Ura Frances
Dr
O B SER /ER
Volume 8 No. 36 Thursday, August 31,1878 10c por copy
; «
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pageant is sponsored by the Jim m y Bang-Bang Walks«
Youth Foundation. (Please see Rage 8 Column 3 for story.)
Bussing isolates Black children
A Portland School District press
release extolls the “ Administrative
Transfer’ * program which scatters
Black children from Northeast Port
land throughout the district in a
desegregation attempt.
The press release states: “ Ernest
Hartzog, assistant superintendent
for community relations and staff
development, said the program ,
operational since 1964, w ill have
more than 3,000 students par
ticipating during the coming year.
"The program provides minority
students o p p ortun ities to attend
schools outside their own neigh
borhoods on a voluntary basis. Hart
zog said 2,973 students participated
in the program last year.
“ Under the program, students and
parents volunteer to participate and
the students must be attending
schools with high concentrations of
minority pupils.”
The truth is that the term “ volun
tary” includes only those children
who are transferred voluntarily by
cl
City EEO programs found deficient
PORTLAND
K G W -TV news reporter and weekend anchorman John
Davis, will host th e Miss Tan Portland Scholarship
Pageant on Septem ber 3rd at th e Hilton H otel. The
o lty
their parents and should not be used
to refer to students whose grades do
not exist in their neighborhood
schools.
“ You can’ t call it ’ v o lu n ta ry ’
when our children have no school to
attend, so they have to attend
schools across town,” explained one
parent. “ You really can’ t call it
voluntary even when we w illingly
send our children to white schools
because the schools in our neigh
borhood are inferior. That really is
no choice either.”
Parents have been disturbed
because the desegregation program
includes the forced busing o f Black
children o n ly. They consider it
inequitable to place the burden o f
desegregation entirely on the Black
children and their families.
But information gathered by the
Community Coalition for School In
tegration — most o f it gleaned from
the District itself — presents an even
darker picture. The students are not
only transferred to schools all over
the District, but they are transferred
in such small groups as to find them
selves isolated in their new schools.
Transfer students from King, for
example, numbered 451 last school
year. O f these 123 were true volun
tary transfer students, first through
fifth graders. The other 313 were
bused from King because it has no
sixth, seventh, and eighth grade
classes. These students were trans
ferred to 39 different schools in the
three administrative areas. District
projections are that 412 students will
go to 42 schools this year.
O f even more significance is the
way these children are distributed.
For example, one second grader
from King went to Sylvan. Sylvan
has two other transfer students, a
second grader and a th ird grader
from Humboldt.
W ilson Park got five students
from King, one each in the second,
fifth , sixth grades and tw o third
graders. Wilson Park also got a fifth
grader from Boise, thirteen students
from H um boldt in grades second
through sixth, and one kindergarten
student from Woodlawn.
Lents School received one seventh
grader from King; one fourth grader
from Eliot; a first grader, a fifth
grader and a seventh grader from
W oodlaw n; and eleven students
from Vernon, no more than two to a
grade.
When these transfer students
arrived across town at their schools,
they may be one o f half-dozen Black
students in a big white school. Those
other Black children most likely will
be in different classes and from d if
ferent neighborhoods.
(Please turn to Page 7 Column 1)
Although the City o f Portland has
statutorilly committed itself to Equal
O pportunity Programs, the C ity ’ s
current Equal O p p o rtu n ity P ro
grams, with the exception o f the A f
firmative Action Office, are either
disfunctional or non-existent accord
ing to an evaluation completed by
the Metropolitan Human Relations
Commission (M H R C ). Also cited
was a lack o f commitment by in
dividuals at various management
levels.
The report, presented before in
formal Council session August 29th,
resulted from M H R C ’ s mandate to
evaluate the four components o f
the C ity ’ s Equal O p p o rtu n ity
commitment incorporated under Or
dinance 144724, and passed by the
C ouncil in Novem ber, 1977.
“ Although in Ordinance 144724 the
City has made a firm statement o f its
intent to end unequal treatment o f
m inorities and women in the job
market,” read the cover letter to the
report from Commission Chairper
son Jim Sitzman and Employment
Com m ittee C hairperson Anna
Street, “ The record makes evident
the need for strengthened effort and
diligence.” The Ordinance details the
functions o f the Affirm ative Action
O ffice ,
C ontract C om pliance
Programs, and calls for City com
mitment to a M inority Purchasing
Program — to solicit more minority
firms to contract out with the City —
and a Grants Equal O pportunity
Program — to provide a uniform
and consistent review o f all Equal
Opportunity requirements fo r City
bureaus seeking federal grants.
Despite its critical nature, Mayor
G oldschm idt commended M H R C
for compiling “ a very good report.”
A ccording
to
the
MHRC
evaulation, the City M inority Pur
chasing Program (o r M in o rity
Business Enterprise Program) and
Grants Compliance Programs do not
exist. Although, according to the
report, the City has received some
$10 m illio n in housing and com
munity Development Funds and only
.6 percent went to m in o rity
businesses.
The contract compliance office,
according to the re p o rt, lacks
"knowledge and understanding o f
the purpose, goals and requirements
o f contract compliance, and how it
relates to Executive Order 11246
(Federal Equal Opportunity Law),
and how they relate to various City
bureaus.” C ontract com pliance
regulations require that private con
tractors providing goods and services
to the City, as well as City bureaus as
prime contractors o f federal money,
have Affirm ative Action programs.
The C ity ’ s C ontract Compliance
responsibility is fragmented rather
than centrally handled, the report
said.
The C ity’s Affirm ative Action O f
ficer, the report read, needs to be
buttressed with additional staff and
“ strong support and commitment
from all administrative levels,” to
carry out more fully its Equal Em
ploym ent O p p o rtu n ity fu n c tio n .
“ One major problem is lack o f A f
firmative Action productivity on the
part of administrative personnel who
have authority for hiring, promotion
and termination.”
Although the City is hiring more
women and m inorities than ever
before, “ due to the high turnover
rates among these historically new
employees, there are fewer minorities
in City employment than there were
in the previous years,” the report
noted, indicating that the C ity is
“ continuing to lose ground.”
The M H R C report made the
following recommendations:
M IN O R IT Y PURCHASING/
M IN O R IT Y BUSINESS ENTER
PRISE PROGRAM (MBE)
I) That the City develop and im
plement such a program with specific
goals and objectives. The report did
footnote that such a plan was in the
works. According to Purchasing O f
ficer Harold Vaughn, the program
plan is being reviewed by the City A t
torney’s Office and w ill be presented
to the Council in the next few weeks.
Vaughn also said that the wording
in such a plan is critical because, ac
cording to the City Attorney’ s O f
fice. M inority set-aside programs are
illegal, but that should not preclude
the C ity’s commitment and respon
sibility to subcontracting with more
minority-owned firms.
2) C ity C om m issioner Charles
Jordan favored an M H R C recom
m endation calling
fo r C ity-
sponsored workshops to acquaint
minority-owned firms with the C ity’s
bid process. M ayor N eil G o ld
schmidt concurred, noting that all
small businesses and potential con
tractors could benefit. “ This would
probably encompass most o f the
minority firms as well,” he said.
3) The Purchasing Office should
advertise in both the C ity’s m inority
newspapers as a show o f “ good
faith” in soliciting m inority firms.
3) M inority business associations
should be contacted regularly to
assess m inority capability, and the
Purchasing D ivision should hold
regular meetings w ith association
representatives to fa c ilita te suc
cessful im plem entation o f the
program.
(Please turn to Page 7 Column 1)
Schools’ MBE proposal hits snag
Monday night the Portland School
Board postponed action on a
‘.’ Program fo r Affirm ative Action in
Bidding and Contracting Practices.”
The District has dealt unsuccessfully
with the request o f minority contrac
tors to adopt a m inority set-aside
program for over two years.
The current proposal was present
ed to the Board by Ms. Gladys Mc
Coy, the Board’s only Black member.
Ms. McCoy has talked with contrac
tors regarding the proposal since last
March but has been unable to come
up w ith a program that would
adequately meet the need fo r a
M in o rity
Business Enterprise
program and still pass the scrutiny of
the Board’ s legal counsel, Mark Mc
Clanahan.
The proposal o fferred to the
Board by Ms. M cCoy defines
m in o rity business enterprise as a
business e n tity “ fifty percent or
more o f whose executive or
management employees are minority
individuals or whose employment o f
minority individuals as craftspersons
is at the same time o f bid filing and
remains in reasonable balance.”
(emphasis ours). “ Reasonable
balance” is defined as having
minority employees in each craft in
nearly the same percentages as
minorities in those trades are found
are other fa u lts w ith the plan,
in the labor market.
causing his organization to reject it
A meeting was held August 4th,
in its entirety.
with Ms. McCoy and D r. Harold
Eugene Jackson, executive direc
Kleiner o f the School District; Ron
tor o f the Northwest M inority Con
Anderson and Bob Rogers o f Asso
tractors Association agreed w ith
ciated General Contractors; Eugene
Rogers. “ We w ill do what we can to
Jackson Northwest M in o rity Con
stop this plan,” he said. “ Ms. Mc
tractors; Tom Boothe o f Contractors
Coy asked me to write a proposal for
Management Association; Nathon
her and I wrote several but none were
Proby o f United M inority Workers.
acceptable to the School District. She
“ We said then that the only accept
indicated that she was really in
able definition o f M inority Business
terested in getting a good plan adopt
Enterprise is the one used by the U.S.
ed before she leaves the Board and
government and other agencies —
that she and Dr. Blanchard would
fifty percent or fifty-one percent o f
see that McClanahan cooperated.
the ownership must be m inority,”
“ This plan is ridiculous,” Jackson
Bob Rogers o f AGC explained. “ We
said.
can’ t accept the School D is tric t
Another major problem with the
proposal’ s d e fin itio n o f M in o rity
plan is the definition o f ‘ reasonable
Business E nterprise because it
balance.’ The School District plan
doesn’t deal with ownership.
addresses the percentage o f
“ We advised Ms. McCoy to use
minorities in a given craft or trade in
the Multnomah County plan, which
the labor market. So, for example, if
is the best in the area. We worked
there arc two percent minorities in
with the Northwest M inority Con
the electrical trades, the contractor
tractors Association to develop that
would have to insure that two per
plan, and it is working.”
cent o f his electricians are minorities;
Rogers indicated that AGC would
if ten percent o f the brick layers in
accept any functioning plan — those
the local labor market are minorities,
o f the Corp o f Engineers, the Port of
ten percent o f the contractor’s brick
Portland, the State o f Oregon — but
layers on the School D istrict jobs
w ill not accept the School District
would have to be minorities.
proposal. Rogers indicated that there
(Please turn to Page 7 Column 3)
Millner, Padrow
added to list
,
i
'
i
,
Herb L. Amerson was named by Pacific Northwest Bell to a newly created
job of consumer affairs manager. Formerly a staff manager in the company's
customer services department, Amerson has been with «he telephone com
pany in Portland eleven years.
In his new job, Amerson will be in contact with consumar groups throughout
the state to establish a rapport with them and define the company's position on
matters of interest to the groups.
/•
The Portland School Board voted
to expand its list o f fin a list can
didates fo r nom inations to the
School Board. Dr. Darrell Millner,
associate professor at Portland State
U n ive rsity, and Ben Padrow,
professor at Portland State Univer
sity and former member o f the Board
of County Commissioners, were add
ed to three persons selected by a
committee o f the Board.
Candidates selected by the com
mittee were: Evie Crowell, librarian;
attorney Dean Oisvold; and Williams
W etzel, Pastor o f St. P hilips
Episcopal Church. Controversy has
risen over the selection process and
alleged pre-selection o f one can
didate.
Each candidate w ill speak for ten
minutes and be questioned by the
'• ‘ Reasonable balance" ¡»¡¿¿ns^tUS^’
1
I he selection win oe mauc at it
the
September 11th Board meeting.
4*3«’
Donation of canned goods to the Albina Action Center
by the Soroptimiut International of Portland will help the
Center meet emergency food needs of area residents.
Frances Admas, right, Soroptimist treasurer, delivers the
$200 worth of food to Mostaffa Hashemian at the Center.
Soroptimist is a service organization of business and
professional women.