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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 1978)
made by the school board to change the curriculum to that it reflects the cultural diversity o f the student population. 6. It is important that the school board and district establish and maintain a discipline policy and practice that is fair, consistent and impartial 7. It is important that the district carry on a constant effort to involve parents and the whole community in the desegregation/integration process. 8. It is important that when students are bused for desegregation, they are transferred along with their neighborhood peers and not alone or in small numbers. 9. It is important that high expectations are held for all students involved in desegregation/integration regardless o f race. 10. it is important that the school board and district dearly communicate to the rest o f the community that both Black and white students benefit from school in tegration. preparation o f students in the feeder schools o f Jeffer son. b. The Performing A ns Program at Jefferson should be kept as a magnet serving students who come to Jef ferson full-time. c. The current career oriented programs at Jefferson High School (i.e ., legal secretary, auto shop) should be retained. d. The adm inistrative o ffice responsible fo r the District’s desegregation programs should report an nually to the School Board the total number and the number per high schools o f the white students living in the Jefferson feeder area but attending other high schools. Data T he School Board should have data on the desegregation/integration program available for its members and community groups requesting it. School Pairing After reviewing many methods for bringing about school desegregation and considering the unique features o f Portland, the Coalition feds that school pairing is the best way to desegregate/integrate Port land’s schools. The following reasons served as a basis for this conclusion: 1» Equity: a. Both Black and White students would be required to transfer. b. Grade level riimination would be equitable be tween the Black and white communities involved in desegregation. QuaBty Education: a. Research in d ict»« t h t school desegregation is most successful when it starts at the early grade levels. b. School pairing allows for greater grade level specialization to better serve the educational needs o f the students. c. Title V II monies could be concentrated on the schools involved in pairing to provide additional staff aad materials - d. School pairing would make it easier for parents to be involved in their child’s education than is currently the case with the Administrative Transfer Program. e. School pairing retains the best students in a given neighborhood as role models for their neighborhood peers. Students involved in school pairing would spend eight years in an integrated educational setting. This long term arrangement would maximize the potential for developing m eaningful relations between students, parents, teachers, administrators, and others involved. Neighborhood Integrity: School pairing would insure that neighborhood children would be kept together as they go through school. School pairing would maintain most o f the facilities that have been redesigned and renovated. School pairing involves a transportation savings over the trans portation cost o f the district’s current program. Recommendations: Student Transfer: The School District should develop a desegregation/integration program that: a. Transfers enough white and Minority students to bring its schools into compliance with state guidelines. b. Involves both white and minority students in an equitable two-way transfer program that keeps neigh borhood classmates together. c. Eliminates the current scattering and isolation of Minority students. School Pairings: The School District should use school pairing as the major means to accomplish desegre g a tio n /in te g ra tio n . The D istrict should pair each o f the seven predominantly minority schools in the District with one or two predominantly white schools in a manner that will comply with state guidelines on racial balance. In establishing the pairing arrangments, the following guidelines should be followed: a. The schools that are over 50 percent M in o rity should be paired with schools in middle income residential area. b. Transportation time should be kept to a minimum. Curriculum Rationale: c. A Title I school’s eligibility for Title I funds should be maintained i f possible. However, if through the pairing, a school loses Title I funds, the general fund should be used to continue the Title I programs for eligible students. d. ESAA Title V II funds should be concentrated on those schools involved in pairing and the high schools they feed. e. None o f the paired schools should have less than the District-wide average o f M inority students (in 1977- 78 that average was 20% ). f. Voluntary transfers into the paired elementary schools should be allowed two years after they are in stituted, providing there is space available. g. During the first two years the pairing program is in effect, transfen out of the paired schools should not be allowed. h. A maximum o f four o f the Early Childhood Education Centers should be organized as prim ary schools, pre-kindergarten through 4th or 5th grade, with early childhood education programs and other specialized program s to enhance the academic achievement o f the primary student. i. The upper grades, 5th or 6th through 8th, in the paired schools should have specialized programs to enhance the academic achievement o f the students. j. The students who have been together in a set o f paired schools should be given the option o f attending either one designated high school or the high school they would currently be expected to attend given their residence. Jefferson and Adams High Schools should not be dosed. k. Schools involved in school pairing should not be closed l. Preparation o f parents, students, and faculty for the fo rm a tio n o f paired schools should begin a minimum o f three school months before paired schools are instituted. m. School pairings should be instituted by September I, 1980. The Administrative Transfer Program should be discontinued by the tim e school pairings are operative. Jefferaon High School a. The School District should support and promote the general academic program at Jefferson High School to the same extent that it supports and promotes the P erform ing A rts P rogram . This recom m endation requires that the School District intensify the academic The Portland School District currently provides its teachers with multi-ethnic themes they may use along with their basic curriculum Scope and Sequence. The ex tent to which these themes are in co rp o rated in classroom instruction is unknown. The District does not require that Black culture be included in the curriculum o f its elementary or secondary schools. Furthermore, the District does not require that the various cultures represented by other M inority students in the student population be included in school curriculums. C u rre n tly , Black students constitute the largest M in o rity group in the District (1977-78: Blacks — 13.8% , Orientals — 3 .3 % , American Indians — 1.3% , and Spanish Americans — 1.6% ). According to a sur vey conducted jointly by the Coalition and the Portland School District, 54% o f the Black students bused for desegregation purposes are in classrooms that do not in clude Black culture, history, or literature as part o f the required curriculum. Recommandations: 1. Minority Cultures in Curriculum The District should include the teaching o f M inority cultures with a special emphasis on Black culture under its heading " M a jo r category** in the Social Studies and Language Arts subjects for K-12 in Scope and Se quence, the basic curriculum guide for Portland’s schools. 2. Independent Survey The D istrict should commission fo r the 1980-81 school year an independent survey o f the elementary classrooms in all schools to determine: a. The extent to which M inority culture is included in the social studies and language arts curriculum. b. The extent to which the m ulti-ethnic theme, which is already included in Scope and Sequence, is used in the classroom work in all subjects. 3. Minority Culture Material Search An ongoing search for and acquisition o f current books, audio-visual materials and curriculum guides and other aids for the teaching o f M ino rity culture should be conducted by District specialists in con sultation with the Community Coalition for School In tegration. Teacher Training Rationale: The Portland School D istrict’s present policy on teacher training for school desegregation is: C ontinue s ta ff development program s in human relations and otherwise assist s ta ff in both forwarding and receiving schools to work successfully with children o f different races, cultures, and economic backgrounds. (Administration Scries 2000: 2001-2b, 5-b.) Linder its general policy, the Portland School District has sponsored a number o f workshops on multi-ethnic education. Teachers have received a m u lti-ethn ic curriculum and multi-ethnic teaching units. In addition, each administrative area o f the District has sponsored its own training sessions and workshops on school desegregation. However, although a noticeable effort has been made to provide school desegregation related in-service training, a sizeable number o f teachers have not been reached. Teacher training efforts in the area o f desegregation have been inconsistent for several reasons: 1. Workshops and in-service training have been con ducted on a fragmented, piece-meal basis with no long term , District-wide teacher training plan 2. Training related to school desegregation listed in "In -S e rv ic e O pportunities for P ortlan d Teachers” (1 9 7 7 -7 8 ) has not focused on P o rtla n d ’ s largest M inority group. 3. in-service training related to school desegregation is not mandatory. 4. The current desegregation program is administered in a manner that scatters and isolates students bused for desegregation purposes. Recommendations: 1. General Personnel Training The office responsible for District-wide desegregation o f the Portland School District should develop a long term plan to assure that: 1) A ll teachers, administrators. School Board members, and other personnel whose responsibility requires daily interaction with students, have training in group dynamics in an integrated setting, m ulti-cultural perspective, and Black culture; 2) A record be kept by name, employment category, and school o f those attending the classes and workshops; and 3) This record be made public annually at a School Board meeting. 2. In-Service Teacher Training The office responsible for District-wide desegrega tion, with the input o f the Community Coalition for School Integration, should develop an in-service train ing program based on the particular needs o f M inority students and white students in an integrated setting. Distribution of A.T. Distance T raveled: between 2.1 and 10.7 miles (one way) Total Number of Students: 451* Total Number of Schools: 39 r I J Sylvan (1)L Ainsworth / West Sylvan(12 Receiving School ( ) » of A.T. students at each school Training programs relating to the issues found in desegregation in whatever its forms should be man datory for all staff who come into contact with children. 3. In-Service Credits The School Board should require that two o f the six in-service training credits required for teachers every fo u r years be in hum an re la tio n s , m u lti-c u ltu ra l education, Black culture, or skills in group dynamics in an integrated classroom. 4. Permanent Taachar Statue The School Board should stipulate as part o f its requirem ents fo r perm anent teaching status, that teachers have experimental training in teaching in a desegregated classroom. 6. Taachar Status Certification The School Board explore with the State Board o f Education the possibility o f including courses in m ulti cultural education as part o f the requirements for teacher certification. Student Discipline Rationale: School authorities bear the most immediate respon sibility for identifying potential in-school problems. Conditions that breed inappropriate behavior can be addressed by the school only through cooperative plan ning with parents and community. In June 1977, the U .S . D epartm ent o f H e a lth , Education and Welfare charged the Portland Public Schools with violation o f the Emergency School Aid Act (E S A A ) because its suspension procedure discriminated against M inority group children. The US Department o f H E W held that a disproportionate number o f Minority children were suspended and expelled. Although Portland promised to change disciplinary practices in response to this charge, the percentage of Black students suspended (1,263 or 17%) is three times the percentage o f white students suspended (2,615 or 5.7% ). O f the 98 students expelled, 56 were M inority students. Concentrated effort should be placed on preventing the disruption o f the process o f education. This process is disrupted whenever a student leaves school prior to graduation. A t times, parents are counseled to request that their child be excused from further schooling because o f achievement and adjustment problems in school. Many o f the problems o f young Black adults can be traced to these "push outs.” These young adults foster a feeling o f apathy and helplessness in the im mediate family and serve as poor role models for the community, county, and state. Students and parents, and in particular. M inority group students and parents must be encouraged to exer cise their right to vote their opinions and provide input into all aspects o f school operations that affect them. R •c o m m e n d a tio n s : C ateg ories o f D iscip lin ary A c tio n The District should adopt the following categories o f disciplinary action and sanctions: a. Claes Exclusion — This method o f disciplinary procedure can be used to deny a student the right to at tend a particular class for a period o f two days or less. b. M in o r S usp en sio n * — The student is denied the right to attend school including all classes and school ac tivities for a period o f one 24 hour day or less. M inor suspensions should not be made a part o f the student’s permanent cumulative record. c. M a jo r Suspensions — The denial to a student of the right to attend school, including all classes and school activities for a period o f more than 24 hours but not more than five school days. d. C ounseling and R eassig nm ent — Students who can no longer function in their school setting should be given options for future activity such as Portland Public School alternative programs including: V ocational Village, Open Meadows, the Portland Job Corps, night school, and tributary schools. e. Expulsion — Expulsions should be used only as an option o f last resort. Exceeding care should be given to "due process." M inority Social W orkers and Counselor* Sensitive M in o rity social workers and counselors should be hired to work with students for prevention o f the need for disciplinary action and for counseling at the point o f disciplinary action o f suspension, reassign ment, and expulsion. Changes in Suspension Procedures a. Teachers should be responsible for direct contacts with parents, guardians concerning a student’s behavior when the behavior first becomes inappropriate. b. Students should not be suspended or held on suspension solely in order to conference with parents. c. No suspended student should be allowed to leave the school grounds during school hours u n til the student's parent or guardian or other responsible adult has been contacted and given opportunity to arrange for supervision o f the student during the suspension period. d. While on suspensions, dasswork assignments should be given the student and the student should be expected to complete such assignments and receive fu ll credit for the dasswork. Reports to Superintendent AU minor and m ajor suspensions, reassignments, and expulsions should be reported to the O ffic e o f the Superintendent o f Schools. Discipline end Student Transportation a. AU rules and regulations concerning student con duct on school buses should be uniform throughout the District. Such rules should be included in the Student Handbook. b. Students should not be punished or held respon sible for being late due to late school buses. c. The behavior o f the students traveUng via transpor tation provided by the School District is the direct responsibility o f the parents/guardians and the teachers and principals o f the receiving schools. d. No student should be put o ff the bus until he/she reaches his/her destination. e. I f a student misses the bus because a teacher keeps the student after school, the teacher or the school should arrange for and pay for transportation for the student to his/her home. f. A bus aide should be assigned to each bus. Student Handbook The Student’s Rights and Responsibility Handbook should be written in language that a 5th grade student can read and understand, "lhese rights and respon sibilities should be discussed in each classroom and students should be given the opportunity to make recommendations to the appropriate office and the School Board fo r changes in the H a n d b o o k . A ll procedures concerning exclusions, suspensions.
