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B '3 F r a n c ’ S Sc’io o n - '.’e w s p fp c r P coa L ú . V-• : t y c f ’ ■ -*?n L i t r - r y - Superman Braxton Page 6 Special Careers Supplement Section II LU UJ *, C • - .- ? n * J 3 Lebanon: A Jewish viewpoint Page 3 PORTLAND OBSERVER August 11, 1982 Volume XII, Number 44 250 Per Copy Two Sections S | S 9 ^ 9 S K I l-S " In Lebanon: Jackson fight till on bv Herb Cawthorne School Board Member M r. C hairm an and members o f the Board: I commend Chairman McNamara fo r having the courage and the v i sion to allow the Board the o p p o r tunity to listen to the feelings, facts, and findings o f the Jackson C o a li tion. 1 have felt fo r some time that, as representatives o f the entire com m u n ity , there is no way we can ig ■ nore the sentiments in the Jackson com m unity. Therefore, there is no way to avoid some kind o f confron tation. C onfrontation can be in the fo rm o f the clash o f ideas as ex changed by well-meaning people in the course o f a heated debate. On the other hand, c o n fro n ta tio n can be staged through aggressive public e x p re s s io n s , d e m o n s tr a tio n s , th re a ts, and, even, violence. O b viously, the first kind o f confronta HERB CAWTHORNE tion is best. I hope, in the establish ment o f this item on the agenda, o f frustration and disappointment. that the Board o f Education is say But they won. The Board did not ing to the Jackson community, “ We choose to close their school. Then, want to engage in extensive dialogue before the ink could dry on the reso and discussions w ith you, and we lu tio n , new Board members, who w ant to do so w ith the sincerest had not even taken o ffic e , jo in e d com m itm ent to appreciatin g your w ith o ther s ittin g members in a concerns.” This kind o f confronta closed process which led to the clo tio n is p o sitiv e and good fo r our sure o f both Adam s H igh School community. and Jackson. As you know , I was opposed to A t least, the Adams com m unity the closure o f Jackson High School, had a m onth’s warning o f the recon in the summer months, without even structed B o a rd ’ s in te n tio n s . A t a courteous notice o f the possibility least, the Adams com m unity had a that a decision would be made, and chance to fig h t. A t least, the mem w ithout adequate time given to that bers o f the Board com m unicated com m unity fo r its defense. W hile 1 th e ir intent to the Adams com m u do believe that Jackson could have n ity in a manner which gave them been successfully closed in M ay, tim e , a lth o u g h c e rta in ly not 1981, at the conclusion o f an exten enough, to mobilize support to keep sive process o f study and hearings, the school open. But the Jackson the Board o f E ducation made the com m unity was caught completely decision to keep Jackson operating by surprise. In fa c t, some Board as a high school. The Jackson com m em bers, such as m yself, were m u n ity w orked hard fo r th a t v ic caught completely by surprise. Jack- to ry . They gave th e ir best shot in son was given less than 12 hours no support o f their program. Had they tice, and less than one-half hour for lo s t, I believe acceptance w o u ld its representatives to speak. The have com e— after a natural period process w ith Adams was bad. The Civilian casualty estimates high process w ith Jackson was even worse. A nd, in my o p in io n , this is the root o f the d iffic u lty in which we find ourselves today. In another recent matter, regard ing the T ubm an M id d le School placement, the Board o f Education fo und its e lf at loggerheads w ith a disaffected com m unity. We could not solve the problem by ourselves. We needed an aggressive and sensi tive Superintendent and the help o f federal mediators. I am pleased that the Board had the wisdom to know it needed such help. Now we are at loggerheads w ith the Jackson com m unity, and now, as well, we need help. T h e re fo re , 1 am not d isa p po in te d that the P o rtla n d C ity Council has taken an interest in this subject. Schools are an integral part o f the entire co m m u n ity, and our decisions cannot be implemented in a vacuum. We should welcome the help o f the C ity C o u n c il. But we should not fa il to exert o u r own sense o f leadership. O ur sense o f leadership must in clude a re c o g n itio n o f the facts The Jackson Coalition has mounted an impressive campaign. The issue is due to go before the Education Ser vice District in a few days. The ESD must decide on whether the decision regarding secession deserves a vote o f the people in the Jackson com munity. There is good reason to be lieve that, sim ply based on our be lie f in d e m o cra tic p rin c ip le s , the ESD w ill allow such a vote. I f the vote is taken and secession fails to gain a m a jo rity , we w ill not have won. There w ill be, as a result, b it terness and division in that commu nity fo r years. I f the vote fo r seces sion endorses the idea, we w ill be faced with a crisis o f responsibility. We w ill, then, be required to seri ously negotiate, fo r it would be, in deed, irresponsible to allow any part o f o ur d is tric t to be broken away. None o f the possible outcomes, i f this m atter proceeds to its logical conclusion, is in the best interest o f (Please turn to page 2 column 3) O xfam A m e ric a ’ s Special P ro jects O ffic r in Lebanon estimated last W ednesday that the ration o f ci vilian to m ilita ry casualties there may be as high as nine to one, and said there is a serious threat o f an epidemic outbreak o f typhoid and cholera, and even some p o ssibility o f plague. Dan C onnell, one o f only a few Americans representing relief agen cies in Beirut, telephoned the Oxfam A m erica o ffic e in Boston today fro m West B eirut. It was the firs t time he has been able to make tele phone co ntact w ith the agency in many days. “ The situation in Lebanon is very desperate,” C on n e ll to ld O xfam A m erica’ s Executive D ire cto r Jo seph S hort. ‘ ‘ N ot o n ly are th o u sands injured and homeless but we are very concerned w ith the possi b ility of epidem ics am ong the quarter m illion or so displaced Leb anese and P a lestinian c iv ilia n s crowded into abandoned buildings and open air parks.” Said D r. S h o rt: ‘ ‘ We feel that every day the war continues the hu man costs w ill escalate w ild ly . As one medical w orker in Beirut told us, ‘ The only preventive medicine that w ill help now is peace.” C o n n e ll said th a t hundreds o f young children are su ffering from severe diarrhea and m a ln u tritio n , w hich could lead to m ore serious life -th re a te n in g diseases. ‘ ‘ T h o u sands need fo o d ,” he said. “ A few cases o f typhoid have already been reported, and it could spread rapid ly due to unhygienic conditions and polluted water caused by bombard ment damage to the pipes. There are thousands o f rats ru n n in g every where, and we’ re w o rrie d about plague and cholera to o .” C onnell said he had spent many days visiting hospitals in Beirut and in the south o f Lebanon, where Ox fam A m e rica appeared to be the only Am erican agency w orking in dependently at the time o f his trip . He spoke w ith m any d o cto rs and other health w orkers. “ Lebanese, P alestinians, Jews, M oslem s and C hristians are all d y in g ,” he said. “ Alm ost all the money we have put into Lebanon has gone for medical supplies, fo o d and blankets, and ‘ fam ily k its ’ consisting o f kerosene stoves, mattresses, cooking pots, washing bowls and jerry cans.” ‘ ‘ The s itu a tio n is a liv in g hell. The continuin g lack o f fo o d , fuel, electricity, medicines and fresh wa ter is especially hard on young ch il dren, and now many hospitals may have to close because o f the short ages. The phosphate burns are the worst. They continue to burn for up to 24 hours, and they lack the neces sary medicines like copper sulfate to treat them .” O xfa m A m erica has w orked in cooperation with the British Oxfam, one o f six autonomous O xfam o r ganizations that often work together on overseas development and relief projects. The British Oxfam has had a fie ld s ta ff in the area since the 1950s. Oxfam America, based in Boston, is a n o n -p ro fit, non-governm ental relief and development agency that supports self-help projects in poor countries in Asia, A frica and Latin America and sometimes gives relief aid in emergencies. The 17th Annual Miss Tan Portland Scholarship Pageant, spon sored by the Jimmy Bang-Bang Walker Group, was held Sunday Au gust 8th at the Portland Art Museum. Miss Thea Warren. 19. walked aw ay w ith the title of Miss Tan Portland 1982 Read about the pageant in Kathryn Hall Bogle's column, page 8. (Photo courtesy of The Oregonian) Superintendent Prophet on School District Reorganization by M atthew W. Prophet Superintendent, Portland Public Schools Last week the Board o f Education approved my recommendations for temporary adm inistrative reorgani zation o f central o ffic e services to better facilitate the delivery o f edu cational services to kids in the class room. The action by the School Board marks the first time in 12 years that the central organizational pattern o f the D is tric t has been readjusted. W hile the changes, and the re p o rt ing responsibilities and task assign ments fo r some in d iv id u a ls have been m o d ifie d or adjusted, as re flected in a new D is tric t organiza tional chart, they are just the “ first step” in an e v o lu tio n a ry process and deal only with area and central administrative functions and role re lationships which most directly im pact the effectiveness o f b u ild in g principals. In due course, all facets o f he o rg a n iz a tio n w ill be ad dressed. The firs t p rio rity in these readjustm ents is to c la rify and es tablish a clear understanding o f who does what. It w ill take more time to complete the organizational realign ment for long-range operations. Second tier priorities A lso targeted fo r later addressal are a second tier o f 51 assorted p ri orities which represent some o f the m ajor elements to be dealt with and incorporated in an educational mas ter plan for the Portland schools for the 1980s. This “ shopping lis t” o f D istrict priorities includes a look at feeder school patterns, boundary analyses, desegregation program as sessment, application o f high tech nology in the classroom . D is tr ic t wide specialized vocational and aca demic centers, increased citizen in volvement, development o f a busi- ness/industry partnership w ith the schools, strengthening linkages o f high schools to higher education, im p ro ve d a ffirm a tiv e action and equal o p p o rtu n ity goal responses, im pact o f Southeast Asian student in flu x on in d iv id u a l schools, and im provem ent o f student achieve ment. More priorities Long-range fiscal plannin g, the problems o f diminished federal sup p o rt, closures and consolidations, equitable resources to all buildings and schools, renovation o f schools, clearer definition o f basic skills and com petency goals, m iddle school - /V standardization, special problems o f small schools, future o f specialized high schools, the changing role o f special education, impact o f collect ive bargaining agreements, planning and im plem entation o f Tubman at E lio t, vocational and career educa tio n , a lte rn a tiv e ed u ca tio n , c o n sistent D is tric tw id e student disci pline, food services cost, com pre hensive desegregation plan, im ple ment appropriate components o f ef fective schools concept, student transportation costs, employee mor ale, E a rly C h ild h o o d E ducation Centers, magnet school develop ment, barrier free access for b u ild ings, return teachers on special as signment back to the classroom to positions in direct support of teach ers, c ity /s c h o o l relations, E liot at Boise, H u m b o ld t o ve rcro w d in g , state and federal legislation, manag ing an aging school plant, more pre scriptive education planning for all students, a p p lica tio n o f new tech nology to m anagem ent, dropouts and non-attendance, mainstreaming problem s, im p ro ve d leadership training, s ta ff development, public relations, fu tu re o f C o lu m b ia / W h itta k e r, m axim ize support to teachers and principals, and talent ed and gifted programs and services. * » • » "i . • List not all-inclusive This is not an all-inclusive listing but it forms the foundation fo r Dis trictw id e comprehensive planning that portends continuing changes to stream line the o rg a n iz a tio n and manage changes in my efforts to im prove the schools. To focus clearly the organization in attacking these and other p rio ri ties for the 1980s and beyond, I have made a num ber o f org a n iza tio n a l changes intended to strengthen the a b ility o f the o rg a n iz a tio n to re spond to the needs o f the schools and the co m m u n ity . T o w a rd this end I realigned and reorganized some key adm inistrative functions as follows: 1. Designated D r. Donald M cE l roy as Deputy Executive Superinten dent to coordinate day-to-day man agement o f the schools. 2. Assigned Dr. James Fenwick as D eputy S uperintendent fo r p la n n ing, in s tru c tio n a l im provem ent and evaluation to coordinate short term and long range educatio nal planning. 3. Named C lint Thomas as Depu ty S uperintendent fo r school sup port services. 4. Assigned W illia m G erald as (Please turn to page 2 column I) ■ Ai •••
