p«g* • Port*«n<1 Observer October 1®, 1M0
lack children can learn to read!
(Continued from page 1 col. 6)
tell them what the boundaries are
and how to reach them.”
Once she had been successful with
one class, she decided to try a whole
school. She was appointed principal
o f a new 1400 student K-6 grade
school. Sixty percent were poor
Blacks from rural Mississippi, in
Chicago for less than a year and so
ineligible fo r w elfare. “ Some o f
these people were in desperation and
poverty like you've never seen.”
Their language were so different
that even the Black teachers could
barely understand them.
Most o f the teachers were first
year teachers, about 60 percent
Black. The teachers did not reject
the children, but made an active ef­
fort to learn to understand them.
This school came from the bottom
o f the district to the 50th percentile
(district average) in one year.
“ Black children can learn to read
and they can learn to read in a
reasonable amount o f time but it
takes a commitment and it takes a
d edication in o rder to do it. In
required com m itm ent; it required
high expectations; it took dedication
to the task.
Taking the principalship o f a new
high school at the crossroads o f four
waring youth groups, she got the
confidence o f the gang members
and turned their competition and
allegience to the school.
That school's senior class sent 30
students to the Ivy League colleges
and had the n a tio n ’ s only Black
National M erit Scholar.
Dr. Sizemore is currently studying
schools in Pittsburgh that are Black,
poor and high achieving. A school
that is entirely composed o f public
or housing project children is well
above norm in all grades but one in
reading, where all grades are above
grade level in math.
“ I ’ m telling you then success
stories because I want you to be con­
vinced when you go back to these
schools where little Black children
are sitting that they can learn. They
can learn i f you change the en­
vironment in which they sit so that it
is conducive to their learning.”
C h aracteristics o f achieving
schools are:
They all group for reading and
mathematics in skill mastery levels.
Children are tested and are aware
that by mastering skills they can
move to higher groups. A test is
given at the end o f each unit and this
principal is sent the results. I f the
child is not progressing as the prin­
cipal thinks he should the teacher is
called in to a conference and an
assessment is made o f the problem.
“ T h e school assumes respon­
sibility fo r skill mastery and sees
th a t it is co ntin u ou s and th at
progress is always made for each o f
these children. When a child comes
into the school, that child is assessed
in reading and arithm etics and a
skill level placement made. Every
teacher is responsible for knowing
what this is and for making an ac­
curate assessment.”
D r. S izem ore noticed th a t the
P o rtla n d school d is tric t school
desegregation p la n ’ s reference to
discipline does not define discipline.
“ W e d o n ’ t w ant
to d efin e
d is c ip lin e . “ W e d o n ’ t want to
define discipline because we do not
really want to say what it is we really
are talking about. W hat we really
mean when we say d isciplin e is
’command obedience.’
D r. S ize m o re ’ s d e fin itio n o f
discipline is rutinized behavior that
is used by an individual in search o f
a goal. C on flict between students
and teachers is a conflict o f goals
and n eg o tia tio n is needed. “ N o
matter how you try to force, if you
don’t consider where the kid is try­
ing to go, what the kid is trying to
say, you will keep on pushing and
pushing util the kid is o u t.”
Successful “ poor Black” schools
now being studied in Pennsylvania
were unusual in that they did not
suspend c h ild re n o r relegate
children to the special education
classes where Black children are
now being dumped. “ Some o f Port­
land’s scores look suspicious,” she
said. In 1979, 22 per cent o f the
children in special education were
Black — th a t cannot happen by
chance. “ Somebody has to do this
on p u rp o s e .’ ’ It needs to be in ­
vestigated and the district’ s prac­
tices need to be investigated.
“ D is c ip lin e
p ro b le m s ’ ’
are
d is p ro p o rtio n a te ly Black males.
“ This problem is persistant because
we refuse to take note that we have
some dangerously racist conditions
going on in our schools which have
become policy; and we are using
that policy against the children.”
“ T h e w hole th ru s t o f m u lti­
cultural education has to do with the
eradication o f those policies. The
firs t d ilem n a black boys have in
public school is how to conform to
institutional standards that oppose
those o f the community from which
one comes, where one must struggle
to survive."
For this reason, teachers must let
the class know the rules and have no
d o u b le stan d ard — whites and
Blacks, boys and girls.
Discipline is an integral part o f
the instructional program . Proper
program s w ith high expectations
that take in to consideration race
and sex in a positive, constructive
way
are not separate
fro m
discipline. It is the responsibility o f
the teacher to have high expec­
tatio ns o f every c h ild , to m ap a
learn in g p ro g ra m to help him
master skills, and to teach the child
to respect others though respect for
him. "These things go hand in hand
and you cannot tear it apart and
treat it separately. You cannot have
discipline without knowing how to
teach rading and math. You cannot
ask for discipline when you do not
know the le a rn in g m ap fo r th a t
child and know what he needs to
learn.”
D r. Sizemore told the Observer
that current wrongs will be correc­
ted only when someone from the
community believes “ that children
who are Black and poor can learn to
read and write and learn. And when
th a t happens, those people can
mobilize the bias o f the community
to improve the schools so they do, in
fact, see that that happens.
“ The Black United Front seems
to be the o rg a n iza tio n th a t is
organizing the most bias for change
in the community, so maybe it is the
organization can do this.
R egarding m a n d a to ry m u lti­
ethnic tra in in g fo r teachers, D r.
Sizem ore said, “ I th in k teachers
should be held accountable to teach
children to read and if the children
are not learning to read, I think that
teacher should be held accountable
for* that deficiency. They should not
be allo w ed to s h ift the buck to
parents or anybody else, or to the
c h ild re n them selves. I f teachers
cannot teach children who are poor
and Black to read, they should be
dismissed.”
P.U.D.: Who needs more bills?
,354,922,000 would be just
part of the bill Multnomah County
taxpayers and ratepayers would foot if a
government People’s Utility District takes over
the existing electric system. Enormous costs would be
incurred by the P.U.D. and would be passed on to local
residents through increased taxes and utility bills.
Under a P.U.D., local residents would
have to pay for:
• Engineer's report
• County election expenses
• Salaries and expenses for politician
directors and government employees
• Overhead and operating expenses
•
•
•
•
Litigation on property condemnation
Bond payments
Bond interest and expenses
Purchasing electricity or building
new generating facilities
No wonder it’s called a People’s Utility District...
it’s the people who will pay!
Sponsored by Oregonians Against The Government Takeovers
working with citizens committees in Clackamas, Clatsop, Coos.
Hood River, Jackson, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah,
Polk, Washington & Yamhill counties
320 SW Stark St.. Suite 406, Portland, OR 97204. Suzanne McGrath, Treasurer