Voluntary re-defined
Cawthorne
School Board member Herb
C aw thorne w ill investigate the
p ossibliltiy o f desegregating P ort
land's schools p rim a rily through
boundary changes. " I think that by
shifting boundaries to bring more
w hite students in to the m a jo rity
Black elementary schools we can
provide every child with a desegre-
grated school near home. This is an
option the Board should examine.”
C aw thorne has requested o f
Superintendent Blanchard an im
mediate analysis o f possible boun
dary changes to provide schools with
fro m 35 to 65 per cent m in o rity
enrollment and for five year projec
tions.
‘ ‘ I like the idea o f volunteerism,”
C aw thorne explained. " I believe
parents should have choices - that
they should be allowed to send their
children where ever they believe they
w ill get the type o f education best
suited to them.
"B u t 1 am committed to the prin
ciple that there must be room for
every child in the school where he has
a standard assignment. A t the
present time there is not room at
Humboldt for all o f the children who
live in the H u m b o ld t attendence
area. I f all the child re n in the
C olum bia/W hitaker feeder schools
went to that school there would be
no room for them. Therefore it has
been necessary to re cru it Black
children out o f the com m unity to
other schools. Parents didn’t really
have a choice.
" I f we redraw the attendence
areas, insure that there is space for
every child who lives in that area to
go to his own school, and if we draw
these boundaries to create desegre
gated schools, then those who choose
to leave can w ithout feeling com
pelled.
Cawthorne explained that he will
not support a plan that w ill require
heavy recruiting o f Blacks out o f
local schools. "There should be no
re c ru itin g at a ll. I have called it
'counse lling ' and by that I mean
that parents and students should be
PORTLAND OBSERVER
inform ed at the fifth grade level
about the programs offered at the
various middle schools. The decision
to attend a school other than the
standard assignment school should
be based only on the type o f program
available.
" N o child should be transferred
because there is no room for him or
because the q u a lity o f the local
(Please turn to Page 2 column I)
V olu m e 9 N um ber 48
D ecem ber 8.1979
10$ per copy
USPS 958 680
School District hiring excludes Black teachers
A genuine belief that a child can
learn is the most important asset a
teacher can have. . . Teachers whose
attitudes reflect racial and social
class bias will allienate the child, thus
precluding any meaningful partici
pation in the instructional process.
— Kenneth K. Washington,
School o f Education
University o f Mass, at Amhurst
During the past two school years
more than half o f the students ex
pelled from school by the Portland
Public Schools have been Black. Ap
proximately fifteen per cent o f the
district’s student enrollment is Black.
Kandy Raiford appears to w o n d er
started like this
the stars at th e Ice Capades
(Photo: Richard Brown)
Many educators believe the major
reason for the excessive expulsion
and suspension o f Black students is
the deficient education provided in
A lb in a schools in the firs t five
grades. A fte r attending segregated
schools
in
which
academic
achievement tests from two to four
years below the d is tric t average,
Black children are sent to m ajority
white schools where they are not only
in a strange environment but cannot
compete academ ically w ith the
m ajority o f their white peers. Their
only access to aitention is aggresssive
or exagerated behavior, which
becomes a tool fo r emotional sur
vival.
The Black U nited F ro n t, the
Community Coalition for School In
tegration
and The M in o rity
Educator’s Organization, have con
sidered one key to improve academic
achievement to be dedicated Black
teachers in schools where there are
concentrations o f Black children.
The Singleton Rule
In 1975 the U.S. Department o f
H ealth, E ducation and W elfare
determ ined that the P o rtlan d
school d is tric t d iscrim inated in
assignment o f teachers and ordered
the d is tric t to com ply w ith the
Singleton Rule. This rule provides
that schools that have been found
g u ilty o f p rio r d is c rim in a tio n in
teacher assignment assign between 75
per cent and 125 per cent o f the
district’s percentage o f minorities to
each school. ( If ten per cent o f the
teachers were m inority, each school
teaching staff should be between 7.5
and 12.5 per cent m inority.)
Last week the School Board voted
to advise HEW that it no lunger
plans to adhere to the Singleton
Rule and, if HEW disagrees, to per-
sue court action against HEW.
Years of Discrim ination
The Portland school district hired
its first Black teachers in 1949, under
pressure from the Portland Urban
League. Numbers o f Black teachers
remained small and the district main
tained a policy that u n til the late
1960s assigned all Black teachers,
even those c e rtific a te d fo r high
school, to elementary schools.
In July o f 1969 Ruth Spencer, now
chairman o f the Oregon M in o rity
Educators O rg a n iza tio n , file d a
complaint with the Oregon Bureau
o f Labor, charging the district with
racial discrim ination. Ms. Spencer
had returned to P o rtla n d from
Boston where she had been a super-
v is o r/in s tru c to r fo r the Teacher
Corps. A nn year employee with the
district, she had applied for a super
visor position but was denied. Ms.
Spencer had earned her m aster’ s
degree from New York University,
studying under Dr. Dan Dodson,
prominantly known for his research
and planning in the area o f school
desegregation. Her degree was in
Human Relations Education.
The complaint was investigated by
the C iv il Rights D iv is io n , which
found "substantial support o f the
charges” and directed conciliation.
When c o n c ilia tio n was not suc
cessful, the case was referred to the
Attorney General for prosecution.
T he case charged that not only had
the district discriminated against Ms.
Spencer but that it had practiced
discrimination against Black teachers
for the previous 29 years.
A legal battle followed w ith the
school district attempting to restrict
the case to specific charges related to
Ms. Spencer and to resist opening
all o f its personnel records to the
C iv il Rights Bureau. In nnnn the
Oregon Supreme C ourt ruled that
the district must open its records to
the Bureau.
Black hiring
Under the guns o f the Bureau o f
Labor, the district exanded its Black
h irin g and assignment to ad
ministration type positions. In 1970
there were approximately sixty Black
teachers; by 1975 there were ap
proximately 150.
The case became em broiled in
politics — including the resignation
o f A ttorney Belton H am ilton and
C iv il Rights Bureau D irector Russ
Rogers over disputes between A tto r
ney General Lee Johnson and Labor
Commissioner Norm Nilsen over the
handling o f civil rights cases. There
followed several years o f inactivity
during which a five year backlog o f
cases developed in the C ivil Rights
Bureau. C aught in the m ire, the
Spencer case remained in limbo until
A pril o f 1975 when the new Labor
(Please turn to page 3 col. 1)
Portland native recruits for feds
By Kathryn Bogle
Are you young, Black and gifted?
You are? Then Edward Perkins just
may have a message for you!
Dr. Perkins came to Portland and
the Pacific coast to spread the word
that the United States State Depart
ment is interested in a ttractin g
minority students, male or female, to
work in the various departments o f
State A ffairs. Could be foreign af
fairs, could be in the United Nations,
could be home, could be abroad.
Dr. Perkins is here fro m the
U nited States Embassy in Accra,
Ghana, where he is Counsellor for
Political Affairs. In this capacity Dr.
Perkins is charged with the respon
sibility o f keeping in touch with the
people in his assigned country. He
must keep a finger on the pulse o f the
country, he must know and under
stand the social trends, he must be
knowledgeable about the economy
and he must certainly be aware as to
how the political winds blow.
A t any given moment, after 18
months on this challenging assign-
ment in A ccra, D r. Perkins is
prepared to "re p o rt, analyze and
comment on the country’ s elections,
its policies, its transportation, the
health o f its citizens, the local
government and any parliamentary
decisions which just might affect the
decisions or actions o f our own
country.”
W ith a doctoral degree in public
administration won from University
o f Southern California where he had
previously received his masters, Dr.
Perkins has a degree in Business
Administration from the University
o f Maryland. But where did he go to
high school? At Portland’s own Jef
ferson High!
W hile he is in P o rtla n d , the
Perkins calendar is fille d w ith
engagements to speak to young
people and to people who are in-
trested in the fu tu re o f m in o rity
youth. D r. Perkins w ill speak to
students at his alma mater Jefferson
and also he w ill " in te r a c t” w ith
students at Lincoln.
“ I like to use the word “ interact”
Perkins commented. "Because its
really an exchange with the students
that I ’ m interested in. I hope also to
have a dialogue with women who
might be interested in a career with
the State Department. I ’ ll be talking
to Vernon Chatman at the Urban
League and to people in the N A A C £
hoping they w ill spread the word.”
“ This year we are contacting high
school students,” Dr. Perkins con
tinued, "a n d next year we w ill be
going to the colleges. We are already
choosing personnel to coine to these
western states and are pinpointing
some o f the colleges we don’ t want to
miss.”
The vision ary in D r. Perkins
emerges in his tone when he speaks
o f the rea ltio n sh ip o f the A fro
Am erican person to A fric a and
Africans. " I believe, sincerely, that
Black Americans have a role to play
in the development o f A fric a ,” he
said. " A n d ” he added so ftly, " I
really believe that there is a growing
awareness among Africans that they
can p ro fit by forging a lin k w ith
people who look like themselves as
(Please turn to page 2 column 4)
Conference on families scheduled for King
The Oregon Task Force on the
W hite House Conference on
Families announced plans today for
a series o f local statewide public
hearings to gather testimony for the
Oregon C onference on Fam ilies,
February 16, 1980 at Oregon College
o f Education.
Portland area hearings, at which
all interested citizens can testify,
have been scheduled for Saturday,
December 8, beginning at 1 p.m.
continuing to 4 p.m. Hearing will be
held at: Northwest Services Center,
1819 NW Everett, Portland; Colum
bia V illa A d m in is tra tio n O ffice ,
8920 N. Woolsey Avenue, Portland;
King Neighborhood F acility, 4906
NE 6th, Portland; Gresham Neigh
borhood Center, 620 N. 2nd Street
(N o rth entrance), Gresham; and,
Washington County Mental Health
Department, 451 S. First Avenue,
Suite 300, Hillsboro.
Hearings will also be scheduled in
Salem, Seaside, Albany, Corvallis,
Eugene, Klamath Falls, and Bend on
that day.
The issues raised at each local
hearing w ill be presented at the
Oregon Conference on Families at
Oregon College o f E ducation,
February 16, 1980, which is being
conducted in conjunction with the
activities o f the summer, 1980 White
House Conference on Families.
The purpose o f the Oregon Con
ference is to examine the strengths o f
Oregon families, the difficulties they
face, and the ways in which family
life in Oregon is affected by public
policy.
The local hearings before the
Oregon conference w ill give citizens
in Oregon the chance to voice their
feelings on family issues. Their# in
put will be a significant contribution
not only to the state conference, but
also to the White House Conference
on Families in June 1980.
Contact fo r Northwest Portland
Gerry Newhall at 248-5095; for East
Portland Cal Williams at 229-4841 or
Jean Olson at 255-0305; fo r the
Gresham area Alicia Swindel or Eva
Meggs at 667-0555; Clackamas
C ounty C hris T om linso n at 657-
4410; and for Washington County
Anne P otter or Joan Krahm er at
648-8636.
For fu rthe r in fo rm a tio n on the
hearings and how local citizens can
deliver testimony for the Salem area,
contact Carol Morgan at 588-5357 or
Donald L. Krahmer, Jr. at 370-6137.
W. Phillip M cLaurin of Portland, receives the oath
o f o ffic e as a m e m b e r o f th e N a tio n a l A d v is o ry
C ou n cil on Econom ic O p p o rtu n ity fro m its C halr-
m a n . A rth u r I, B la u s te in a t re c e n t s w e a rin g -in
cerem onies in W ashington, D.C.
McLaurin joins Advisory Council
P hil M cL a u rin , currently the
Director o f A C T IO N ’S Urban Crime
Prevention Program, was appointed
by President Carter to serve on the
fifteen-member N ational Advisory
Council on Economic O pportunity
programs designed to alleviate
poverty and encourage economic
self-sufficiency. The Council reports
to the President and the Congress
annually.
McLaurin, Director o f A C T IO N ’S
Urban Crime Prevention Program,
was ombudsman fo r the State o f
Oregon. As the Acting Director o f
the Training and Employment D ivi
sion o f the city o f Portland he was
responsible fo r the planning,
operating and m o n ito rin g o f the
c ity 's $24 m illio n Comprehensive
E m ploym ent and T ra in in g Act
(CETA) program. He has also been
Executive Assistant to Mayor Gold
schmidt.
A consultant to colleges on the
organization and development o f
A fro -A m e rica n studies, M cLaurin
has been an Assistant Professor o f
A fro -A m e ric a n Studies at Sm ith
C ollege, D ire c to r o f the Black
Studies Center and Chairman o f the
Black Studies Program at Portland
State University. He has served as
D ire c to r
of
the
P o rtlan d
M e tro p o lita n Y outh Com m ission
summer youth program s and the
C itiz e n ’ s In fo rm a tio n Center o f
Chester, Pennsylvania.
M r. M cLaurin is a member o f the
Board o f Directors o f the Oregon
Development Disabilities Advocacy
Center, the Board o f Directors o f the
M artin Luther King Jr. Scholarship
Fund o f Oregon and the Executive
Board o f the Tri-Com munity Coun
cil. He is a member o f the Albina
Voter Registration and Education
Committee and the NAACP, and a
fo rm e r member o f the A m erican
Association
of
U n iv e rs ity
Professors, the Oregon State Board
o f Higher Education and the Board
o f Directors o f the Parry Center. His
honors include selection as an o ut
standing Young Man in America by
the N a tio n a l J u n io r C ham ber o f
Commerce.
I