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M ilitary O ffensive
School boord votes to uphold bon on recruiters
by Jonathan Kipp
lthough it took most of the night she put him on the spot about his position. She
to come to a vote May 21, the encouraged onlookers to take a stand against all
Portland Public Schools board discrimination, saying democracy has no chance
unanimously approved what otherwise.
many consider only a slight
Despite Tinker’s call for unity, her words fell
change to the district s ban on military recruiters.
on at least some deaf ears; many African Amer
The new policy will allow school personnel
ican citizens followed the lead of Bemie Foster,
to speak openly and distribute literature to stu publisher of The Skanner, in opposing the ban.
dents about education and career opportunities
Most stood quietly during her plea for support.
in the military, which is not permitted under the
Jackson was quick to disagree with Tinker.
ban. The change also requires officials to inform “That’s not true,” he said. “If you ever give us a
chance to prove this....”
kids about the military’s policy on homosexuals.
Schools will remain off-limits to military per
But before the debate continued, Jackson cut
sonnel, though, unless they are speaking to stu off the discussion, calling Tinker “rude.” When
dents about a nonrecruitment issue. Board
another demonstrator confronted him about his
members Doug • Capps and Susan Hagmeier campaign promise to leave the ban in place, he
wrote the proposal as a
left the room, saying
compromise
between
§ he wouldn’t “tolerate
ban supporters and those
2 rudeness.”
who want it lifted.
The ban was enacted
efore the vote al
in 1995 in response to the
most all of the
military’s anti-gay “don’t
board members ac
ask, don’t tell” policy and
knowledged
each
the district’s new policy
other for their produc
eliminating discriminato
tive working relation
ry employers from the
ships. Capps called
halls of Portland’s public
the compromise “the
high schools.
board working at its
The meeting twice
best.” He said the vote
was interrupted by a
would allow members
coalition of demonstra
to move on to other
tors, including the Edu
priorities.
cation Crisis Team and
Jackson
wasn’t
ban supporters. Scores of
happy with the pro
protesters carried signs
posal. He reiterated
and chanted, “We’re all
that he “wants an
fired up.” The crisis team
equal playing field for
has been demonstrating
everyone.”
against the school board
But he eventually
for months, often inter
relented: “1 will hesi
rupting the meetings.
tantly support be
The board has spent
cause it does represent
several months reconsid
some improvements.”
ering the military ban.
Saxton, a Republican
Some members were
gubernatorial candi
date and critic of the
adamant about leaving
the policy intact because,
ban, called the vote
among other things, they
“a positive step in the
right direction.”
had too many pressing
issues to deal with, in
Afterward
Ab
cluding
diminishing
rams told Just Out the
issue shouldn’t come
funds.
up again for many
Co-chair and ban
author Marc Abrams led
years. He considered
the fight to keep the
the vote a victory.
_r
matter from coming to _ a Board member Derry T J Jackson went AVVUL
Other ban sup
after
a
yelling
match
became
too
hard
to
handle
vote. He says the dis
porters called it an
trict’s own statistics indicate that the 10-year unnecessary compromise and accused the board
decline in recruitment actually slowed after the of giving in. Military recruiters obviously were
ban was in place and that recruitment has disturbed by the compromise, many grimacing
improved overall since then.
during the board’s closing comments.
But others, including Derry Jackson and Ron
Whatever closure the vote brought to either
Saxton, lobbied the board to overturn the ban.
side didn’t last long, though. Not more than 24
Jackson has been vocal for months about the hours after the meeting U.S. Reps. David Vitter,
need for inner city students to have access to R-La., and Pete Sessions, R-Texas, attached an
more education and career opportunities.
amendment to a bill in Washington, D.C., that
Bonnie Tinker, Love Makes a Family execu would deny all federal funds to schools or dis
tive director and one of Jackson’s most vocal crit tricts that do not allow military recruiters on
ics about the ban, affirmed her support for the cri their campuses.
sis team’s efforts during a 55-minute break in the
The motion passed by a 7-to-l margin. Tens
meeting, when the board left the room because of of millions of dollars for Portland’s public
schools could be at risk, Abrams said. jn
the chaos. “We are with you, too,” she said.
But after Jackson re-entered the room and
started listening to the demonstrators, he and JONATHAN K ipp is a Just Out staff reporter who
Tinker got embroiled in a yelling match when can be reached at jonathan@justout.com.
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