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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 1973)
Portland Observer Whats going on in Portland Schools CAUCUS TIME C itize n p a rtic ip a tio n The by (.ladye M rt'oy jA OBSERVER. -Your IMewspaper tv * DR. JEFFREY BRADY w p : DO Not Put Off Needed Dental Care" • E n jo y D e n ta l H e a lth N o w a n d Im p r o v e Y o u r A p p e a r a n c e PLATE REPAIRS WHILE YOU WAIT NO AFYOINTMENI NEEDED • (OMFLITE (OOniATION ON All DENTAL INSURANCE FLANS • COMPLETE OEMTAl SERVICES * JwBt m i m » • H d t o ft ice 1 0 A M ««Ml W « wiN t r y t« A e lv e r y *w r M N TU R R S b y 4 PM THE S A M I OAT Ferti tr» *—Any Park 'a Mta* la * MOUBfc Waahtfay. 9>9O . m l . 9 | * 9a»., BiSOa.at. tw I r * DR. JEFFREY BRADY, DENTIST SEM LER B U IL D IN G S.W. 3rd & Morrison St. Portland, Oregon Take Elevator to 2nd Floor 3rd St. Entrance Phon«: 2 2 8 - 7 5 4 5 My perception of citizen participation ia that of iuy man input in the decision making process by those whom the decisions will af feet. The expression "citizen participation" in Portland has climbed in stature over the past eight years with the advent of federal social pro grams, like Model Cities, that required the involve ment of neighborhood c iti zens. This has been healthy. Citizen involvement in the operation of the Portland Public Schools has been a component of the school sys tem almost from the begin ning of the district itself more than KM) years ago. More than 25.(MM) citizens currently participate in the school decision making pro cess in a variety of roles. They serve as members of parent teacher associations, dads* dubs, booster cluba, alumni groups, finance com mittees, advisory committees, and boards and volunteers in the schools. Both now and in the past, the variety of eiti zen participation opportuni ties has been widespread. Citizens have served in ad visory capacities in such di verse roles as: members of central, area and local text book selection committees; career and vocational advi sory committees on the cen tral. area and l<x-ai school levels: special blue ribbon study or investigation com mittees appointed to advise the Board from lime to time. PTA voluntary service in meeting special school prob lems; tutorial and other vol unteer service activities; and. independent citizens groups participating in school sup port and Board member screening activities. Many of lh»- advisory and general assistance groups in solving citizens are origi nated and limited to partici pation at the individual school level. Literally dozens exist for subject matter advice from experts concerning vo rational training. The major examples of this arc Benson High School, which has some fifty vocational advisory groups and Monroe High School. Another category of citizen involvement in the schools is in (he area of special ad visory units appointed by the Board «if Education to make recommendations regarding specific problems or issues. When such groups have com pic ted the a s s ig n m e n ts handed to them, they have ceased to exist. Among recent examples of such groups have been the: Committee on Hare and Edu cation, appointed in 1964 to study race and eipial educa tional opportunity in the Portland Public Schools; anil, the more recent. Citizens ( ummillee on School F inance, appointed in 1972 to make recommendations to the Board of Education in the area oi school finance, due to* the desperate fiscal condition of the district at that time. These blue ribbon committees have produced im portant changes in the schools. Another aspect of citizen involvement recently «lemon strated is in I hi- effort to move facility changes and program changes into the public arena for discussion and suggestion such as plans Io convert Binnsmead to an intermediate school. The district has Is-en the beneficiary of several inde pendent citizens groups or ganized to provide specific services or support to the schools. I Ine such group, Portland School Support Committee, has provided a screening cominitt«-e Io inter view candidate* for the Board of Education. One«- ri-com mendations are made, this committee provides funds and campaign assistance to those individuals it supports. Most recently the Schools lor the City committee or ganized its«-lf to help in pre senting the school story in elections, assist in legislative work, and promote school community elections. The group is entirely independent of the school hoard and school administration. Still another recent phe nomena has been the advent of an increased E'ederal in terest in the schools. With it has come a mandatory sys tem of advisory committees designed to get citizen input in planning and operating various school programs. Up to the present time, some 32 separate advisory committees are in operation in connection with federal programs. These o|*cratc in connection » ilh such pro grams as Headstart. Follow- through, Title I, the Kmer gency School Aid Act and Career O pportunities Pro gram. More than 46(1 |>er sons are involved. Still further citizen involvement is prov ided through the Resi dential Manpower Center, operated through the U.S. Department of Labor. Voca NAACP charges racism The NAACP. W e s t e r n Moreover, despite 5.7 per Region, has filed an official cent of all graduate students report with Governor Ronald at the university being Black Reagan charging President only 1 per ren t of the Charles Hitch and the Uni research assistants h i r e d versity of California with within the last two years is discrimination in employment Black. against Hlacks at the faculty None of the 100 top man and student employment le agement persons reporting vel and in all non academic to President Hitch (the per positions. sons who determine whether, The report contends that in fact, the segregated insti the university has a worse tut ion is to be changed I are employment record than any Black. institution except the Uni The report requests that verstiy of Mississippi, and the governor appoint a spec that segregated facilities in ial committ«-e from outside Alabama in the 1960’s pro the university, within 30 vided greater opportunities days, to investigate. to Blacks than does the present University of Cali fornia system. For example, only 37 of the more than 4200 tenured faculty at the university are Black, and only 4 per cent of Assistant Attorney Gener the craftsmen at the uni al J. Stanley P ö ttin ge r versity are Black, and only 4 announced the creation of an per rent of the craftsmen at Office of Indian Rights with the university are Black. in the Civil Rights Division tional Villag«- also operates with the aid of iiolh general and specific advisory com mittees. Prior to 1969, while a great deal of citizen involve inent existed lh«- district was not organized on an area level and citizen involvement effort* lacked lh«- direction and stress of Uxlay. The character of involve ment has changed through provision for organized ave nues of eitizen involvement through area and local school citizen advisory. Each of the three geographic areas of the school district has its own citizen advisory committee. One of the goals of these committees is to provide a link for greater citizen in volvement an«l participation in the schools In addition, each of the 114 local schools in the com munity has its own organized advisory committee. These units are organized to pro vide assistance to local school administrators, and teachers, in solving lh«- problems con fro n tin g the local school ni-ighhorhoiMl. Contact local principals to learn more about the citizen advisory com m ittee that serves your n«-ighhorhoo«l school. Citizen involvement in the Portland Public Schools is indeed varied and long stand ing. Still greater uppor tumlies are provided through a recently organized system of public information volun leers. Clearly the framework lor involvement and partieipa lion is there. Il takes only the simplest of acts by the citizens to complete the cycle. You are invited. Call 234 3392. BY WALTER L SMART Executive Directo» National Federation of Settlements and Ne>'jnt»'tx5od Centers W’e arc faced with an armed ramp in our cities . , . nothing new. It has become a very old concept. But still there is nothing being done about it. Why does it hap pen? W'hat causes us to be the targets as well as the purveyors of mass killings? W'e must realize that vio lence does not happen in a vacuum nor does it pop out of the ground without it being fertilized and nurtured. A study a few years back indicated that crimes of pas sion account for roughly 60% of homicides; husband vs. wife, neighbor vs. neighbor, relative vs. relative, friend vs. friend, between people who knew each other, cas ually or intimately. These crimes of passion are not only the results of the cauldron in which we art- placed. but from the re peaters and those detained waiting for trial. Utter con tempt developes for the judi rial system when a man is in fact preventively detained for unreasonable months - sometimes years before he is tried. Bail was never meant Indian office created SH O P lENOW 'S FO R If you turn this off when nobody's listening...you're really tuned in to an energy conservation program! Conserve Electricity Use all you need but save all you can BRANDS y o u Itn o v V A R IE T IE S y o u lilc. S IZ E S w ant you X E l. A vV • » H The People at Pacific Power • M I M K » i (.)! U N lT ID G R O lltfs of the Department of Justice. Carl Stoiber, senior trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division and head of the special task force on Indian rig h ts , has been named Diretor of the new Office. R. Dennis Irkes w ill serve as Deputy Director. Pottinger said the new Indian Rights Section is an outgrowth of a special Divi sion task force that has been engaged in studying the legal problems of native American Indians since last January. The Office of Indian Rights will have both a litigative and a roordinative function. It w ill have the responsi bility of enforcing federal statutes regarding the civil rights of American Indians, primarily Title II of the 1966 Civil Rights Act. Pottinger said he eventually hopes the office will have six attorneys and appropriate support per sonnet. 1 CARLOS by Jetie EC Wilds. Jr. Getting Smart Body a n d Fender R e p a ir cern le g. foot! stamp supple ments) to find others with that concern and to provide or accept leadership in the issue. The day for some to light for all is passe. If we are to do more than survive at best, we must have all fight ing for all. Each individual need not fight for every is sue that strikes someone's fancy, hut we must fight for some issue or another all the time. You have to b<- in fighting shape to fight the big one. Fighting rather than sitting develops (he re solve to fight. So, fight for w hat YOU think is right, but please fight. 31, N.E. Shaver 2 8 7 -8 5 2 9 FASHION WHEEL WIGLETS W IGS FALLS 5 7 0 9 N . E. U n io n 2 8 3 -3 5 2 5 Free! An Automatic Ice M ak e r frigidaire Naturally, plumbing installation is extra. M o d e l FPC13-170TU G e t the convenience o f o r A u to m a tic Ice M a k e r free when you purchase this new, 100% Frost-Proof 17.0 cu. ft. F rig id a ire re frig e ra to r-fre e z e r. Up to p , y o u 'll fin d a room y 4.75 cu. ft. freezer. In the r e fr ig e ra to r section, there's a la rg e F low ing C old M e a t Tender, tw in H yd ra to rs a nd the convenience o f three fu lly -a d |u s ta b lf ca ntileve r shelves. 'A -.M - 7 to be a means to keep a man off the street but merely a bond to make sure he ap pears for trial. Rlacks are less likely to be counted as victim s in a racist society. For years the police have looked upon the ghetto as an armed camp of savages. They have exer cised a complete disregard toward crimes of Rlacks against Blacks. These police men are not any different from the broad base of their support in middle America. They want and do periodic roundups of the innocent along with the guilty. How often have we witnessed the fat cat wrongdoers, never being punished in relation to the gravity of their crimes against humanity and Blacks caught in the same net punished severely. The latest rash of Black movies. Shaft. Sweetback, Return of Shaft, Jim Brown's escapades, packed with vio lence. are hungrily viewed by the young regardless of ratings. This over saturation of vio lence, its implication that violence yields autom atic solutions to prevent ills of society, with the flash of a blade, a round of ammuni tion, a quick karate chop, lend more fuel to the con doning of violence on a mas sive scale. Gun control has been and continues to be urged as a means to disarm potential killers. Much more support is needed to accomplish gun control. Yet gun control must also mean the control of the use of guns by the police and vigilantes. When you place mice in a small and crowded area and let them grow, they become violent ill with frustra tion of four walls. They soon kill each other off. W’e are doing the same thing only we receive help from the powers that be. It may be their hope we kill each other off very, very soon. So what is there for us to do? Should we stand idly by and allow this to happen? Will we allow simplistic solu tions for the complex prob lems we face? What role will you play to end the continued rash of violence in our community? l ’âge J Most reasonable shop in town Chairman, Oregon Black Caucus There is no question about the need to bring about changes that will help more Black folks. There does seem to be some (question as to who should he struggling to help bring about this change. The answer is that everyone who wants change should be working for that change. This does not mean that individuals are to be left to fight battles alone if there are others to help. What it d«x-s mean is that other re sources are to be used when available hut individuals must he willing to fight alone if necessary. This means that all Black folks must come together regardless of wheth er they are so cal led middle class or not middle-class. Each person has something to offer. Those persons who have developed the skills to deal with the formal system must take the lead but cannot expect success unless all the people are doing their share. Those persons concerned about food stamp supple ments, for example, must find others who have the same concern and band to g e th e r. E v e ry b o d y w ith some concern must make their input, whatever it may be. Those who sit and wail for others to fight the battle are contributing to the dil ficulty of overcoming the ills of the system. The function oi the Caucus is to have its members with the same con Thur-.il.iv, Auguri 23. 1973 Hurry-Offer end August 31 s368 with trade EA SY PA YME NTS SHOP 9 TO 9 M O N THRU FPI SAT TIL 6 (Qosed Sun ) 30th and S. E. DIVISION • 234-9351 Finally, a painless way to save. Now there’s a painless,almost fool proof way to save. Save-O-Matic. It works very simply. You tell us how much you’d like to save each month, and we ll transfer it from your First National checking account to your savings account. Automatically. You'll never miss the money. Hardly even realize you're saving it. Until, of course, you look at your savings account. It’s a pleasant surprise. And completely painless! F I R S T N A T IO N A L B A N K OF OREGON Mcnibvr hDK : I I
