Finally some action from the City!
A couple days ago (4/20/06) City Commissioner Eric Sten put forth a proposal that could reverse the problem of declining enrollment in Portland public schools.
You can access the statement called "Commissioner Eric Sten puts schools, healthy neighborhoods and affordable housing on center stage," as well as the accompanying resolutions through this link
http://www.portlandonline.com/sten/
Here's a quote from Sten's statement:
"We must find ways to increase the number of children in Portland Public Schools so that schools are funded at a level where they flourish not falter. Increasing families in the inner neighborhoods will not only help Portland Public Schools but will take some of the pressure off outlying districts confronted with overcrowding."
He goes on to propose two initiatives to do that.
This is great news for supporters of affordable housing and public schools! Please support Commissioner Sten and the resolutions he is proposing for City Council approval.
Thank you Commissioner Sten!!
Please show your support--drop a line of thanks to: erik@ci.portland.or.us or call: 503-823-3589
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"Take a step back and stop improvising"
Three cheers for Erik Sten!
His statement also says:
[emphasis added]
This is a very diplomatic way of saying: WHOOAA, VICKI! Not so fast.
So I say bravo, Erik Sten. Again, please show your support for Sten's family housing/schools resolutions by writing erik@ci.portland.or.us or calling 503-823-3589.
We should not close any more schools until we have:
a) closed as many portables as possible;
b) placed as many Preschool and PreK programs in schools as possible (to draw in new families);
c) worked with the City to identify locations for family housing development near schools and numbers of children we can attract;
d) turned off the relentless PR spin machine endlessly pushing the false comparisons with 1970 and with Beaverton and the misleading claims about cost savings of closures;
e) abandoned the negative, doom-and-gloom attitude that we are "a district of declining enrollment" and declared proactively that we are a district seeking to grow enrollment wherever possible;
f) conducted a thorough re-assessment of how many neighborhood schools we actually need in a vibrant family-friendly city, and where they should be located.
What is there to Cheer about
HIs statement is full of politcal loop holes
We should not close any more schools until we have:
This should read we should not close anymore Neighborhood Schools and should look to find ways to reopen the closed Neighborhood Schools
b)there should be Pre Kindergarten in every school
c)his statement says either use closed school property for affordable housing or he wants to negotiate with himself because he wants to work with the city and he is the city
e) he wants to grow enrollment where possible instead of keeping open Neighborhood Schools no matter what the enrollment then people with families will want to live in our community when they know there will be a stable Neighborhood environment . For a city of Neighborhoods the city government doesn't support keeping open its' Neighborhood Schools all they want to do is close them and buy up the property for affordable housing or to have it developed as up scale condos or other high value property for the permit monies or increased property value for tax purpose, accept those properties that are exempt from school taxes.
f) a most fitting letter for the whole letter and this section especially
conduct a survey of how many Neighborhood Schools we realy need for Portland to be a family friendly city when that should read make sure that every Neighborhood has a Neighborhood Public School so that the Neighborhood will be family friendly and the Neighborhood Schools are already sited so we know where they should be
they are alredy there.
What his statement says is lets closed Neighborhood Schools fill up the properties and relocate schools when we already have Neighborhood Schools
ITSNOT2LATE4PREK-8
Neighborhood Schools
Where Kids Live and Learn
Virtus Non Stemma
We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.
Benjamin Franklin
daleedwardsherbourne@mac.com