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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 1979)
Position 7: More citizen decision-making children to be forced to bus when whites are not. It isn’t right to scatter children around so children from King School, for example, go to 43 schools. That is not integration, it is isolation. "W hen elected, 1 w ill call for im mediate negotiation with the Coali tion to find the best possible in tegration plan. I believe we could in tegrate schools like Sabin, Vernon and Woodlawn by redrawing boun dary lines to put white children in those schools. This w ould not require a lot o f busing and children would still be near home. Lloyd Neal offers hie front yard as a good spot for a Karen Masterson lawn sign. Karen Masterson seeks the School Board seat now held by Forrest “ Joe” Reike. Reike, an attorney, was appointed to the position nine months ago. Mrs. Masterson's main concerns are qu a lity education and Board responsiveness to the public. “ C hildren should receive a good education no m atter where they liv e ,” she says. “ Every School should have good basic programs.” She believes the school district allows the educational programs in certain schools to deteriorate until parents want to move their children — then they close the schools. "T h e people or Board didn’t want a middle school and voted against it, but they took our program and let the school get so bad that parents were desparate enough to take anything.” Mrs. Masterson points out that the level o f education in P ortland schools is not what it should be. “ Only one-fourth o f the Columbia/ W hitaker middle school students going to Adams as freshman this year can read on the ninth grade level. Nearly 60<fy read at seventh grade level or below. Why aren’ t they teaching our children?” M rs. Masterson favors neigh borhood schools and believes the school to be the cornerstone o f the neighborhood. “ No one really likes busing or wants their own children to be bused, but it is not fair for Black "W ith other schools, like Boise, Humboldt and King, pairing might be the best solution. We must ask Dr. Blanchard to prepare the popu lation statistics and projections to devise a plan that w ill work and will take in to account the increasing number o f Black children. I f he can’t do this we w ill find someone who can.” M rs. Masterson objects to the Board’ s treatment o f citizens, “ Why do they have a public hearing, then when the testimony is over they pull out a motion prepared in advance and pass it in a few minutes. They don’t listen to the public or consider their wishes. I don’t call that citizen participation.” The Board serves as a rubber stamp for Dr. Blanchard’ s plans, she says. “ Dr. Blanchard came here with an agenda, and it doesn’t work. We need to evaluate the changes that have been made — the middle school reorganization, the division o f the district in to three areas, the top heavy administration — and then to build a long range plan to meet the educational needs.” The Board should make the policies and not the Superintendent, she says. As a School Board member she would go to each school, talk to teachers and parents, and find out what the needs are. Mrs. Masterson criticizes Rcike for his willingness to “ go along” with Dr. Blanchard. "H e talks a lot but when he gets through he just votes with Newman and McNamara, I ’ ve never seen him show any in dependence.” An attorney, Rcike is concerned that a suit may be filed as the result o f difficult Board decisions and ex presses the view that this fear o f liti gation hinders Board discussion and decision-making. “ I f he’s so afraid, he should get o ff the Board,” Mrs. Masterson says. “ I am a parent, a housewife. For me, serving on the Board w ill be a full-time project. Mr. Reike says this is an amatucr Board and can’t be ex pected to function as well as the City Council or the county commission. I don’t consider it an ’amatuer’ Board when it spends millions o f dollars and controls the education o f thousands o f children. I f I am elect ed, I w ill take time to research the issues, w ill listen to the people and will make my own decision. I won’ t be a ’ Blanchard clone.’ ” ¿ o ¡ tj£ n ^ b a » r v « M r h u r a d a y ^ M a r c l^ ^ 9 7 ^ o g « 3 On April 3rd, Vote for a School Board candidate who will stand up for children. Vote • STEVE Portland School Board Position #5 P *id Kot! f o r Schoo! Boord C om m uto. U H SC W h A m .. Portlood. O K 9711!. K o a M Hod. Tt Position 5: Steve Buel (Continued from Page I Column 5) children are too large for any teacher to do a good jo b .” Although he does not oppose mid dle schools or junior highs, Buel dis likes the way they are used in Port land. " I don’ t believe sixth graders belong in middle schools with seventh and eighth graders,” he says. “ I f they are left with the younger students, sixth graders w ill model after last year's sixth graders. I f they are put in with seventh and eighth graders, they w ill be pushed ahead attempting to follow them.” He also objects to the way middle schools are operated. They m ight o ffe r expanded curriculum, are good for some child ren, but only i f they have special re sources like certified librarians and counselors. Placing a large number o f older students together increases disciplinary problems and requires special supportive services. Buel believes every child and every school should be guaranteed certain basic programs and specific class room sizes. No child should be deprived o f good educational programs because o f the school he attends. He is certain that if the School Board would make the effort to up grade its schools, the public w ill sup port the schools, both by leaving their children in public schools and by providing the necessary financing. He plans to work more closely with C ity government to develop cooperative planning. Neighborhood stability and viable public schools are closely inter-related. Since parents attempt to move where the children w ill receive a good education he believes quality schools will do more to stop suburban flight. He has publically endorsed the C o a litio n ’ s pairing proposal and calls for an equitable desegregation plan that would lead to quality, inte grated, multi-ethnic education. Buel is especially disturbed about the arrogant attitude o f the Board and the administration toward the public, the absence o f opportunity from meaningful public decision making, the centralization o f power in the Superintendent, the proliferation o f highly paid admini strators at the expense o f direct ser vices to children, the absence o f long range planning fo r u tiliz a tio n o f buildings, and lack o f credibility. SAVINGS PLANS. FOR EDUCATION. DOWN PAYMENT. OR JUST PEACE OF MIND. Position 5: Bettie Overton (Continued from Page 1 Column 6) " I would prefer specialized high schools — schools that would feature science, business, foreign language and other specialities. This would not only provide a better education for a specialized society but would aid integration. O f course prepare the students, not only teach them basics, but give an introduction to home ec, language, science, etc. so the students would be able to choose the high school they want.” There should be more public parti cipation at every level. “ When the Board makes a decision before they hear the public, it is an insult to their integrity. Because they pay so little attention to the wishes o f the people, o f parents, they have lost touch with the voters. The people have no confi dence in the Board.” Mrs. Overton advocates a greater use o f school buildings. The Board should explore the possibility o f the use o f buildings by public agencies and should expand th e ir use by students. “ There are not enough ex tracurricula activities for students. There should be intermural sports af- ter school for students who aren’ t on the school team. There are many ac tivities fo r children that could be sponsored by the school and make use o f the buildings. In many areas o f the city there are no recreational a ctivities fo r teenagers, yet the school buildings are empty.” Mrs. Overton is well experienced in the workings o f Boards, having served on the Boards o f the Port land Metropolitan Steering Commit tee, the Albina Action Center (Chair person), the Boards o f Northwest and N a tional Associations fo r C om m unity Developm ent, the Albina Women’ s League (President), the Committee for Progress Through Law (Chairman), Portland Housing Association (President). She is a past state president o f the Im proved Benevolent Protective Order o f Elks the W orld and past President o f Daughters o f Rulers C lu b , IB- POEW. A graduate o f Vanport Junior High and Lincoln High School and attended M ultnom ah Business College and Portland Com m unity College She is the mother o f three children. We've got almost as many different types of savings programs as you have different rea sons to save. T h a t’s why we can plan one that exactly fits your individua l needs, w hether you’re saving for a specific goal like educa tio n , o r down paym ent on a house, or whether you’re just putting something away for your peace o f mind. Choose from : Regular savings, where you can start w ith as little as $1 and earn 5% interest per annum from day o f deposit to day o f withdrawal. A nd w ith our Save-O-Maric © feature you can arrange for automatic transfer of funds from your checking to your savings account. First Investors Passbook,* that can earn you up to 616% annual interest on $300 m inim um . F irst Investm ent C e rtifica te ,* th a t earns you 7H % annual in te re st on $1,000 m inim um . M oney M a rke t C e r tifi cate,* that can earn you the highest possible interest on $10,000 m inim um . (N o other bank or savings 6c loan can pay you more in terest currently than we can on this high- yielding certificate tied to the six-m onth Treasury B ill rate.) C h ristm a s C lu b , th a t’s perfect for Christmas shopping. A wide range of savings programs that fit your individual needs. One more reason why we’ve got what it takes for you to say, “ T h a t’s M y Bank” Member FDIC. f e d e r a l law and regulation prohibit I ) thr payment ot a time deposit prior to m atu rity unless three months nt the interest theieon is forfeited and interest on the amount w ith drawn is reduced to the regular savings rare. 2) the compounding o t interest during the term of Money Market C m the arc FIRST NATIONAL B A N K OF OREGON i
