Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1982)
Page 2 Portland Observer, January 21,1962 EDITORIAL/OPINION by Rep. Ron Wyden Coalition the key The Portland School Board’ s decision to con sider seven sites fo r Tubm an M iddle School is not only an a ffro n t to the Black com m unity but a waste o f taxpayer’ s money at a time when the district faces an economic crisis. Two years ago the Board promised to rectify years o f d is c rim in a tio n against Black students by establishing a m iddle school in the com m u nity. This is the only com m u nity in the district that did not open 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes —and in some cases 3rd, 4th and 5th grade clas ses— in the neighborhood. In other parts o f the d is tric t, three elem entary d is tric ts were com bined to create tw o elementary and one m iddle school. But in A lb in a , no m iddle schools were created and children were bussed throughout the district in a hit and miss, uncoordinated manner that was destructive to the children and to their com munity. A fte r threats o f a boycott the Board relented and established a m iddle school fo r the students o f the K in g , E lio t and H u m b o ld t areas. T his school— H a rrie t T u b m a n — was housed on the old M onroe H igh School— far from the commu n ity - w h ile building renovation o f E lio t was to proceed. The building renovation did not proceed— but stalling tactics did. Now the adm inistration and several B oard m em bers w o u ld lik e to take a popularity p o ll— asking not only the parents o f King, E liot and H u m b o ld t, but parents who do or might send their students from other areas o f the city. They also have consulted the area ad viso ry com m ittees th a t are a p p o in te d by the board. In the m eantim e a ll o f the B lack and c iv il rights organizations remain firm in their choice o f E liot. L ittle has changed since the d is tric t’ s “ com prehensive desegregation p la n ’ ’ was passed ex cept rhetoric. A n d the rhetoric continues. The challenges of 1982 In last w eek’ s colum n, I wrote about my first year in Congress— what I learned and how I felt about There is no way the Board can close Jefferson it. This week, 1 want to share some o r Boise to use th e ir b u ild in g s fo r a m id d le o f my thoughts about the challenges school; the only building w ith in the E lio t, H u m 1982 promises to offer. b o ld t area that is a va ila b le w ith o u t great d is The Budget: Once again, the bud placement o f neighborhood children is E lio t. I f get promises to be the major battle the school is not placed at E lio t the district w ill ground. The Administration has al continue to be g u ilty o f d iscrim inating against ready tipped its hand as to its prior these c h ild re n by m a k in g them tra v e l o u tsid e ities for the year: it wants to increase their school boundaries to attend school, unlike defense spending by 15 per cent, once again leaving social programs other Portland students. to bear the brunt o f budget cuts. Tubm an w ill eventually open at E lio t. It is up That is a situation we must not to the School Board to decide i f this w ill happen tolerate. There is room fo r econ only after they lose more money through hokey omies in the defense budget— and in polls, procrastination and ever-increasing bu ild other “ sacred cow” programs that ing costs. It is up to the School Board to decide have as yet been left untouched. We must push for these economies to be whether this w ill happen only after boycotts, civ enacted. il disobedience, law suits and a ll o th e r means The Tax Cut: We learned last year the B lack c o m m u n ity has to express its anger that cutting taxes does not necessari and disgust over once again being lied to by the ly ensure economic recovery— un less those cuts are carefully tooled. people elected to serve. A variety o f proposals to restruc A nd why should Black parents fight this bat ture the tax cut are likely to surface tle alone? this year. Personally, I favor retool We call on all o f the organizations that were a ing the tax cut to save the portions pan o f the C om m unity C oalition fo r School In that truly stim ulate increased pro d u ctiv ity and reward people who tegration to come fo rth and support the Black com m unity in this struggle. A fte r all, establish work and save, but delay or shelve entirely those sections that really ment o l one or more m iddle schools in the area amount to little more than corpor was one o f the prim e recom m endations o f the ate welfare and backdoor subsidies C oalition. to huge failing industries. W ell-m ea ning w hites, and persons o f o th e r N ew Taxes: There are those in Washington pushing for what they races, must now come fo rw a rd , jo in in a coali call “ revenue enhancements.” Be tio n w ith the B la ck c o m m u n ity , and te ll the ware. Read that “ higher taxes.” School Board in no uncertain terms that its com The latest estimate is that Adm in m itm ents must be kept. The establishment o f a istration officials will push for be m iddle school in the Black c o m m u n ity is n o t tween $30 to $40 billion in new taxes only im portant to those children who live in the in 1983-84. One o f the new taxes being com m u nity and th e ir fam ilies, it is essential to pushed is waterway user fees. These educational excellence in this city. “ fees” would be disastrous for Ore A divided city cannot prosper, and this is an gon, and could rob our state o f as issue that w ill create deep divisions i f it is not set many as 15,000 jobs and the poten tled quickly and equitably. tia l fo r badly needed economic growth in our region. I strongly op Letters to the Editor W'e at Oxfam America would like to thank the people o f Portland for their tremendous effort in support o f Oxfam Am erica’s eighth annual Fast for a World Harvest. The fight for an end to world hunger and for equitable development is a long one, and we deeply appreciate your sup port. The money the city o f Portland raised will be used to support such community development programs as a women's silk spinning coopera tive in In d ia ; a fe rtilize r plant in Kampuchea (Cambodia); and solar- powered water pumps that provide safe d rin kin g water in S om alia, where years o f drought and political conflict have created the largest group o f refugees in the w orld today. O xfam Am erica is a small non- sectarian, n o n -p ro fit agency that helps people to help themselves. Our projects emphasize a grass roots ap proach to development, providing essential technical and material in puts to village level groups in Third W o rld countries w orking tow ard constructive social and economic change. ‘ O xfam A m erica emphasizes a sim ilar grass roots principle in its fundraising efforts. We accept no government funds and rely on the support o f individuals and groups across the country in communities and cities like Portland. The hard work and the fine efforts o f the peo ple o f P o rtla n d — many o f whom fasted and sent Oxfam America the money they would have spent on food that d ay — helped m ake this year’s Fast so successful. All o f us at Oxfam America thank you for your support. Joseph Short Executive Director, Oxfam America Don't cut programs, raise taxes To the editor. The Progressive Alliance o f So cial Workers, a statewide organiza tion o f human service workers, strongly protests Governor Atiyeh’s recent proposals to solve the state fiscal crisis through massive cuts in public agency budgets. We believe these proposed cuts to be unjustified and capricious in nature, and urge him to carefully study the implica tions o f his position. The objective result o f this pro posal for across-the-board cuts is one of balancing the state budget on the backs o f the poor. Those most dependent on public services— the poor, children, the handicapped. the elderly, the physically and men tally ill— will be most adversely a f fected. As the Governor is aware, current levels o f service are already insufficient. Further reductions in budgets which agency directors indi cate are currently cut to the bone would be irresponsible and in humane. There are numerous options available to solve O reg o n ’ s fiscal crisis in ways that will not place citi zens in conditions endangering their health and safety. These options in clude; •A n increase in corporate tax rates; •Reduction or elimination o f the property tax relief programs; • A restructuring o f the individual income tax system which would be truly progressive, placing the high est tax burdens on those with high incomes; and • A tax on purchase o f lu xury items. The Alliance urges the Governor to withdraw his proposals and aver, the devastating effects they would have on the people o f Oregon. We believe this is a tim e that calls for courageous and innovative th in k ing, no, cynical and politically moti vated “ solutions” which come at the expense o f the poor and power less. For the Alliance, Pamela Smith Portland Observer Oregon Newspaper Association Th» P o rtland Observer (U S P S 959 M O I it published every Thursday by Ex» PuMetwng Company, Inc , 2201 North KWlnge worth, Portland, Oregon 97217, Poet Office Box 3137, Portland Oregon 97208 Second cleee postage paid at Portland, Oregon MEMBER Subecnption» »10.00 per year in Tri-County area Poetmaeter Send eddreee Cheng»» to the Portland Observer. P O Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208 Publishers HNA Association - Founded 1 A . Lee Henderson, Publisher A l McGilberry, Managing Editor Congress a measure designed to gen erate jobs through construction o f a new modern lock at B onneville Dam. And that’s why I also intend to push for a fair timber industry re lie f package and sensible housing legislation that w ill lif t these troubled industries fro m the ash- heap. For example, Congress should en act a first-time homeowners bill that w ill allow young fam ilies to buy their first house. And it must avoid A d m in is tra tion-backed legislation that aims to prevent existing homeowners from selling their homes with assumable mortgages. Those assum ption clauses (permitting the new owner to assume the existing mortgage at the existing interest rate) were part o f the o rig in a l c o n tra ct. D enying homeowners the o p tio n o f exer cising that o p tio n is the same as breaking that contract. We also need to push for removal o f restrictions on U .S exports, espe c ially in high technology fields where A m erican m an ufactu rers have an advantage. Foreign compe tition for U.S. goods and services is tough enough without the govern ment m aking it tougher w ith ex cessive regulations. Increased U .S exports will mean our companies will be selling more goods and, th e re fo re , w ill need more workers to make those goods. M oving Forw ard: The above list o f issues only scratches the surface o f the many critical matters that will come before the Congress this year. Our responsibility is to meet these challenges— and produce results all o f us can be proud of. Because— and I d id n ’ t have to learn this in W ashing to n — people everyw here want to be proud o f their government. A nd they thin k it is about tim e something happens so they can be proud. O u r question this week is, “ Do you feel that children are receiving quality education from the Portland Public Schools?” Oxfam appreciates assistance T o the editor. pose waterway user fees. In fact, I oppose any new m ajor tax increase. H e a lth C are Costs: H ealth care costs promise to be an increasingly important topic o f conversation. Just this week, the A d m in is tra tio n proposed radical changes in M ed icare and M ed icaid which would shift (he costs o f health care to elderly and needy patients, as well as to hospitals, private employers and state governments. This approach is neither sensible, nor fair. T h at’s why 1 have introduced leg islation to reduce Medicare costs— not by squeezing the quality o f care or shifting the burden, but by giving health care providers more latitude — and less red tape— in meeting the health care needs o f patients. Social Security: Expect concerted attempts to bury the issue o f Social Security reform — at least until after the 1982 elections. I do not believe such an approach is responsible— and w ill do every thing in my power to keep the issue on the front burner. There is simply no excuse for the battering senior citizens absorbed after the President announced May 12— in direct con flict w ith his campaign pledges— that there would be drastic and im mediate cuts in Social Security bene fits. To refuse to address the need for drastic reform now will only perpe tuate further confusion and anguish — and as such, is unacceptable. Jobs: Too many people in Oregon (and throughout (he nation) d o n ’t have jobs. And far too many don’t even have prospects o f getting a job. The Administration and the Con gress have made beginnings, through tax policy, to stimulate new investment and savings, with an eye toward creating more jobs. But we must do better. That’s why I made my first bill in A l Williams, Advertising Manager National Advertising Représentative Amalgamated Pub,,share. Inc. New York Jim Coombes, Plastics Worker— “ I don’ , have any currently in the Public Schools bu, the reactions that I get fro m people who have children in school is negative. They aren’t learning anything. They don’t bring homework home, they can’ t do math or read. I know this g irl w ho’ s 15 and she reads at a third- grade level. And they just keep pass ing her.” Len Woods. savings-and-loan employee— " \ don’ t think the kids are getting enough attention. There are too many kids in class. Some teachers really don’, care.” D avid Duke, security officer— " I think if the kids want it, it ’ s there for them. I don’, believe that some care. There a re n ’ t any good p ro grams to bring o u , a desire to learn.” L iz Wieyrefse. child care worker — “ No, that well but Portland is no, as bad as any o f the o th er cities. Most kids nowadays are getting short-changed. The classrooms are crowded and I think sometimes the teachers d o n ’ , care. W h a , I see around me is that Black children are no, receiving wha, they should.” Jake B., illu strato r— “ Yes, I do. I m from the Bay Area and the only way to receive quality education is by living in the suburbs. Compared to that Portland is doing all right ” D olly Foster, housewife— “ W ell, I ’ m involved in the host program where they tutor a child for an hour in reading. I f you know how to read the kids can be educated.” D w ight Jackson, security officer — “ Whatever they’re receiving the kids aren’t showing much interest in it. I see more kids in Fred M yers than at school. I d o n ’ t thin k the teachers arc neglecting the kids but it has som ething to do w ith this thing called caring.” I fi
