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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 1980)
School Board discusses parent participation The School Board rejected the oroDosal o f its new superintendent Jim Fenw ick, fo r a parent par ticipation process and w ill discuss the issue further on August 25th. mended in all others. School board member W ally Priestley favors a process where parents w ill elect or select them selves, not to be selected by the principal. The principal would be held responsible for informing and bringing together the parents. He does not want principals or faculty members on parent committees Sarah N ewhall sees the fu n damental questions as who selects the parents, how many participate, what relation they have to the school advisory committee and who controls that committee? She considers the face-to-face contact o f parents and faculty to be positive, and favors having teachers on the committees. “ The power, ac cessibility and openess” o f the local school advisory committees “ are Fenwick's proposal would have a five member committee - the prin cipal, two parents and two teachers - interview candidates for teaching vacancies and make recommen dations to the principal for hiring. The recommendations would not be binding. The parents on the committee would be selected by the local School Citizen's Advisory Commit tee, which is selected by the prin cipal. One teacher would be chosen by the school faculty and the other by the principal. The process would be mandatory in the Albina schools, and recom questioned. Citizens feel they are less open than they should be; the com m unity feels they are overly controlled by principals." She ad vocates an elective process to select members. Steve Buel sees a confusion over the objective o f the new process. O riginally it was to be a way for parents to screen out racist teachers, now it is a process for added parent participation. I f the object is parent participation for the entire district, the Board should look at the existing citizen p a rtic ip a tio n procedures and committees and think about redesigning them. “ We don't set good standards in selecting our advisory committees.’ ’ Bill Scott said the process needs " a lot o f a d d itio n a l study and w o rk" including a thorough review w ith teacher and a d m inistration representatives, a clear statement o f benefits, research o f other districts. "T h e re are obvious benefits o f parents feelings o f ownership in the school process," but the subject also includes academic freedom. He felt any system should be City-wide. Joe Rieke expressed his concern that interviewing p rio r to assign ment would be an effort to analyze competence, sensitivity and philosophy prior to performance. "A n y system to do that probably suffers from lack o f q u a lity in analysis by virtue o f unfam iliarity.” He prefers parent participation in evaluation o f teachers already teaching in the school. He also fears legal problems arising from allowing inexperienced persons to interview job applicants. Frank McNamara said he is trying to understand the issue and that from the discussion it seemed that the goal is parent participation and not teaching skills. He considers the inclusion o f teachers in the process o f selecting other teachers to be a serious question that needs further study. Herb Cawthorne said the issue arose as one o f the " lo n g term resolutions" passed last fall to head o ff a Black school boycott. As a historical perspective he explained that for the last ten years Black children have been m andatorily scattered throughout the district, preventing p a rticip a tio n in their education by parents and the com munity. Since education is the only means by which Black people can progress, Black parents are adamant in their desire for better education for their children. The request fo r parent participation in teacher selection is an effort to regain some input in the educational process since teachers are the key to education. Including parents in the interview process would provide it ’ s principal a d iffe re n t historical and socio economic perspective and a good principal would use that experience and perspective to build a staff that w ould respect and relate to his school clientele. Parent participation is one o f the remaining issues to be solved in order to stop a threatened school boycott. The issue will be discussed at the Board's next meeting, August 25th, 7:30 at the Educational Ser vice Center. ■■■■Hl ■MMM PORTLAND OBSERVER Volume 10 Numberr 32 August 21,1980 10Cper copy U S P S 959 680 Plan removes Black from board A plan to manage the C ity ’ s Revolving Loan Fund - that was established to provide an oppor tunity for Blacks to participate in the C ity ’ s $12 m illio n Economic Development Agency grant would remove Black participation from the loan committee. John Wight, Director of the City of Portland’ s Bureau o f Economic Development, explained his plan for a n o n -p ro fit " C it y Loan C o r p oration" to handle development loans to the C ity C ouncil at Tuesday’ s informal session. Passage o f the plan, along with C o m p r e h e n s iv e E c o n o m ic Development Strategy (CEDS) proposal for 1980-1981, was set for Council passage August 13th, but was postponed at the insistence of M ayor-elect Frank Ivancie and Commissioner Mildred Schwab. So certain was the Bureau o f prompt passage of its program that on July 12th invitations had been mailed for a “ celebration" to be held August 15th. The celebration had to be postponed. The articles o f incorporation o f the new C ity Loan C orp o ra tio n were not available to the Council for the August 13th meeting. Although Wight said they and the bylaws were completed and available, a citizen who asked for a copy later in the Barbara Young at the drawing tabla. Ma. Young la a summer employee of the U. S. Soil Conser day was told by Bureau personnel that they are being revised and were not available. The corporation papers call for a board o f five directors: bankers Don Wendle and L a rry M o rris; Randy M iller, Portland Develop ment Com m ission; Hum berto Reyna, businessman; and John Wight, Director o f the City Bureau o f Economic Development. Obviously absent from the list was Bruce Broussard, who had been selected fo r the o rig in a l Loan Committee by the M inority Over sight Sub-committee on the advice o f the six Black organizations that had sued the C ity over lack o f m in o rity involvem et (N A A C P , Black United F ro n t, A lbina W om en’ s League, A lbina M in iste ria l A lliance, Oregon Association o f Colored Women’s Clubs, Northwest M in o rity Con tractors Association) and the Com mittee o f Spanish Speaking People o f Oregon (COSSPO). Broussard has complained publically about the loan process, the lack o f m inority loans (one-third is targeted fo r minority business) and the type o f loans being made. Wight explained that the bankers were retained because o f their ex perience in lending and to create continuity. Asked by Commissioner Schwab why he put himself on the board and why there were no Blacks, Wight said he would be glad to step aside for someone else. The board was reduced from seven to five because that is the smallest board the federal government w ill allow. Wight said the board requires technical skills and there should be no "citizen participation.” Com m issioner Charles Jordan pointed out that directors are to be appointed by the Council and said he wants a Black on the board. Louis Scherzer o f Benjam in Franklin, Chairman o f PDC, ex plained that although PDC has been involved in the past he recommends that it no longer participate in the loan process. “ PDC is in real estate leans and this loan fund involves business loans.” Scherzer recommended that the Council determine whether these should be "social” or "economic” loans. He said loans should only be made when there is a “ reasonable feasibility o f payment.” Phase one needs to be "successful” to get more money, so there should be a very high rate o f success. He advised i f there is not a definite policy on "e c o n o m ic " vs " s o c ia l" and a policy o f low-risk loans, the staff might get frustrated with the lack o f (Please turn to Page 9 Col 3) vation Service. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Student engineer catches train By Stephanie Cole The tijatin to success often runs o ff its track these days. Unfortunately its passengers are headed for a d if ferent station. A station where life ’s challenges and achievements are detoured from its regular route. The only route to this station becomes over-dependence, and membership in society’ s outcasts. Barbara Young shares a common bond with many o f today’ s youth. What distinguishes her from her fellow peers, is the fact that she has constructed her own path. She is the conductor o f her train, on her own track. Her route is headed for the station o f success. Meet Barbara Young, a young Black woman who has set her designs on a career in engineering. Barbara is an 18 year old graduate o f Grant High School. She has a younger sister Paula, and lives with her parents M r. and M rs. Lawerence Fields o f Portland. Q. F irst o f all w h a t is an engineer and w h a t specific area of engineering are you interest ed in? A . An engineer is a person who designs different kinds o f building and different types o f substances. They w ork through designs and plans. I ’ m interested in the area o f C ivil Engineering. A civil engineer builds larger structures such as bridges, highways, and septic tanks. Q. W hy did you becom e In terested In engineering? A . I enjoyed math and sciences in school, so 1 just started w orking w ith the Core o f Engineers. I worked there during the summer, and this year I started working with the Soil C onservation Service through the help o f Mr. Chatman of the Urban League. Q. Why are engineers Impor tant to our society and In what areas ara they useful? A . Everything in society that is build was designed by an engineer. Engineering is the backbone o f society. They are particularly im portant in the area o f construction. World Book Encyclopedia expands upon B arbara’ s d e fin itio n o f engineering. Engineering puts power and materials to work for man. Engineers use steel and con crete to construct dams, bridges, building s and roads. C iv il engineering is the oldest profession o f engineering. Civil engineers plan and supervise the construction o f waterways, streets, tunnels, dams, aqueducts, canals, railroads, a ir ports, levees, and irrigation systems. Civil engineers also work on man made structures such as the fram ew ork o f autom obiles, a ir planes and missies. Q. Because of your Intereet In en g in eerin g , do you consider yo u rself a m in o rity w ith in ■ minority concerning your racial and sex statu e,en d w h ich of these factors carry the greeteet ■mount of discrimination? (Please turn to page 5 Col 4) BUF pushes street name change By Stephanie Cole The request to have name changes o f streets honoring Black Americans in the Black community was recent ly dismissed by City Commissioner Mike Lindberg. A recent survey taken by the City, indicated that most Vancouver and W illia m s Avenue residents and businesses, were opposed to the renam ing o f the tw o streets. In response to the survey, the Black United Front has urged Lindberg not to drop the issue because o f the survey results, but to realize that the positive responses to the name change truly reflect the aspirations o f the Black community. Rev. Jackson, co-chairman o f the Black United Front said that "none o f us should be surprised with the survey results, but we sincerely believe that those who favored the name changes accurately reflect the true aspirations o f the Black com m u n ity .” Jackson fu rth e r expressed the Front’ s stance: "O u r desire to name streets in our com m unity is legitimate, which is evident based on the numerous name changes honoring Black persons in other major cities across the country. "N am e changes o f streets have usually been opposed by the business community in other cities, but the name changes still occured. Furthermore, business in general rarely, i f ever, support the en deavors o f the Black com m unity (Please turn to Page 2 Col 1) KGW special explores Albina A K G W -T V News 8 special report, '" A L B IN A ” takes a close look at the p o w e r, p o litic s and problems in Portland’s Black com munity. The half-hour special will be shown on Channel 8 on Friday, August 22, 1980 at 9 P M . Lew Frederick, News 8 reporter, looks at the issues uniting Blacks in P o rt land. Frederick visits with people on the streets, at the breakfast table and at church. H e looks at the life and changes in north and northeast Por tland and how it affects the rest o f the City. W ith the recent changes in the school district: the firin g o f the school superintendent, the cutback in forced busing, and the opening o f a middle school in the Black com munity, a new sentiment and sense o f confidence has been created in Albina. Frederick, education reporter for Channel 8, has closely followed all o f these changes and discusses with the people o f the Albina community what changes the future may hold. • The special report is written and prod uced by Lew Frederick and Jon Tuttle and filmed by Roger Thom p son. 1 k
