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
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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
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