Opportuaity
Noxt Monday the Board of Education will decide
whether or not to pass the Revised Newman Plan—
a
olan to lower minority enrollment of Jefferson
High School to below the 5C percent requirement set
by the Staff Board of Education. This school year
Jefferson's enrollment was 51.5 percent.
Judging from the public statements a f Board
members Jonathan Newman and Gladys McC.oy, the
board plans to pass the new policy in spite of
overwhelming community opposition.
Many questions remain to be answered by the
Board of Education. The reported statement given is
that if the 50-50 requirement is not met, state money
will be withheld from the district. The School Board
has not informed the community whether the State
Board has notified the Portland district of its intent to
bring sanctions to bear, nor has the Board informed
the public whether it has asked the state for an
extension of time in which to involve the community
in planning.
The Board has not informed the public whether the
federal government has directed it to precede with
immediate further desegregation or whether there
are any pending federal sanctions in addition to the
Title VII discipline non-compliance finding.
In the absence of state or federal directives it is
difficult to determine why this change must be
pushed through so quickly in the face of community
opposition.
The Board has not explained sufficiently why the
parents were not brought into the planning process
or were not at least informed of the pending change.
Mr. Newman has said that desegregation is a Board
responsibility-but isn't alt policy the responsibility of
the Board? Isn't it even more essential to include
parents and citizens in planning in an area as volitile
as desegregation?
The district has been involved with desegregation
for 12 years and yet has provided no statistical
evidence of either education achievement or social
benefits to minority children. Surely this information
is available and could be shared with the public.
Why can't the Board require that white students
living in the Jefferson area follow Board policy and
attend Jefferson?
If this were accomplished
Jefferson would be only 25 percent minority and
busing would be unnecessary. What is the district
doing to educate white students and their parents in
human relations so that they will not refuse to go to
school with Blacks?
Why is the Board so ready to face a suit or, at a
minimum, a federal investigation just to prove its
point? The parents are told that the district is
fortunate not to be under court order because of the
emotion and disruption court ordered desegregation
can bring. Why are they so willing to go to court that
they have already sought and received their
attorney's opinion that the policy is “ legally defen
sible"?
Parents have gone beyond just wanting to stop this
policy change. They are asking that the Board set
aside a year to evaluate their current desegregation
program and to develop changes where needed
with community involvement.
They now want to know how the federal money is
used, the proportion of minority suspensions, ex
pelled students and dropouts, teacher training,
curriculum, etc. Parents will not be satisfied now
until the entire situation is revealed.
Parents are angry and upset, and the School Board
pushing this into a court suit will not help. No matter
who wins, all will be hurt.
Senate bill* threaten
community control
Current pending federal legislation would greatly
endanger the relationship of porents and community
with the school district.
All federal education grants address specific areas
and school districts must guarantee that they w ill
meet the reqirements and guidelines of the program.
These requirements, the federal audit procedure,
and the threat of loss of federal funds serves to
insure at least some adherence to what is determin
ed to be the educational and legal factors i
in educational programs.
Senator Packwood has introduced legislation that
would set up new block grants, eliminating the 34
existing grant programs. School districts would be
eligible to receive three block grant categories - one
for special education for the disadvantaged and
handicapped; another for vocational, adult edu
cation and manpower; and a third for “ everything
else."
Once these grants were received, their use would
be totally up to the school district - with no federal
guidelines.
Currently, not only are criteria for use of federal
funds specific, but at least nominal parent advisory
participation is required in the planning for and use
of Title I and Title VII and certain other Federal funds.
Packwood's bill would eliminate this requirement.
Another bill that holds similar dangers has been
introduced by Senator Ribicoff that, in creating a
separate Education Department on the cabinet level
would place Headstart in this department - therefore
placing local headstarts under local school districts.
Currently Headstart, although funded by HEW is
controlled through the Community Service Adminis
tration (formerly OEO). Not only does the control of
the money rest with local community boards (PMSC
in Portland) but parent policy boards — not odvitory
boards—are required.
The Ribicoff bill would take control of Headstart—
recently judged one o f the most successful programs
of the War on Poverty effort—out of the control of
parents and placed im the control of school boards.
This would be a step backward and could destroy a
successful educationol program.
Jam a 0.
ef the Urban League af
“We expect that thia year’s
will be one at the
and will make a major contributi
for solutions to tba
earlier this year. D r. Jamph
Luwory, Chairman of the Board ef Diree-
taro, to acting president until tha eoavaa-
Veraaa Jordan, Executive Director af U
National Urban Longue will deliver the
« th e
Attending from Portland will be Ms.
Gari Christian. President af tba Board af
Os. Deputy Di-
Deputy Director - Field
the speakers will be Alas
Haley; Alexis H e ra a n , Director of tba
Women’s Bureau of the U A Labor
Department; W illiam G. Milliken, Gover
nor of Michigan; Kenneth A . Gibson,
The 20th Annual Convention a f the
Christian
will ba bald August 1« to 1» in
Atlanta, tha city whore SCLC
Tha Convention wiL’ honor D r. Martin
Luther King, J r„ the founding president
and the remaining active founds»: D r.
Ralph David Abernathy, D r. Joseph E.
Lowery, Reverend Fred Shuttlosworth.
and Reverend C. K . Steele afTsllshsssss.
Tba major busineos will be the selection
af SCLC» third president.
D r. Abernathy, who succeeded D r.
King in April. IM *. resigned the
T U S H 1er Excellence” to the major
ante af the W S H 8th Annual Nations
unently being held in Loa
Tha Convention features p ra
by authorities in
tha
by E X C E L
building, the
On Friday, an awards
nor Atox Haley a n ^ O u i
Manuel Martinez : A self made suce***
job site. I always get in and help with the
says that being a
k
jobs at
Corvallis, a Corp of Engines» site at
Bonneville, and several private jobs.
“Tbs company has grown to the point
w h a n I have a supervisor in
I can spend my time
But when 1 g e ts a
for five year« to get on the
tollst Inri
Ryi
1 finally got an
cut
oft any
by SBA that no i
until the
of SBA to
i to on his way up. ”11
I will be successful.” ba says <
Jefferson victim of white flight
(Continued from page 1 eol. 8)
have to do?” He also said that tk dtotriet
has to make m o » of an effort to
encourage white students and students
with “richer" backgrounds to * ” **“ 1
Jefferson.
Contrary to what people may believe,
the Jefferson area to predominately
white. According to B arrett, tha
i only 28 par cent minority in
1870. although in 1972 Jefferson High
School itself had a 42 per east minority
Superintendent Robert Blanchard also
‘ iaeatiafaetion “with the de-
otf success” of efforts to attract
to Jefferson. noting that ha to
currently looking into tha
students by Benson High
aid indicated that he will
The eoaUtioo will hold a
at Jeffsreon High School Friday
lfcOO aun. te detail ito
Small Business administration under fir*
(Continued
Jattua ta tU Ztitoi
Prison justice not fair
To The Editor:
A
Oregon.'
But Harold Ham-
to stop talking, so the
told him to “shut up” or else. A t
time I said. “There to no rule
♦■tiring in the shower and it’s
done all the time without any complaints
from anyone else.
William Farmer
confirmed my statement. But by then
there were several more office» standing
around us. Sgt. Good told us to beck
away because the officer gave the man
(Hamid Hammick) a direct order, so we
moved away. A t this I started to explain
to Sgt. Good what had happened and that
I thought the officer was wrong. Sgt.
Good told me that “even though the
officer was wrong they were forced to
back him up because of us (the inmates)
who spoke out against the verbal ex
talking about
example of “Government in
Can one justify wrong?
Can one give a legitimate
being incompetent?
In a society such as ours (which is
under “God”) should one be committed to
the “right” of policy or to the “left” of
policy? Or should one be committed to
the Truth?
Take for example the incident that took
place inthe shower area on May 6, 1977,
that resulted in three (8) Black men being
put in the hole (SAI) for four months.
Harold Hammick, William Farmer and
myself. Johnny Polite. It all started
when an officer stepped up to tw o men
who were showering next to me and told
them to shut up. The men were talking
(to each other) about oporto. Then a few
minutes later he (same officer) approach
ed two more men (both Black) and told
them to “shut up” and they too
change.”
They (the administrator) gave us a
“hearing” and they also had an “investi
gation”. During which time they inter
viewed seven or ten inmates, w itnesses
■nd four or five staff members (officers)
who couldn't get th eir atones right. A fter
we had spent six (8) days in the hole
(84:1) they sentenced the three of us to
four months in S A I. W e have been here
in th e hole for (88) days for “aaking” to be
treated like men and human beings.
A sk yourself these questions:
Is it the out of date and conjested
design of the shower room?
W as it intentional or an accident?
Is racial prejudice a part of the cause?
Is i t ignorance and/or incompetence?
D r is it all of the above?
T h e decision is y o u » (The
tiers) but, I ask — Any
citizen out in the free world - 1 dare you!
I d are you to pick up your phone and call
down here to Salem (the prison) to see if
this is true or not. Mind you! I asked for
a re sponsible citizen. Now, ask yourself,
is tliis you?
Johnny Polite
Box 8866
lo t
P ortland O b s e rv e r
Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Compaioy. 2201
North Killingsworth, Hartland, Oregon 97217. Mailing address:
P .0 . B o x 3 1 3 7 , Portland.’Oregon 97208. Telephone 28 3 2488.
ONPA1978
lot
O N FA1878
Subscriptions: S7.60 per year in the Tri-County area, |i8 .0 0 per
year outside Portland.
N N F A 1978
Paid at Portland. Oregee.
ALFRED L. HENDERSON
The Portland Observer's official position is express* d only in
its Publisher's column (We See The World Through Bls.ck Eyes).
Any other material throughout the paper to the opini.on of the
individual writer or submitter and jdoe« not necessar ily reflect
the opinion of the
New York
? A f hA ft F
Association
MEM0W.
W
L
IPEP
Association - P om 'toed fSS*
it
Award
N B A 1*78
Justice a game e f chance
To The Editor:
Td like to
W hat does justice took like to
behind the wall?
One 22 year old
into this
prison with a
af five
His
crime: breaking into a
if you were to come hare, look at the
records, talk to the people involved, they
might tell yon the coke machine waa in a
building, they might toll yon he has prior
convictions. they might toll you he to
wanted in another state, but atrip it all
to baaiea: the man broke into a
stole 88150.
To bring thia man to trial it
to extradite him from
I don’t know the coots. Ho had a
jury trial. A fingerprint expert testified,
a janitor testified, a teacher tootified. The
probably at toast a few
Several thousand have been
to keep him so far and several more
thousand will be spent in the future.
An older man in his late thirties came
into this prison with a sentence of seven
y ean . Hto crime: be murdered a three
year old child. Now if you were to come
here, look at the records, talk to the
people involved, they might tell you he
was a man who when to church, a tax
payer, a home owner, a voter. But atrip it
all down to basics: he killed a three year
old child. Thia man has money; the first
man did not.
A third man in hto sixties went into a
Federal prison in Alabama with a sen
of 2 ’A to 8 y e a n . Hto crimes: white
Crimea. A golf course borders the
he lives in and acres of lawn
R. There are no walls, no
Ho had money.
What can justice mean through our
eyes? The man in the Alabama prison
will walk free before long. The man who
killed a child will walk soon. (Murderers
are good risks) But the 22 year old kid
will «till be in prison, will atUl be going
through the "rehabilitation” games. The
man in Alabama will probably never go to
court again; the man who killed • child
might never be heard of again. But they
a light
l an early oat. The 22 year
old U d who didn't have money and who
broke into a coke machine will be
“treated” “rehabilitated" for ye o n to
Ho represents job security to the
“corrections” division, from the
guard who Opens hto cell to the bead of
the
Justice
Not long ago a Portland judge sen
tenced a man to prison that has a drug
The judge I
lor the man. The judge m id. "You
t bo able to got drugs down there."
Not long
Katos, dtod of an
in tha Oregon ]
tiary
Jnetiee. judges, and a
of
Rozars
SFfCIAL PRKBS
8 Pancakes. Sausage or Ham...81.25
Ham, tw o eg g s....81.50
Bar B-Q Rib Dinner...83.60
Fried Chicken Wing...26c
Call in your order
288 5669
NJE. UNION AT AINSWORTH
Subscribe to The Portland Observer
Trt-County aroa $ 7.60
Nam*
Address
City
other otms $ 6 .0 0