484-4930; SE-Cindy Young, 503-232-6559; SW-Ruth Adkins, 503-977-2933 Portland, Ore. - After studying Supt. Vicki Phillips’ revised proposals for the Jefferson cluster, the Neighborhood Schools Alliance (NSA) has many concerns, particularly about the radical reconfiguration of Jefferson and Tubman. With the removal of the controversial uniforms requirement, these proposals are very likely to receive the “rubber stamp” of approval by the Board on Monday night. However, many serious issues remain:

Same-sex programs will be costly, put PPS at risk for lawsuits.

The Board’s resolution makes sweeping claims for the potential benefits of same-sex schooling. In supporting these proposals, they are falling into line with the agenda of ultra-conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation, which promote same-sex programs (along with uniform dress, strict focus on discipline, and emphasis on testing) as the best way to close the achievement gap for “minority” students. Racist, segregated, right-wing approaches are not the right direction for Portland or the Jefferson cluster. There is no demonstrated demand for same-sex schooling in the Jefferson cluster. Why embark on this radical experiment without first surveying families to assess the level of interest? There is still no plan to gather input from Jefferson families to determine the level of interest for various proposed configurations/programs. How many students does PPS expect to enroll in the single-sex schools? How many students must they attract to justify the cost of establishing and running a separate program? (Remember that PPS recently closed 6 successful neighborhood schools, claiming we can’t afford to run a school that is “too small,” no matter how high-performing it may be.) What about the traditional 6th-8th middle school, available in every other area of Portland? Are we sure that Jeff families don’t want this choice any more? What happens if the lack of a middle school drives yet more families out of the area, further decreasing enrollment? Will the girls at Tubman truly have equal access to athletic and other facilities? We must see the specifics. Hastily establishing separate-sex schooling puts PPS at risk for a costly lawsuit under Title IX. The last thing we need is yet another huge legal bill for PPS.

Jeff’s 9/10 and 11/12 small schools were heading in the right direction—why throw away this hard work?

The 9/10 School of Pride and 11/12 School of Champions (created after the most recent “redesign” of Jeff) were on the right track. As teachers, parents and students testified at Jeff last week, test scores were increasing, staff and students were engaged, and there was positive momentum. Abandoning this effort and starting all over again—with four separate, vertically organized schools spread over two campuses—will be very costly and makes little sense. Why not simply enhance and strengthen the 9/10 & 11/12 small schools with additional teacher development, AP/IB, more course offerings, and student/family support? Simply restoring band, choir, journalism, and yearbook to Jeff would go a long way toward leveling the playing field with Portland’s other high schools and would help draw back students. The proposals offer no specifics related to curriculum, and nothing related to equity in course offerings. We know the names of the "academies," but what specific programs/courses will be offered? How can parents be expected to enroll their children without specifics? The recommendations include spending $635,000 in one-time implementation costs and $227,000 in continuing annual costs, yet they allocate no money focused on achievement and they don’t include all the costs of the new configurations. Will each of the four vertical small schools require its own principal (at $100K+ each, including benefits)? In what way will the Jeff and Tubman buildings be upgraded/remodeled to accommodate the new configurations? The $315,000 estimate mentioned in the proposal only covers costs for “floors, white boards, walls, ADA, painting and signing.” What about high-school caliber labs, equipment, and athletic facilities at Tubman? Will the four separate schools at Jeff require four separate administrative offices and other retrofitting?

Taking uniforms off the table and looking at a citywide policy is a step in the right direction.

However, we are troubled by the language of the Board resolution, that “the dress codes at Jefferson and Harriet Tubman will be firmly enforced during the remainder of the 2005-06 school year and in 2006-07.” Why are Jeff and Tubman students being singled out for “firm enforcement” of a citywide issue? Every high school in town has dress, behavior, and achievement issues. It is inequitable to allow bare midriffs at Benson or Wilson but not at Jefferson. Selective enforcement is not only inequitable and illegal, it will drive students from Jefferson.

Will “partnering” with PCC, Emanuel pave the way for a takeover of school property?

The proposals talk about “partnering” with nearby PCC and Emanuel. While we applaud the idea of bringing higher education and medical/biotechnical curriculum into the school, we are wary that in the context of the Jeff redesign, such “partnerships” are paving the way for outside entities to take control of our public school properties. What will happen, for example, if the girls-only academy at Tubman fails to attract sufficient students? Tubman’s proximity to Emanuel and to downtown makes it an extremely attractive and valuable property. Once public school properties are privatized, they can never be regained.

Troubling lack of accountability.

The proposals do not specify how the District will be accountable for the outcomes of the proposals. For example, what is the mechanism for reporting back to the public on the outcomes of efforts to beef up the TAG program at Jeff? The implementation plan is being left entirely up to the Superintendent, apparently without Board or public oversight. In last year’s March 28th resolution, the Board was directed to implement the proposed changes based on the District’s policy for “implementation for major school changes.” However, this document deals with school closures. The current resolution reads "That the Board of Education agrees with the Superintendent on the importance of an effective implementation strategy for these changes and directs the Superintendent to establish an implementation plan in line with the District revised Procedures for the implementation of Major School Changes." What will this plan contain? No one knows. The plan should include checkpoints and written reports to the public at specified periods throughout the implementation process. As it currently stands, the proposals require the public to take it on trust that the District will carry out all the reforms and improvements as promised. Unfortunately, even the best of intentions do not always get carried out. It is only common sense to demand accountability and specifics before launching a reform effort of this magnitude where the stakes are so high for the children of Portland.

Additional comments and questions:

• Why were the many carefully considered and detailed recommendations of the Jefferson PTSA not included in the final document?
• According to the 06/07 school choice packet, Jeff, Roosevelt and Marshall will not be given priority transfers and the district will no longer pay for students to attend schools outside of their district. But if you read the 9th paragraph in the proposal it says the complete opposite. Furthermore, the transfer policy is racist in that it provides co-enrolled sibling priority for students. However this does not apply to NCLB. In this same paragraph the district references resolution 3019. Resolution 3019 does not speak to transfer issues.
• Why is Chief Joseph not included in the list of Jefferson cluster schools? What is the plan for Chief Joe?
• Jeff Dancers currently bused in and out for dance classes should be immediately required to attend Jefferson High School as enrolled Jeff students. Otherwise, to call this elite group the “Jefferson” Dancers is a sham.
• Boise Eliot must specifically be restored to Jeff cluster. The proposals do not include a timeline or any indication for when the Boise-Eliot feeder pattern will be changed back to Jefferson.
• The implementation team must specifically include parents from each school, not just “community.”
• Where will the money come from? Some of the proposals appear to be unfunded mandates—for example, the required interview and application process for all students at Jeff and Tubman.

More information regarding concerns about the benefits and the legal risks of establishing single-sex public schools:

Although single-gender settings may help avoid gender bias and the distractions of coeducational classrooms, some experts question whether they are the best remedy. They acknowledge the urgent problems single-gender programs are meant to solve; they also express concerns, however, about the risk of a separate and unequal allocation of education resources and the reinforcement of stereotypes that certain groups are low achievers and need extra help. Whatever the effectiveness and desirability of single-gender programs, single-gender public elementary and secondary education is limited by law. Restricting enrollment in a public school program to either gender may discriminate on the basis of gender and, thus, be contrary to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. It may also violate the equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions. GAO's Report to the House Budget Committee, "Public Education: Issues Involving Single Gender Schools and Programs" (May 1996), pp. 6-7. http://www.gao.gov/archive/1996/he96122.pdf

The Neighborhood Schools Alliance is a diverse group of parents, teachers, and community members from all areas of Portland working together to support and strengthen our neighborhood schools. For more information on NSA and to sign up for NSA updates & info, visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NSANews/

Jan. 12, 2006: Focus on proposals that will increase quality, build enrollment at Jefferson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —January 12, 2006

NSA: Focus on proposals that will increase quality, build enrollment at Jefferson

• Trimester schedule, curriculum equity, 9-12 career pathways among the excellent ideas suggested by Design Team NSA CONTACTS: N-Nancy Smith, 503-285-0500; SE-Cindy Young, 503-232-6559; SW-Ruth Adkins, 503-977-2933 Portland, Ore. - The Neighborhood Schools Alliance applauds the Jefferson High School students and PPS teachers who spoke out at Monday night's Board meeting as well as recent letters to the editor in the Oregonian regarding the Jeff redesign proposals. The controversial “uniform dress,” same-sex and 7-12 proposals should be taken off the table so attention can be focused on the Design Team’s many excellent recommendations—ones that will improve the quality of education, and thus attract students to come back to Jefferson. (See below for some highlights.) If some parents like the idea of uniforms, same-sex and/or 7-12 education in our public high schools, then let's have a separate conversation about these approaches. But any discussion of uniforms, same-sex or 7-12 education must take place in the context of the entire city of Portland, not just a single school. It would be an utter travesty—racist, sexist, and illegal—to establish a separate and unequal way of educating children at Jefferson and Tubman, which happen to be predominantly African-American. NSA is also concerned that acceptance of the same-sex or uniforms proposals will put the District at risk for lawsuits under both the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Title IX. The ACLU and NOW have mounted legal challenges against similar schools across the nation. Let's not rush into anything radical which might cause the District's already-mounting legal bills to skyrocket. Here are some of the Design Team's proposals that we think are very good ideas. We would like to hear more from PPS about these proposals, in terms of the specifics of what each proposal would look like and how they would be implemented:

• Restore Boise Eliot (located just 8 blocks from Jeff) as a Jeff cluster school NOW—not in two to three years. (Citizens heard many similar promises from the District regarding building a new Whitaker School, but those promises were never fulfilled.)


• Create a rigorous college-prep International Baccalaureate program at Jeff and possibly throughout the cluster.


• Make Jefferson cluster elementary schools PreK-8.

We also would like to focus attention on the Design Team's additional recommendations, recently posted on the PPS website: http://159.191.14.139/www.pps.k12.or.us/depts/com_gov/staff/christopher/... Below are a few highlights. Note that the recommendations focus on improving course offerings and quality at Jeff within the existing 9-12 configuration (which would align with the new PreK-8 configuration), and do not require the expensive and inefficient establishment of segregated "academies" in two separate buildings:

• All students participating in any programs/classes at JHS must be enrolled and attend Jefferson.
[That is, immediately end the practice of “Jefferson” Dancers being bused in for their dance classes and then leaving to go back to their home schools.]
• Eliminate disparities of student assignment to special education, talented and gifted, AP classes, and remedial courses based on race, gender, and national origin.
• Increase number of students be placed in AP courses – end the current selection/tracking process that’s in place now.
• Switch to Trimester Schedule:
• Increases number of courses students take per year
• Allows more daily instructional time in each course
• Supported by research to improve student achievement
• Allows additional course offerings at no additional cost
• Assessment of community needs, outline of follow-through steps and concluding survey assessing community satisfaction
• Equity with range of course offerings at other PPS high schools
• Increase rigor in core programs (9-12) at Jeff--reflecting community input that lack of rigor is a key reason for transferring out. Specifically:
• English: increase course offerings; add literature, journalism (newspaper, yearbook)
• Foreign Language: increase course offerings/languages offered
• Health (Biotech): expand magnet program, i.e. additional occupations (partner with Emanuel Hospital)
• Information Technology: develop state-of-the-art computer and information technology program (Microsoft Portals partnership)
• Math: increase course offerings
• PCC/Cascade Partnership: increase program/course offerings
• Performing Arts: expand to include choral and instrumental (partner with IFCC, ETHOS)
• Science: develop state-of-the-art Environmental (Sustainable Business) program
• Career Pathways: 9-12
• Applied Arts and Communications (Information Technology; Performing Arts; Publishing and Broadcasting; Video and Film; Visual Arts)
• Business and Management (Management; Marketing; Finance; Hospitality and Tourism)
• Industrial and Engineering Systems (Construction; Engineering and Architecture; Manufacturing; Transportation)
• Information Technology (System Administration, Software Engineering, Web Design)
• Health Services (Health Services)
• Human Services (Criminal Justice and Legal Services; Education; Emergency and Fire Services)
• Natural Resource Systems (Agriculture and Environmental Services)
NSA looks forward to an in-depth discussion of these and other recommendations. Let's keep our eyes on the prize: providing a high-quality 9-12 education at Jefferson to bring back all the students currently going elsewhere. The Neighborhood Schools Alliance is a group of parents, teachers, and community members from all areas of Portland working together to support and strengthen all our neighborhood schools. For more information on NSA and to sign up for NSA updates & info, visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NSANews/
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Jan. 9, 2006: NSA urges Board to increase enrollment at Jeff through educational quality for all

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —January 9, 2006 NSA CONTACTS: N-Nancy Smith, 503-285-0500; SE-Cindy Young, 503-232-6559; SW-Ruth Adkins, 503-977-2933

NSA urges Board to increase enrollment at Jeff through educational quality for all—rather than set up Jeff for failure with racist "reforms"

Portland, Ore. — Members of the Neighborhood Schools Alliance applaud the editorial by Susan Nielsen and the comments by Glenda Walker in Sunday’s Oregonian. Nielsen writes: "How can Jefferson keep its vital role as an anchor of the African American community, while also expanding its identity to attract a diverse student body?" This is the crucial question. PPS must win back students of all colors. The key is providing a high-quality curriculum and strong support from PPS. Unfortunately, the main proposals from the PPS Jeff Design Team—same-sex academies and "uniform dress"—by narrowly appealing to a segregation-based, separate-and-unequal approach to education, will make it impossible for Jeff to rebuild enrollment. We strongly agree with Ms. Walker’s comments that the "design team’s focus was either lost or misdirected" and that attention should be focused on strong, quality curriculum, not distractions like uniforms and same-sex "academies." And, we agree with Tony Hopson that "More people of all colors -- including more African Americans -- need to wrap their arms around Jefferson." We urge everyone to read the Team’s curriculum committee recommendations, which have finally been published on the PPS website: http://159.191.14.139/www.pps.k12.or.us/depts/com_gov/staff/christopher/... A few additional comments:

• Is Jeff being set up for failure? We fear that PPS is setting Jefferson up for failure: On the one hand they are demanding an enrollment increase to fill the building while on the other hand, they propose reconfiguring it as a school that is not reflective of its neighborhood’s diverse demographics, thus ensuring enrollment decline. They did ZERO research with their customers, the community, yet somehow expect enrollment to increase. The process is disingenuous and reeks of "failure by design."
• Design Team process was flawed, lacks consensus and customer research. We applaud Nielsen and Walker for pointing out the truth: there was no "overwhelming consensus" on the Design Team regarding uniforms, same-sex schools and the 7-12 configuration, and many of the JDT members felt they should have spent more time on proposals aimed at matters of substance like curriculum, programs, & quality teaching.
• The same-sex/uniform/multiple configuration plan is a plan to close Jefferson and Tubman. Let’s look at the overall picture. PPS knows these proposals will further drive away non-Black folks, and will also drive away the current Jefferson students as well. The result? Enrollment declines further and both Jefferson and Tubman are closed. At that point the Black voice completely LOST, because by then they will be scattered everywhere. Now that is racist.

The Neighborhood Schools Alliance is a group of parents, teachers, and community members from all areas of Portland working together to support and strengthen our neighborhood schools. For more information on NSA and to sign up for NSA updates & info, visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NSANews/

Jan. 3, 2006: NSA comments on Jeff proposals

According to the Board’s 3/28/05 resolution and Supt. Vicki Phillips, the Jefferson Design Team was created based upon the need to: 1) Increase enrollment, bringing back the many families currently going elsewhere; 2) Increase student achievement by providing a more “robust” curriculum. Unfortunately, apart from a few good ideas—making some elementary schools PreK-8, providing a rigorous IB program, and restoring Boise-Eliot to its rightful home in the Jefferson cluster—the Neighborhood Schools Alliance thinks the current proposals for Jefferson will not meet these goals. Here’s why: • Proposals perpetuate racial segregation/inequity. These proposals are based primarily on a few site visits to “minority” schools in other cities. A plan based on segregated schools, with a 7-12 configuration that does not align with the rest of the district’s K-5/6-8 model, both assumes and perpetuates the isolation of African-American students at Jefferson. These racially-based proposals will worsen the existing segregation at Jeff, and perpetuate the notion that all black students think and learn the same. If the District truly hopes to increase enrollment and raise achievement at Jeff, then improvements should be aimed at attracting all families living in the area. “Reforms” based on misguided attempts to treat black students separately and unequally are not only morally and legally unacceptable, they are unlikely to succeed given the need to attract students of all colors in order to increase Jeff’s enrollment. • Proposals not based on market research—families were never asked what they want. There was discussion during the Design Team process of conducting a survey of families to see what types of programs they are interested in. This research never happened. We do know that last February hundreds of parents testified against the 7-12 configuration. Is there a market demand for same-sex schools? For 7-12 schools? For the specific academies/programs proposed? We simply don’t know. It seems extremely foolish to impose these major changes without finding out if there is sufficient interest to make these programs successful—particularly given the District’s current financial constraints. We can’t afford expensive experiments that are not supported by families. • Design Team process was flawed. We sincerely appreciate the time and effort put in by the volunteers on the Jefferson Design Team. However, a process that is being touted by PPS as based on community consensus and “months of research” was in reality PPS-driven and compressed into a few short weeks The configuration/program proposals were decided by a few individuals on a subcommittee whose members were pre-selected by the district. These proposals were not even presented to the design team until the last meeting, with only 20 minutes remaining. No research was conducted with the actual “customers”—families living in the Jeff cluster. • Uniforms for just one Portland high school? Separate and Unequal. Uniforms should only be considered on a District wide basis. If sagging pants, revealing tops, and expensive sneakers are a problem at Jeff, they are equally a problem at every other high school in town. To suggest that Jefferson students need uniforms to reduce “gang influence” and “distractions” is a racist insult. To impose uniforms at this one Portland high school is not only racist, it will further increase segregation and further drive down Jeff’s enrollment by forcing out Jefferson students/families seeking the same rights and opportunities afforded everyone else in PPS. • How will small “academies” work in terms of principal leadership? There was consensus on the Design Team that to be successful, schools need strong and effective leadership. We agree. But: How will leadership work under these proposals? Will the small schools within Jeff each have their own principal? This will be extremely costly and could lead to major conflict. Or, will one principal be asked to oversee several small schools, each with different curricula and teaching philosophies? This seems unworkable. • Mixed configurations will reduce choice/increase transitions. These proposals eliminate middle schools, making the Jeff cluster the only part of the city without this option. Moreover: If Jeff-area students start at a K-6 school but wish to attend one of the 9-12 “academies,” where would they go for 7th-8th grade? What if they don’t want to spend those two years at a single-sex school? How will switching schools twice in two years help them achieve? Wasn’t part of the justification for 7-12 to avoid “transitions”? Fragmenting the Jeff cluster into many separate programs & configurations will actually reduce choice and increase transitions as students are forced to hop from school to school. The Neighborhood Schools Alliance is a group of parents, teachers, and community members from all areas of Portland working together to support and strengthen our neighborhood schools. NSA CONTACTS: N-Nancy Smith, 503-285-0500; SE-Cindy Young, 503-232-6559; SW-Ruth Adkins, 503-977-2933 For more information on NSA and to sign up for NSA updates & info, visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NSANews/

Jonathan Kozol on segregation, uniforms and “polishing the apple of apartheid”

From the National Education Association website: Jonathan Kozol has spent four decades writing about the terrible and wonderful things that happen in low-income, minority schools. He was fired from his first public school teaching job in Boston for using a book by black poet Langston Hughes. Since then he has written 11 books, winning several awards. Kozol spent five years visiting 60 schools in 11 states for his latest book "The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America." Also, Kozol in a recent interview told "NEA Today" that he refused to give another recipe for running "good" segregated schools. On “special approaches” tailored toward black students, which perpetuate segregation: “If the differentness of children of minorities is seen as so extreme as to require an inventory of 'appropriate' approaches built around the proclamation of their absolute uniqueness from the other children of this nation, it begins to seem not only sensible but maybe even ethically acceptable to isolate them as completely as we can, either in segregated schools they now attend or else in wholly separate tracks within those schools in which some mix of economic class and race may now and then prevail... Those who are convinced that educational efficiency is better served by targeting one group of children with one method of instruction, and another with a very different method, may regard the racial separation of our children in their public schools, no matter how distasteful it would be to say this, as a matter of convenience and of simple practicality. Those who have invested their careers in the development of these distinct curricula may reassure us that the data that they have at hand confirm the benefits to be derived from serving wholly different kinds of pedagogic fare to children who, in their belief, have wholly different kinds of psychological and pedagogic needs." (The Shame of the Nation, pp. 272, 273) On the fad for small schools in larger buildings: "There is, however, much unevenness among the small schools now evolving in New York and other cities. When school boards seize upon this concept as a panacea for systemic problems and begin to stamp out small academies without the long preliminary groundwork ... they end up making little more than fashionably smaller versions of the unsuccessful large schools they're replacing ... the designation 'small academy' turned out to be simply a novel-sounding decoration for another inner-city holding tank for students who could not obtain admission to a better and more academic institution." (p. 275) On “polishing the apple of apartheid”: “I’m not going to propose a small segregated school. I’m not going to propose a small segregated school with uniforms and silent lunches. I’m not going to propose a segregated school, even with slightly higher test scores. I’m too old to spend the rest my life helping you to polish the apple of apartheid.” (Source: Interview with NEA, http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0511/kozol.html) On “fixing” schools with uniforms: He is equally harsh toward so-called experts, the "bombastic charlatans" who turn up yearly with quick and easy plans to "fix" what has gone wrong in the nation's schools—"as if this were not a moral travesty we're dealing with, but some kind of mechanical dilemma." One year, he said, "smaller and more intimate segregated and unequal schools [are] trendy. Or separate and unequal schools with tougher discipline and strict accountability. Or separate and unequal schools where black kids march around in uniforms. Or separate and unequal schools with upbeat slogans and lots of self-help incantations on the walls." He told of a school he visited in Seattle, for instance, where the children chanted "I have confidence that I can learn" 30 times each morning. "There's something heartbreaking about it," he said. "They never chant those slogans in schools where it's assumed they can learn." Kozol offered no such panaceas. "We haven't just ripped apart the legacy of Brown," he said. "We haven't even lived up to the tarnished promises of Plessy v. Ferguson: Our schools are separate; that's self-evident. They're nowhere near equal." He called that "the real heartbreaker," and encouraged an enthusiastic standing-room-only audience to join him in refusing to silence their convictions. "I believe apartheid schooling is a cancer on the body of American democracy," he concluded. "It needs to be cut out, and I intend to keep fighting for this struggle until my dying day." (Source: Harvard Graduate School of Education News, http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/2005/1214_kozol.html)

Nov. 16, 2005: NSA reacts to Superintendent's proposals, charter votes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —Nov. 16, 2005 NSA CONTACTS: NE-Lakeitha Elliott, 503-287-1430; SE-Cindy Young, 503-232-6559; SW-Ruth Adkins, 503-977-2933

NSA is encouraged by Superintendent’s proposals, Board decisions on charters

• No closures = good news; citywide community planning a crucial next step • Board votes to give neighborhood schools a chance—Bravo! Portland, Ore. — Members of the Neighborhood Schools Alliance were in attendance and testified at Monday night’s Board meeting. We are extremely pleased that there are no school closures in these proposals. Additional neighborhood school closures, especially as PPS is preparing to ask voters to support a new I-tax, would have been devastating. A few comments on the proposals: • Skyline K-8 idea came from the community. Shifting Skyline Elementary School—a remotely located smaller school that feeds to a crowded middle school—to K-8 is a great solution, and one that arose from that school’s community. The PPS proposal provides a detailed analysis of the many educational and developmental benefits of K-8. We see growing momentum across the city for adopting the K-8 configuration based on community demand. • Middle school should still be an option, no matter where you live. We also want to underscore that the District’s position is adding K-8 for Skyline is a good move as long as families still have a traditional middle school option. We believe this same standard should be applied equally to the Jefferson cluster, where the Superintendent’s proposal, currently under study by the Design Team, would remove the traditional middle school option from this one area of town. • Board should decide on all proposals at once, including Jefferson. The Jefferson Design Team has been working extremely hard and we look forward to hearing their ideas for innovative reforms in the Jefferson cluster. However, the two-tiered Board approval process should be revised. The Board should be allowed to wait to hear what the Jefferson proposals are, and only then vote on all the school change proposals as a single package. • Base Sunnyside replication on community interest/needs. On the proposed “replication” of the K-8 Sunnyside Environmental School, our caution would be to make sure this replication is done well—above all, that the program is located in a school and neighborhood that wants it—that the program isn’t forced upon a neighborhood school, as has happened all too often with other special focus programs, resulting in conflict and family flight. Locating the program should not be just facilities-based (finding a building that is the right size), but community-based—finding a location where there is interest in and support for the program. • What is happening with Whitaker? The Board resolved long ago to build a new middle school to replace the toxic Whitaker site. There was no mention of this promise in the Superintendent’s proposals. What is the status of a new Whitaker building? • Community planning should be citywide, not just in “quadrants.” We look forward to the Superintendent’s announced community planning process. However, we feel strongly that separate processes for each quadrant of the city are not sufficient—there needs to be a citywide examination, especially to address any areas of inequity in school quality between areas of town. Also, we hope that this process will include stakeholders from the City, neighborhood associations, and community organizations as well as the housing industry to ensure the process truly steps back and looks at the big picture for how our schools fit into Portland’s long-term planning for livability. Working together on strategies to increase affordable housing, in particular, is absolutely critical to our city’s future as well as the survival of our public school system. True impact of school closure still not clear. We were very glad to see some data on costs and impact of closure in last night’s proposals. However, we believe more work needs to be done to ensure accuracy and completeness: • The student count focuses on what happened to existing students, but does not include those potential new families with younger children, who would have attended their neighborhood school but now are either homeschooling, attending private school or have moved out of district. • As noted in the Oregonian on 11/15, NSA member Cindy Young’s own survey of Edwards families (which includes siblings) indicates 46 children lost to PPS due to the Edwards closure, versus the District’s count of 18. This significant variance from the district’s data indicates further review is in order. • The District’s cost savings estimates do not factor in the loss of revenue due to those families who have left PPS due to closures. At $5,000 per child per year, those costs add up fast. • The Board has cited both financial and educational reasons as driving the closures. Many parents feel if the District had simply been more straightforward — the fact is, they closed these schools in order to fill up larger, nearby buildings — the entire closure process, while still painful, would have been much better accepted. Instead we were sometimes told the closures were to save money while at other times we were told the closures are all about providing better range of educational offerings at the larger school. We have yet to see any data on whether the educational offerings at the merged schools are, in fact, better than those that were at the closed school. Board did the right thing in halting new charter schools that would undermine neighborhood schools. NSA applauds Directors Williams, Morgan, and Wynde for their decisive and conscientious votes to turn down two new charters that would have drained students from the Jefferson cluster and Madison High School, and would have undermined the reform efforts currently underway in those schools. We note that these three are the most experienced Board members and also those who went through the closure process last year; they understand the significant adverse impact that charter schools have on enrollment. Regarding the Village Charter School, those Board members in favor noted that offering a Waldorf program would be a great choice for PPS to provide families. This sounds good in theory. However, while PPS can offer this choice to everyone, the likely reality of who would actually choose this elite option is upper middle class European-Americans. Providing a private school education for an exclusive group at public expense is a bad choice for PPS. It makes better sense, and will be far more equitable, to replicate aspects of the Waldorf approach into our existing schools. We hope that the charter applicants will do so in their neighborhood schools. The Neighborhood Schools Alliance is a group of parents, teachers, and community members from all areas of Portland working together to support and strengthen our neighborhood schools. For more information on NSA and to sign up for NSA updates & info, visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NSANews/

Nov. 1, 2005: NSA urges: Let’s slow down the freight train!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —Nov. 1, 2005 NSA CONTACTS: NE-Lakeitha Elliott, 503-287-1430; SE-Cindy Young, 503-232-6559; SW-Ruth Adkins, 503-977-2933

NSA urges: Let’s slow down the freight train!

• Jefferson redesign process rapidly approaching deadline • Another round of “wham-bam” neighborhood school closures likely to be announced mid-November, will be pushed through in just 30 days Portland, Ore. — As their December deadline rapidly approaches, the community volunteers on the Jefferson Design Team continue their good-faith efforts to recommend a grade configuration and programs for the Jefferson middle/high schools. Having observed and contributed to this design process, the Neighborhood Schools Alliance has the following comments: Design Team has not had enough time to do their job right. Through no fault of the Team members, progress has been very slow. It took four months for PPS to convene the Team’s first meeting. There have been few opportunities to gather public input. During Oct.-Nov., Team members are being sent off to distant cities on time-consuming site visits—most of them charter schools with different neighborhood demographics. In short, the Team has not had enough time to provide meaningful recommendations. The deadline should be extended so that the Team can do the job they are dedicated to do. PPS still not getting down to specifics. Despite repeated requests from team members and the community, PPS still has not provided any information about how different configurations would work in terms of facilities and numbers of students. (NSA has prepared a spreadsheet showing this information, and will submit it to the Team in hopes it will be used as a starting point for a substantive discussion.) Nor has there been research into what specific programs/curriculum would attract local families. Is “filling the building” the real reason for 7-12? Although PPS likes to change the subject by accusing NSA of being “negative” and “not keeping an open mind,” the fact is we have yet to hear any solid, educational rationale for the Superintendent’s 7-12 plan. All we can conclude is that the 7-12 plan is really just about consolidation of facilities—filling the Jefferson building and closing Tubman. The problem is, if the public rejects the 7-12 configuration, as seems likely given the strong community opposition thus far, then this strategy will fail. Enrollment will continue to decline, setting us on an inevitable course to close Jefferson in a few years. Is 7-12 a done deal? As far as we can tell, the Superintendent’s 7-12 proposal has nothing to do with raising educational excellence or increasing enrollment. The only education-related rationale we have heard is “fewer transitions are better for students.” However, the widely popular K-8 model provides the same benefit. Moreover: • Why is the Jeff cluster being asked to consolidate its high school into an untested, unpopular 7-12 model to deal with the citywide issues of declining enrollment and budget problems—especially when the Jefferson cluster has the second highest number of PPS students living in the neighborhood? • Why have Jefferson cluster elementary schools already been converted to the K-6 model—yet this is not supposed to be a “done deal”? Why has Boise Eliot been taken out of the Jeff cluster? Despite repeated requests, the rationale for the Board’s decision to remove Boise Eliot Elementary from the Jefferson cluster (the district’s smallest high school) to the Grant cluster (the district’s largest high school) has yet to be explained. This illogical Board decision, resulting in an additional enrollment loss of over 500 Jefferson neighborhood students, was made the same evening the Board passed the resolution to create the Design Team, based upon the need to increase enrollment in the Jefferson cluster. More school closures coming soon? According to the district’s timeline, another round of neighborhood school closures could be announced in mid-November, with public comment in a few hearings at the end of November and a final “rubber-stamp” decision in mid-December. Thus once again the entire closure process would be pushed through in just 30 days, without meaningful public input in the decision making process. Where is the long-term planning? It’s high time for the District to slow down and take a good look at where we are going with neighborhood school closures. The long-term enrollment decline is projected to even out in a few years. Let’s all work together—PPS, the City, and community members—and take a big-picture look at the overall number and location of school buildings, and talk about how many more the District feels it needs to close, and the cost/benefits of neighborhood schools. The District’s current mode—lurching from one year to the next, closing a handful of schools each year, leaving angry families and abandoned school buildings in their wake—is not a recipe for success. Closing neighborhood schools is not a solution to the budget crisis. • Why not focus on building up enrollment so we don’t have to close schools? (Especially in the Jefferson cluster, the children are there. They just aren’t choosing their neighborhood schools, due to the inequitable level of educational programs and opportunities compared to other PPS schools.) • Why isn’t PPS putting in PreK district-wide, and looking for after-school childcare providers, to bring in young families and fill excess space—rather than looking for “education-related” renters after the school is closed? • Why aren’t they closing the district’s many portable classrooms, instead of schools? • Why are the elite focus option/magnet programs (Japanese Immersion, Winterhaven, Sunnyside, Odyssey, etc.) given free rein to take over neighborhood school buildings? Why are the small program size and per-student costs of these “boutique” schools never questioned? We hope that rather than announce another round of poorly thought-out neighborhood school closures, this November the District will launch a collaborative PPS/City/community process to look at an array of proactive solutions to increase enrollment and keep our public school system afloat. The Neighborhood Schools Alliance is a group of parents, teachers, and community members from all areas of Portland working together to support and strengthen our neighborhood schools. NSA contacts: NE-Lakeitha Elliott, 503-287-1430; SE-Cindy Young, 503-232-6559; SW-Ruth Adkins, 503-977-2933 For more information on NSA and to sign up for NSA updates & info, visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NSANews/

Sept. 22, 2005: Applegate bus stops: Separate and unequal safety standards for Portland children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —Sept. 22, 2005

Separate and unequal safety standards for Portland children

Portland Public Schools still refusing to add a bus stop to ensure safety of N/NE students told to cross MLK Blvd. Neighborhood Schools Alliance contacts: NE-Lakeitha Elliott, 503-287-1430; SE-Cindy Young, 503-232-6559; SW-Ruth Adkins, 503-977-2933 An open letter to the Superintendent and Portland School Board from the Neighborhood Schools Alliance Since February, parents from closed Applegate Elementary School have been telling you their children need additional bus stops so that their children can travel safely to their new school, Woodlawn. Parents and community members have spoken at Board meetings, made phone calls, written letters, and organized demonstrations. PPS did add one bus stop, but requests for an additional one (at the corner of NE Rodney and Morgan, just west of MLK Blvd.) are not being honored. The last we heard, PPS was looking into the unspecified “cost” of adding a stop. What is the cost of one injured or killed child? NSA has just learned that this week that two new bus stops have been added for students at Abernethy Elementary School, and they aren't even in the official Abernethy catchment area. The newly added bus stops are more than a mile from Abernethy, which now has a catchment area that stretches from the river to SE 39th. Is the PPS Transportation Department balking at putting in the Woodlawn stops because they are less than a mile from Woodlawn, or because a walk signal and crosswalk will supposedly protect children crossing four lanes of traffic on MLK? Vicki Phillips recently assured a City Club audience that PPS is different now, and it was the the old PPS that "favored bureaucracy over positive action." PPS still looks as if it is favoring bureaucracy over positive action when it refuses to provide a simple bus stop so children will not have to cross a dangerously busy arterial like MLK Blvd. Supt. Phillips claims that PPS is focusing on "raising attendance rates, and making sure our students have the social services and support they need to arrive at school ready to learn," but PPS's own Transportation Department cannot even respond to common-sense safety requests from concerned parents. Supt. Phillips sounded as if she was bravely confronting racism in her speech to the City Club: "To make any progress closing the achievement gap for our students of color and those from low-income homes, each and every one of us must examine our assumptions about our students, about the curriculum we use, the way that we teach and how we interact with our community." The ease with which the majority white, middle-class Abernethy students received additional bus stops, in contrast to the difficulty and resistance that Applegate/Woodlawn parents have had, points to a racist, socioeconomic bias in PPS’s interactions with different members of the community. Neighborhood Schools Alliance condemns this unequal treatment and demands adequate bus stops for the safe transportation of ALL children to their schools. Anything short of that is business as usual for PPS, and puts our precious children at risk.