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.
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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.
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