Mro Francoa 8
U n iv e r s ity
n - otupap er Hocia
of
--
Black parents asked to boycott Portland Schools
The Black United Front has asked
Black parents to jo in in planning a
boycott o f the public schools next
fa ll to dem onstrate o pposition to
unequal treatm ent and dam aging
policies o f the school district.
“ Black children are forced to par
ticipate in a one way busing program
that is insulting and harm ful beyond
description," Ronnie Herndon said,
speaking fo r the Front. “ rhe Federal
O ffice o f C ivil Rights had decided it
is not unlaw ful that Portland Public
School’ s desegregation plan imposes
burdens on Black studesnts that are
disproportionately greater than the
burdens imposed on white students.
The Black United Front vehemently
disagrees. We feel that not only is
th is u n la w fu l, it is u n fa ir; i t is
disgraceful; its is im m oral that our
children and com m unity have paid
the highest price and gained the least
fro m th is i l l conceived, ra c is t,
desegregation plan.
“ Every school in our comm unity,
except Boise, has been changed and
the upper grades have been
eliminated. Black children have been
scattered and isolated - those from
King School have been sent to 42 d if
ferent schools. Our children have not
gained a c a d e m ica lly fro m th is
dispersal. This scattering o f children
has severely harmed our community;
Black parents find it more d iffic u lt
to be involved in school activities;
teh strength o f the com m unity is un
dermined.
“ Even after an extensive study by
a co a litio n o f citizens, the school
a d m in is tra tio n is s till ta k in g a
“ business as usual” attitu de . F o r
o u r c h ild re n ’ s sake we, the Black
c o m m u n ity ,
m ust
stop
th is
devastating process.”
Reverend John Jackson said H EW
has found the burdens imposed on
Black students greater. “ How can
you be guilty and not guilty at the
same time? It ’ s like saying we are
g oing to rew ard you fo r being
g u ilty .”
Reverend Jackson pointed out that
scattering Black children weakens
the home. Parents can’ t get to all the
schools, th y cant get in v o lv e d .
"T hen they say you’ re not interested
in your youngsters.”
Herndon said the boycott is just a
b eg in nin g, one o f m any ta ctics
designed to make the district reduce
scattering, establish a middle school
in A lb in a and p ro v id e q u a lity
education. “ The district is putting
the burden o f a social experiment on
the very people it is supposed to
help.”
In a Thursday press conference
H a rry W ard, co-chairm an o f the
Com m unity C oalition fo r School In
tegration, said “ The C oalition is ex
trem ely disappointed in the H E W
reversal o f the findings o f its Region
X office which cited Portland Public
Schools fo r d is c rim in a tio n in its
treatm ent o f Black students. The
d is tric t was exonerated on a
technicality . . . This does not alter
the fact that Black children continue
to be discriminated against under the
Portland Public School desegrega
tion pi ogram .”
Ward pointed out that in its study
the C oa litio n found discrim ination
in the follow ing acts: b uilt H um boldt
and E liot schools in predominately
Black n e ig h b o rh o o d s ; assigned
Black teachers almost exclusively to
predom inately Black schools u n til
PORTLAND OBSERVER
1975; implemented its reorganization
policy, establishing m iddle schools in
a way that segregates white children;
implemented policies that increased
racial isolation o f Jefferson.
Recruited and hired fewer Black
teachers from 1973 to 1978; forced
m andatory re-assignment o f Blacks
by elim ination o f upper grades; ex
cluded Black children from ECEs to
m ake roo m fo r w hites; req uired
Blacks but not whites to remain in
tra n s fe r schools; scattered Black
students p r io r to re o rg a n iz a tio n
while whites are assigned to middle
schools in groups; suspended Black
students at a g re a tly d is p ro p o r
tionate rate.
Volum« 9 No. 27
Thursday, July 12.1979109
USPS 959 680
HEW bases findings on promise of change
•9
The Portland School D istrict re
ceived the fin d in g s o f the U .S .
Departm ent o f H ea lth, Education
and W elfare on allegations o f racial
discrim ination by the d istrict. The
allegations were:
- that Black students bear unequal
burdens in the implementation o f the
d is tr ic t’ s v o lu n ta ry desegregation
plan;
- th a t
B lack
students
are
d is p ro p o rtio n a te ly suspended and
expelled; and,
- that Black students are achieving
at a lower rate than white students in
Early C hildhood Education Centers.
Carl Edwards is the happy winner of the First Place Award In the
NAACP's national ACT-SO competition in visual arts.
The letter from the H E W O ffice o f
C iv il Rights states in part:
“ We have determ ined that the
P o rtlan d P ublic School D is tric t is
not in violation o f T itle V I o f the
C ivil Rights A ct o f 1964 as to the
allegations contained in the com
plaints.
"W e found that the burdens im
posed upon black students under the
d is tric t’ s v o lu n ta ry desegregation
plan are disproportionately greater
than the burdens imposed on white
students as a result o f desegregation.
But this in itse lf, is not u n la w fu l
d is c rim in a tio n because a school
district which is desegregating under
a voluntary plan can impose unequal
burdens on black students as long as
these burdens are n o t grossly
unequal. We have determined tht the
burdens imposed on black students
as a result o f the implementation o
P ortland’ s voluntary desegregation
plan are not grossly unequal to the
burdens imposed on white students
under the plan.
“ In addition, the Portland Public
School D istrict has taken a number
o f corrective actions over the past
two years to reduce the desegregation
burdens o f black students. For the
1978-79 school year the district has
implemented a “ School Progression
Assignment and O p tion al Transfer
Program ” which w ill substantially
reduce the scattering o f black A d
ministrative Transfer students. Also,
Adm inistrative Transfer students are
no longer required to remain in the
feeder patterns o f their new schools.
The d is tric t now actively recruits
w hite and black students to p a r
ticipate in its desegregation programs
and commits itself to continue this
practice in the future.
A ll A lb in a Area students are now
assigned to a middle school, so 351
black students w ill no longer be in
v o lu n ta rily bussed under the A d
m inistrative Transfer Program. Dis
trict officals are continuing in their
efforts to solve the issue o f creating a
m iddle school in the A lb in a Area and
hope to establish one by the 1980-81
school year.
H E W ’ s analysis o f the discipline;
issue was lim ited to m onitoring the
district’ s 1977 waiver, granted after
the d is tric t was fo u n d in n on -
compliance. Ih e y found the district
had implemented the provisions o f
the waiver.
H E W ’ s investigation team found
th a t B la ck students in E a rly
C h ild h o o d E ducation Centers do
(Please turn to page 2 col. 1)
Black students excluded
Confusion reigns in Jefferson rally selection
The winning sculpture
Portland student w ins honor
by Kathryn H. B o u lt
Carl Edwards could write a dandy
little book on “ How 50 Pounds o f
C la y Changed M y L if e ’ ’ — or he
c o u ld ca ll the book “ ‘ A c t-S o ’
— W h a t it M eans to M e .’ ’ B u t,
with the latter title, it would be cer
ta in C a rl w ou ld have to w rite a
sequel because ‘ Act-So’ has just start
ed the bail o f happy and exciting
change rolling in this young man’ s
life.
You could say that it all started
w ith C a rl’ s sculpture o f King Tut
winning the $1,000 first prize offered
by the N A A C P 's A fro A m erican
C u ltu ra l Technological Scholarship
Olympics in Louisville a week or so
ago. But then, you could also say
that it began when C all saw the King
Tut exhibition. O r, you could say it
started when Carl accepted the ad
vice o f his caring art teacher at Roo
sevelt H igh School who had per
ceived the talent in this lad and had
nurtured it to this point.
A t any rate, C a rl is at home,
triu m p h a n t, a little awed, quietly
proud, and very happy that his work
was chosen as the best in his compe
titio n . He w ill treasure the gold
medal bestowed upon hirn along with
the prize money.
Am ong the 57 competitors in the
visual arts section o f the Act-So con
test was another P o rtlan de r, A n
thony Nunley, whose architectural
drawing won a bronze medal and a
$500 cash prize fo r th ird place.
Nunley has not yet returned to P ort
land, but is vacationing w ith his
fam ily before returning home.
As fo r Carl, he came home and
began his summertime jo b as a camp
counselor at the Salvation A rm y ’ s
summer camp fo r young people at
Estacada. Asked i f he teaches art
there, 18-year-old Carl denied that,
but admitted he tried some cartoon
ing with the young campers.
He also a dm itted , w ith a wide
boyish grin, that he has a lot o f fun
teaching disco dancing.
What are his plans fo r the future?
C arl intends to become a fu ll time art
student at the Portland A rt Museum
come fall. The prize money w ill help
defray expenses fo r both tu ition and
materials as the young man intends
to explore many creative interests he
possesses.
Carl is the son o f the Reverend
Clyde Edwards and Mrs. Edwards o f
this c ity , w ho also have a sm all
daughter, Winona.
N A A C P housing director
speaks to Vancouver Branch
D o n a ld H a re w o o d , executive
director o f the N A A C P Housing De
partm ent, w ill speak a' a Special
Housing meeting o f the Vancouver
Branch, N A A C P , on July 15th.
P rior to becoming director o f the
n a tio n a l housing u n it, H arewood
supervised the development, fin a n
cing and management o f N A A C P
sponsored housing p ro je cts, and
p ro vid e d te ch n ica l assistance to
branches.
P rio r experience in housing in
clude: Loan Consultant to the Rose
ville Housing Development Corpora
tion in Newark; executive director
fo r the Newark Housing Council; d i
rector o f the New York Urban Lea
gue’s Branch Operation Open C ity;
housing liaison agent fo r the Phila
delphia County Board o f Assistance.
The meeting w ill be held at 2:00
p.m. at the Pacific First Federal Sav
ings C o m m u n ity R oom , 915 Broad
way (Southeast entrance) in Van
couver.
“ A S enior G ir l’ s Dream o r A
Senior G ilr ’ s Nightmare? I ’ ve always
dreamed o f being on a Senior High
School rally squad. I knew that in or
der fo r me to even have a chance to
be elected I w ould have to go to
Adams or Jefferson H igh School. So
I selected Jefferson. When time came
fo r rally tryouts during my Junior
year, I was real excited. L ittle did I
know that the excitement would soon
tu rn in to a h e a rtb re a kin g n ig h t
mare.”
Those are the words o f a Jefferson
student who won a position on the
rally squad, was suspended and now
is not sure about her status.
Larry Ayers, Principal o f Jeffer
son H ig h S chool, said the R a lly
Squad selection had caused co n
fu s io n and a n im o s ity am ong the
students and faculty, but he hopes to
have the problems solved by next
week.
The in itia l selection was supervised
by the Senior Rally Squad faculty
advisor, M r. Odman. This process,
which was different that that used in
previous years, included a form sent
to teachers so they could comment
on the girls who wanted to try out fo r
rally. Some o f the comments were
c o n s tru c tiv e , b u t others were
negative.
The candidates were screened ac
cording to grades, attendance and
the teacher comments and fo ur o f
the Black students were eliminated.
The students and parents c o m
plained. Ayers met w ith students,
parents and an attorney, and after
reviewing the process, decided it had
been unfair.
“ I f only the advisor had met with
all o f the girls who were interested,
explained the selection criteria and
the process, all o f this would have
been avoided," Ayers explained. He
found that definite criteria had not
been established and the process was
confusing.
Ayers decided the process must be
repeated. Ms. Oderman was angry
and resigned her position as advisor.
A t that p o in t, Ayers put D o lly
Bowman in charge. She established
the procedure and set up an appeal
com m ittee. This tim e the fa c u lty
comments were not used. Some o f
the girls who had applied were ruled
out because they did not meet the
grade and attendance requirements.
They appealed, and because there
was no adequate appeal criteria, they
were added to the list.
The student body voted on the
twenty students and twelve girls were
elected -- six Black and six white.
The Black students state that six
Blacks and three whites were elected,
but teachers objected to having the
m a jo rity Black and added whites.
Ayers said he knew nothing about
that and thinks the top twelve were
selected. Considerably more whites
tried out that Blacks, and it seemed
to be only the Black girls who were
having trouble w ith being disquali
fied.
Some teachers asked the principal
not to announce the winners u n til the
q u a lific a tio n s o f those in dispute
could be checked, but Ayers decided
to announce those the students had
elected. Immediately a petition was
signed by faculty members, deman
ding that five o f the Black girls be
put o ff the squad.
T hrough the faculty grape vine,
Ayei s learned that some teafecers
were saying that in no way would
they fin d those girls acceptable to
represent the school - their attitudes
were negative and their attendance
poor
(Pleaie turn to page 2 col. 4)
Child care program loses funds
The A lb in a M in iste ria l A llian ce
F a m ilty Day and N ig h t C are
Program is facing extinction as the
C hild Care Coordinating Committee
(4 -C ) w ith d ra w s fu n d s fro m the
program.
A M A was established in 1971 with
M o d e l C itie s fu n d s , one o f ten
M odel Cities ch ild care program s
with 4-C as the contracting agency.
W ith Model Cities funds and small
c o n trib u tio n s th a t were m atched
with federal dollars, 4-C b uilt a child
care delivery system emcompassing
fo u r c o u n tie s. N o w , o n ly A M A
remains in the M odel Neighborhood.
A M A is also the only fam ily day
care p ro gram le ft in M u ltn o m a h
C o u n ty, p ro v id in g care in fa m ily
homes fo r infants and children too
young to attend child care centers.
O ver the years e lim in a tio n o f
federal funds, changes in state child
care regulations, and a takeover o f
funded child care by the C hildren’s
Service Division has eliminated the
o rig in a l fu n c ito n o f A M A —
providing free or low cost child care
fo r low income families.
C u rre n tly the program provides
inform ation and referral, placement
o f children, technical assistance with
financial and e lig ib ility forms, com
m u n ity and parent e d u ca tio n , a
resource lib r a r y , and processes
Department o f A griculture funds fo r
children’ s meals.
In February, A M A was notified
that 4-C would no longer contract
with it to provide services to families
in the northern h alf o f M ultnom ah
C o u n ty . Em ployees, parents and
board members immediately began
lobbying the legislature to be in
cluded in the CSD budget fo r 4-C.
Their contention was that 4-C sta ff
has never been able to serve the
Black com m unity adequately and
has made little e ffo rt to understand
the needs.
D u rin g the lo b b y in g process,
Senator Bill McCoy asked A M A to
submit their proposal and budget to
him so he could see that it got the
right places. Cornetta Smith, direc
tor fo the program, said when 4-C’ s
budget was increased beyond the
original budget, Senator McCoy told
her the extra money was for A M A .
Tuesday night 4-C staff informed
her that they were not aware o f such
an arrangement and have no inten
tion o f contracting with A M A . They
said they might arrange to pay some
o f A M A ’s expenses, but not through
a contract, Mrs. Smith said.
4-C w ill receive 111,060 in state
funds in 1979-80 and a seven per cent
increase the fo llo w in g year. They
plan to hire a sta ff o f six to do sub
stantially what A M A is doing now.
Reverend John Jackson, a board
member, said the A lbina Ministerial
Alliance had submitted a proposal to
4-C offering to provide 525,000 if 4-
C would match it with $50,000 but
no reply has been received.
In the meantime, the office is still
open and the staff is endeavoring to
provide services.
I
Veaia Loving, director of The Reading Tree, helps a young men with
his reecing. Located In Irving Park, The Irving Trea offers remedial
reading and reading for fun to children of all ages (Please see page 3)
(Photo: Terry Robertson)