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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1977)
F ra n c e « s r » lty ìe , S ef O re g o n 97403 ■ rM ' I HEW questions PPS discipline PORTLAND 7 a.i»n ifc Ne. Ltatth US. gradiate appreciates track experieace nmmsmm 'Batiste, I M fk T W dauther of M r. A Mrs. Alvin University of Oregon. She hopee to become an A ir Traffic Controller. “My foal is to be a success in whatever I do - whether it he housewife, a mother or President of the United States.“ Ona of Melanie's major interests is track. She has had an outstanding track career, beginning in hsr Freshman year whan aha took eighth place in the 220 at £ S?isS3‘ in’^ O o j J r t ^ ’S d second in the 440 yard relay at the State most. Aa a Junior, she arain took second in the 100 and 2nd in the 440. That year she eras on the All State Team. H sr P IL accomplishments included second in the 220 as a freshman, first in the 220 and the 440 relay and second in the 100 yard dash as a Sophomore. In hsr Junior year she woo first in the 220, the 440 relay and second in the 100. Daring her Senior year the was second i n t h s 2 2 0 a n d f i r s t i n t h e 4 4 0 relay. She received the Moot Valuable Player two years. One dtaayp ointment was aa injury before the 1077 State meet, whan aha poled a hamstring and was advised by I to run. “State this year X of the Department of Health. Educe tien and Welfare has express id concerns about the Portland School District's disci plinary procedures. A fter receiving the District’s appUeatioa for federal Element ary and Secondary Education Act funds, the H E W Office of Civil Rights in Seattle sent aa oboorvatfon team to the school district. Based on their findings, con cern* were sent with the E E 8 application to Washington D.C. for final decision. According to Ms. Marinina Kiner. Director of the Region X Office of Civil Rights, no decision has yet been made by .ths Washington office regarding the district’s funding. According to one PPS source, the issue raised was racial discrimination in the area of student discipline. According to this administrator, the district’s policies and procedures were found to be in compliance but some school administra tors were not following the procedures. He was at the opinion that the federal funding had been approved but that steps will have to be taken to insure compliance with the policy. Assistant Superintendent D r. Schneid er was not available for comment. < * DESEGREGATION POLICY OPPOSED A group of concerned citizens met Saturday and decided to fight the propos-' od policy change soon to come before the Board of Education. The proposal would designate an Area of Boise and King elementary districts whose students now attend Jefferson High School. Students residing in that area would not be allowed to attend Jefferson if not enrolled as at October 1. 1877. These students would be allowed to attend any high school that does not have mare than 18 percent minority enroll ment. They could not attend the Jeffer son magnet programs if their enrollments are over 18 percent minority. ess. ft waa very Ito go right. W e i 1 Jackie Team award co the basis of i athlatir ability. laadarskii m isibfa One percent of the 'M m * “f t can get vary you can work hai * i its time for the mm . . * you ean have aa off day so you ond up potting yourself down, which means you have a pyschological slump to get out of by the next meet. “Trackean of CSD, that the dissemination of ***** form by state employees would not be Valley for the past tolerated, and this information was Ths form first sc W Css- passed on to tbs employees, ends in Albany, th at the An apology waa given the Stack em »•« Services Division in ployee and she was asked to return to In the C 8D incident, the latter waa her job. but declined. The white employ given to a black employee by a white M dfodpHned. > « s “Jebs”. The two Btecks In Portland. Corvallis and 8alem ___ have also received copies of jh e “AppUca _ _ »^4 tion" and some have expressed the fear »ef the fo ra , that the farm to related to other Nasi or White Power group activities. “The farm to dearly offensive and r the infar- inexcusable“, Harold W illiam«, state - — . . . . Governor Affirmative Action Officer said. "But I I Nick Pest, Director think that perhaps too much time to being ■pent on a aide issue that takes effort _ to the Willamette CMaosa (oadlHaHoa atatfcads iatorost Black attoraoys Detroit Judge Georgs W . Crockett, Jr., I mm I m * ctf titT dotogStiOQ, O utfit thff*y trip afforded the seven Bteefc judges, throe law pro f essors and three other lawyers la the group an unique opportun ity to obtain new insights into the I as well as into their of detection and prevention of i and rehabilitation of “According to our host, M r. Yueh Tai-heng. Director of the China Inter national Travel Service, we are the first Americans to be granted aa interview with He-lan Chieh, Vice Chairman of the Supreme Court of China, in addition to other exclusive opportunities to visit their courts and their jails," Judge Crockett said. Until now, these facilities have been visited only by groups from countries having diplomatic relations with China. The interview with Vice Chairman He revealed that more than 804b of all criminal and civil cases in China are successfully resolved through citizens' mediation and conciliation committees Please turn to P.6 Col J ) Cariar praises Black Pre** Carter has proclaimed Fri * 17, as Black Prom Day, urging ipon the eontri- i to the realiza tion of the principles upon which our Nation was founded." The Proflsmstfas was issued on the occasion ot the 160th Anniversary of the Black Preen. The President also called i to support the National . . _____________________ i “fa its efforts to assure that America's Black Prom achieves its fell potential." The text of the President’s official “The patriots who M E TR O H U M A N R E L A T IO N S COM M ISSION The Metropolitan Human Relations Commission, meeting Tuesday, voted to request the Board of Education to reject the proposal and delay any change in the desegregation program until the 1978- 1979 school year. N A T IO N A L ASSOC. F t » C O M M U N IT Y D E V E L O P M E N T The National Association for Commun ity Development, Portland Chapter, voted to ask the School Board to reject, the Newman proposal and to study the possibility in filing a discrimination suit against the district. NAACP The NAA CP, Portland Chapter, (* f * requested the Board ot Education to perform “a full investigation of the Jefferson High Program” and asked th * district to defer any changes in pi«™ for Jefferson until after the study is complet ed. The NA A C P reiterated its support of school integration. BATISTE the next guy its in track. For year there was a notice on the bulWUn board - ‘Anyone interne our -i— v— w ..^ ^e a Senior and auditions w ill be May 8th? 8o I worked hard on nay speech and rave it S» I get to give the Appllcatiei’ drcelates, Gavaraar raspaads lawyers, just returned from nearly three weeks in the Peoples’ Republic of China, fa the first group of Americans to attend and audit a criminal trial there as well as the first to tour a Labour Reform Farm outside Nanking and the Shanghai WW*---- moon. The Administrative Transfer plan busses Black children from Albina to schools throughout the district. Origin ally the transfers were voluntary, but gradually the upper grades from the Albina schools were removed and the upper grade children bussed out. These children are not tranferred as a group ‘o a middle school, but are distributed among the schools in their administrative area. Persons fo rm in g th e com m ittee opposed the methods used to bring about desegregation and the lack of community involvement in the decision making, rather than the concept of desegregation. State regulations require that no school have more than 50 percent minority enrollment. School District request* poverty waiver ’l l ng with Carolyn Dfljy, they t runners in ths atpte." ’ M ahnde was cam ad to the ligh School AU Star Team which was listed in the woman’s athletes The group, which will be known as the Committee far Quality Education for All Children, has asked the Board of Educa ifon to reject the proposal and to delay any change in the desegregation program until the 1978-1979 school year. The letter to School Board Chairman Robert Ridgiey outlines the following reasons for rejection of the desegregation policy change: 1. I t discriminates against Black stu dents and their families and community. The Black community has borne the full burden of the district's desegre gation program. 2. The school district's current degre- gation plan has not been successful in providing quality education for Black children. 3. The current desegregation plan does not include the essential ingredient that the entire school district population par ticipate. 4. The community was not involved in the formation of this plan. They asked that the intervening school year be used to make a comprehensive study of the current state of desegrega tion and its effect on children, and to determine the most equitable and suc cessful plan to further desegregation and quality education. These plans would incorporate the views of the citizens and would be thoroughly discussed in the community prior to Board approval. Ms. Lillie Walker, Chairman of the Committee, explained its position. “The time has come far us to take a stand. For too long we have done what the school district said we had to do. Many of us were afraid, or we thought we had no right to protest. We watched the school district dose our schools and bus our children away. Many of the children were unwanted or mistreated in their newachools. W e want our children to get a good education but we have done enough. I t is time for the white community to meet us half way.” . enjoyment of the liberties they fought to secure would depend in large measure upon a free and vigorous press. For the past one hundred and fifty years, the voice of America’s Black Prom In support of individual freedom, dignity and equal ity has served as a constant reminder of the importance to our society of the cherished right of freedom of expression. “America's Black Pram serves a pop ulation of more than twenty-five million Slack Americana in n t . e s th rou gh ou t the Nation and has been a major factor in their advancement. In a larger seam, however, the Black Press servo* all (Please turn to P J CoiJ) Col J ) aw«y from the audn goal - that of employ ment. The Governor and M r. Kramer handled the situation, as far as it relates to State employees, expeditiously. Gov. Straub eras very concerned and offened by the 'appUeatioa* and its appear sure in state offices and addressed the situation boldly. “Although there are justified concerns about thia type of material being distri buted, I hope it doesn't divert us from the real problem, which is employment opportunity. There to stiU a lot of talk about thia ‘appUeatioa* and rumors that the governor hasn't responded, but I think enough time has been devoted to it and that wo need to move ahead on the real issues." The Portland Public Schools have submitted a propoeal to the Portland Metropolitan Steering committee far funding through Heed S tart funds. The “Pilot Project" would provide Head Start fa r 40 additional pre-eehool children, but 20 of the children would be of non-pov erty level families. Federal gutoslines for Head 8ter t from poverty-level families and ten per cent can be from families with incomes above poverty guidelines in order to provide a social mix. The purpose of the project and the proposed waiver is to bring white young sters into the programs and desegregate the Headstart Centers that are located in Albina and are predominately Black. Additional centers are located in South east Portland and St. Johns and are predominately white. According to the School District proposal, one of the means of combating the low achievement level that result from the socio-economic patterns of the inner city "is a series ot early childhood centers faceted in inner city area schools which enroll children from 3 - 4 through 8 - 10 years of age, depending upon neighborhood organisation desires." Some members of the PMSC Child Care/Edocstion subcommittee expressed concern over the prospect that Head S tart funds be used for non-poverty children in order to help further the PPS desegregation efforts. D r. Schneider, Assistant Superintend ent, P P8, replied that “A t Humboldt, in in the kinder then PPS would ask that the 50-50 waiver include all of their Headstart programs. “Although this request is initially for a variance for two new pilot classes, it is hoped that currently funded classes also may be granted a similar waiver in the near future.” the proposal states. Members ot the PMSC board have expressed concern that the project would fa appronimeto open the way te n s e e f federal Headstart racial balance. In Grades 1 and 2, it is not money for uses for which it is not racially balanced but more white children intended. Headstart, which originated as are being attracted to that program in a part of the W ar on Poverty, is designed order to achieve racial balance and to to give an educational advantage to hold them a t least through kindgergarten children who because of poverty might be many through the first grade. A t otherwise educationally disadvantaged. Irvington and King Schools, the same Don Fuller, for PMSC said that PMSC thing is true. has been told that there are no add ition al “One of the conditions of the School funds for Headstart for this fiscal year. District in all those schools is, that the F or that reason attention is given to the four-year-old elements and kindergar motives of the school district in proponing ten elements be racially balanced. We a project that, at least at this time, cannot are achieving it in all of these programs be funded. The major concern is thought which the District funds. W e are not to be the waiver that would allow recruit achieving balance in the programs the ment of white children who are not Federal Government funds, namely. low-income. Once this waiver was ob Head Start and Follow Through. That tained the Headstart Program would is because of the poverty guidelines on become a recruitment program to pro it." vide statistical desegregation of the Although this pilot project would school district clientel - not a program include only 40 children, if it is successful. specifically for low income children. Teaiporary fob bacoaias caraar Eight and one-half y e a n ago. in Nov ember. 1988. Linda Washington, a young. Jefferson high school graduate, began her career with the Internal Revenue Service in the Portland District Office. As a Taxpayer Service d a rk , she was trained to answer Federal tax questions and help people filo their income tax forms. The job w m to be temporary, to last only through A pril. 1988. the end of the tax filing season for most people. However, in June 1989, she w m called beck to work in a permanent clerical position and continued to advance out of clerical jobs into the technical field she now works. Today, Mrs. Washington fa a Taxpayer Service Specialist and holds a permanent career position. She advises taxpayers about rules and regulations, and fre quently appears on radio and television. As a specialist, she receives advanced training so that she is able to answer more complex and involved tax ques tiona. In addition to helping the public, she also instructs new Taxpayer Services Representatives, both in a rlsssroom setting and on-the-job. H er job often times requires her to travel. She k m attended and taught classes in Loa Angeles and 8an Francisco. In 1978 she w m a member of a “Testing Task Force" in which she helped develop test questions far r u » . given Taxpayer Services Representatives after they complete various phases of training. This assignment required her to be in Washington, D.C. fa rth ro e weeks. Mrs. Washington fa the mother of two young boys, Jason, age 8 and Tyrone, age 10. Asked how her sons feel about hsr traveling, she replied. “I think they enjoy the vacation from me." She said her sons sometimes travel with her. but normally stay with family members when she must be away. W hat brought her to her career with the IRS? Mrs. Washington recalled, “A fter I graduated from Jefferson in 1968,1 went to work for a local company in Portland, but after a year and a half, the company shut down. "I decided to go to Portland Commun ity College to expand my job skills. Then I took the Civil Service test and got on the register.“ “IR S called me.“ Later, she attended evening classes in basic accounting at Portland State Uni versity in order to meet requirements necessary for her current position. Asked how she (ikes her job today, she replied enthusiastically, "I like itl I really like It." “I especially enjoy meeting different people and helping them. That is really important to me, and the people • appreciate the service.” “I also like traveling, and the variety of work. Of course, benefits and job security are good, too.” H er goal is to enter management. Asked if there were job opportunities in her area available in IRS today, she answered yes, but explained that in Taxpayer 8ervice Division, the trend fa away from a permanent, full time work sritedute. "To conserve staff hours, we are m oving to w ard th e w hen-actually- empfayeed (W A E ) concept." she said. “No set hours are established; the work (Please turn to P J Col.4, < / l LINDA WASHINGTON
