Roosevelt Cluster

If anyone knows students or parents from Roosevelt, Madison or Marshall who have opinions about the "small school reforms" at those schools, please ask them to contact me at npdxparent@yahoo.com
Thank you!

Excellent opinion piece by David Sarasohn of the Oregonian:

PORTLAND SCHOOL FIGHTS

Sunday, May 07, 2006

David Sarasohn

Down by the river where Portland got started, on a fountain where hardly any carriage horses drink anymore, is engraved a century-old motto that keeps popping up here when we've run out of other clues:

"Good Citizens Are The Riches Of A City."

Maybe everybody involved in the current episode of the Portland Public Schools soap opera should go down there for a drink.

Active parents are not only the district's core constituency. They're also its ground troops, its voting support and, increasingly, its capital assets. And any budget has to consider its effect on your assets.
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Went to the PPS budget forum at Roosevelt tonight. I thought that "facilitated small group discussion" would be everyone in the cafeteria sitting at tables talking and then reporting back to the entire group. But no. First, COO Cathy M. did the dog and pony show powerpoint, to be followed by the crowd being split up (each nametag had a number so it was randomized) and sent to different rooms for their "discussions." In other words, divide and conquer, split up school groups, keep people from speaking out to the entire audience. What a farce.

But before they could send us off to our separate rooms, some Astor and Humboldt parents started speaking up. Asking questions like why close such a great school? Why indeed. They were pretty ticked, and kept talking for a while and I almost thought they were going to keep PPS from their planned format. Alas, the group was polite so off we went to our assigned rooms. There the facilitators listened and recorded people's questions and comments. I heard that in at least one room the facilitator was busily singing the praises of Vicki and the closure plan.
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