BY NANCY WILLARD
Revisiting
School Choice
Looking at the challenges ahead
I
s the school choice issue really off the table?
Interesting. George Russell, the 4J superintendent, recommended that the
School Board not seek public and staff input on the district’s school choice poli-
cy as part of the new planning initiative (see www.4j.lane.edu/files/reports/shaping4j/
4J_SH4J_ThinkTank_Superecs.pdf). In fact, the issues of the segregation and
inequities related to the alternative schools will become a major focus of the continu-
ing planning effort — especially if the district seeks to find ways to sustain the segre-
gated, too-small alternative schools while it closes and merges the less advantaged
neighborhood schools. So let’s look at some of the challenges.
The district has indicated that the alternative
schools that are co-located with neighborhood
schools will be moved because of the tensions
related to the “have” and “have-not” status of
these two kinds of schools. The district intends
to separate these schools rather than address the
“have” and “have-not” problem.
So what is this going to look like in the
Sheldon region where Buena Vista is co-located
with Meadowlark? There are no empty buildings
in the region.
Will the district have to merge Meadowlark and
Willagillespie in order to make space for the stand-alone
independent segregated Buena Vista?
There is no way that highly segregated Charlemagne can ever hope to become
integrated at its location way up in the south hills. A move to the Willard building
makes some sense. Not sure where the two charter schools will go.
But where, oh where, will the district put the equally highly segregated
Eastside with its 144 students? There is one other too-small alternative school,
Family. Putting these two school cultures together would be like trying to mix oil
and water. Wouldn’t work. And where would the district put them? Close Adams
and put them there? Where would the Adams and soon-to-be-closed Hillside stu-
dents go? Or put these two alternative schools at Willard? But then where would
they put Charlemagne so that it could have a chance of becoming integrated?
How about putting the two most highly segregated alternative schools,
Eastside and Charlemagne, in the same building? At least their elitist school cul-
tures would not clash. But this would be a total of around 450 students. So
where would the district place these two schools? Well, I guess we will have to
build a new school. Raise your hand if you are in favor of passing a bond so the
district can build a brand new school for the two most elitist, segregated schools
in the community. And then where would the district put Family?
A
nd of course, we have not solved all of the problems in the north region,
where the neighborhood schools have an average of 57 percent of stu-
dents on free and reduced lunch whereas the average of the two alterna-
tive schools is 33 percent. In the alternative school review process, the district
hid this degree of segregation by comparing Corridor and Yujin Gakuen to the
district average — when it is clear from the transfer data that most students
come from the north region.
Whether or not the superintendent and the board want to think the problems
associated with school choice have been resolved, it is clear that they have not
been. In the very near future, this will become more obvious.
Raise your hand if you are in favor of passing a bond so the district can do
anything if it refuses to address the inequities and segregation associated with
the alternative school program.
WHO YOU GONNA BLAME?
Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D., is known in Eugene as the 1985 Eugene Celebration S.L.U.G. Queen and self-
described “chief complainer” about Eugene 4J segregation and inequities. She is also director of the Center for
Safe and Responsible Internet Use and a mother of three children who attend 4J schools.
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PITTANCE FOR THE POOR?
Wow, Phil Knight gives $100 million to
Oregon’s athletic department. That’s a lot
of money, right? I have watched for years
as that kind of money has influenced the
behavior of some of our most renowned
athletes. Let’s see, Pete Rose — gambling.
Then there’s Kobe Bryant — rape charges.
Barry Bonds, Mark Maguire and Jose
Canseco (to name a few) — suspected
steroid use. And we can’t forget the latest
inductee into the Abomination Hall of
Fame — Michael Vick — dog fights.
These boys are all products of our soci-
ety’s unconditional and limitless invest-
ment into sports. And their behavior shows
us what comes of giving athletes too much
money for exercising their bodies instead of
their brains.
So I humbly ask, please, Mr. Knight,
could you split that $100 million and give
$50 million to the academic departments at
the UO? As it stands now, your donation will
catapult the athletic department into the high-
ly revered top 2 percent while the rest of the
school’s programs desperately attempt to
maintain poverty status. An ironic dichoto-
my, don’t you think? You did graduate from
the UO with an accounting degree, right? The
last time I checked, the athletic department
isn’t responsible for bestowing degrees …
are they? Funding education is the path to
true enlightenment, Mr. Knight, and it would
send a powerful message to athletes every-
where that while you may love sports, you
value education more.
Linda Cathey
Eugene
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Eugene Weekly • 1251 Lincoln Street • Eugene, OR 97401 • 541.484.0519 • fax 541-484-4044
4 AUGUST 30, 2007
TO THE EDITOR
OLD FAIR-Y NETWORK
As a Country Fair member (Community
Village), I was happy to see Michael
Connelly’s letter offering to help someone
find an entry to fair participation. But you
should not have to write EW to join.
When I first came to Eugene I went to
the Fair office and asked how to join a crew,
which ones had openings. I was told each
crew did its own recruiting. So I asked for a
list of the crews and contact information for
the crew leader, but I was told that informa-
tion was private and not available.
Basically, I would have to know someone
who could help me. The Old Fairy network.
This not only excludes individuals who
would like to get involved, but it hurts the
Fair since people get to join crews based on
who they happen to be friends with, rather
than getting to choose the crew where their
skills would be most useful.
Martin Henner
Eugene
APPLY NOW
I am writing to ask community members
to consider applying for a position on the
newly forming Eugene Sustainability
Commission. Two years ago I undertook
the Sustainable Business Initiative (SBI) to
elevate and energize this city’s commitment
to sustainability and to respond to finite
resources and climate change.
The SBI task force examined ways the
city of Eugene could support and foster the
growth of businesses that produce sustain-
able products, the growth of businesses
using sustainable practices and the increased
understanding of sustainability in general.
Eleven recommendations were sent to the
city council. Among them was creating an
Office of Sustainability (which we have
done) and putting in place a Sustainability
Commission to ensure that the city continues
to focus on steps to be truly sustainable. Two
of the recommendations this commission
will seek to implement are zero waste and
carbon neutrality by 2020. This has been a
very exciting process and continues to have
as much possibility and promise as we have
the energy to undertake.
We are seeking a diverse pool of appli-
cants representing a wide range of interests,
experience, ages and ethnic and cultural com-
munities to serve on the commission. People