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PORTLAND OBSERVER
U S I’S 959 680-855
March 23, 1983
Volume XIII, Number 24
25C Per Copy
< t a r PuhMung Co.. /«HI
ir Controversy
f»y Rich Lochner
Steve Buel end Herb Cewthorne consider educe rio n ei o p tio n s a t re c e n t P o rtla n d School Boerd
meeting.
Buel seeks second Board term
Sieve Buel, a member o f the Port­
land School Board, believes a m a­
jo rity o f the Board is "keeping Dr.
P ro p het under th eir th um bs, and
not allowing him to really work and
take care o f the problems o f the Dis­
tric t."
This charge is borne out by the
m a jo rity o f the B oard’ s refusal to
allow S u perintend en t M atth ew
Prophet to co n ciliate the Jackson
closure problem as he did success-
f u l k , w i t h the T u b m a n M id d le
School siting.
stron g ly
support
D r.
Prophet,” Buel said. " H e is doing a
j^nod jo b and could do more i f he
1 ' w«M given the freed om to make
somt o f the changes that should be
m a d e ."
' O ne o p p o rtu n ity P ro p het w ill
have is to select a large num ber o f
new principals to replace those who
w ill retire in the next year or two.
" T h e key to better teaching is the
principal," Buel said. The answer to
inadequate leaching is the principal,
he explained; principals evaluate the
teachers and it is their responsibility
to rem ove those w ho are not suc­
ceeding.
E valuatio n o f principals should
also reflect me quality o f education
being p ro vided in th eir schools.
"T h is is a serious problem and one
I ’ ve been talking about all a lo n g ,"
Buel said. " T h e r e has not been a
real e v a lu a tio n o f p rin c ip als for
years; i f you look at their ev alu a­
tion s, they are a ll the same. T h e
people writing evaluations say about
the same thing about all of them ."
Selecting the right people for ap­
pointment to principalships will be a
major factor in the District’s ability
to provide quality education.
A n o ther d eficit Buel sees is the
broad differences in program s o f ­
fered in different schools. Principals
have had much leeway in choosing
program s and s ta ff. " I have d e­
veloped a plan that D r. Prophet is
studying now that w ill change the
way staff is allocated. It would cre­
ate a basic elementary school includ­
ing class size stand ards, physical
educatior, music, improved library
facilities, and certificated librarians.
Then the ind ividu al schools could
build on that basic program.
" T h is w ould ensure that every
c h ild , even those a tte n d in g sm all
schools, w ould get the same basic
education."
Currently staff positions are allo ­
cated to the principal according to
the number of children and the prin­
cip al can d eterm in e w hat type o f
s ta ff he w ants. A ll adults in the
building— including secretaries and
janitors— are counted so the “ F T E "
ra tio does not reflect teacher-stu­
dent ratio or class size. This results
in some schools having large classes,
others having no physical educa-
lion, art or music teachers.
Buel counts many acco m p lish ­
ments in his first term on the School
Board;
He proposed a task force on drug
and alco h o l abuse to assess the
p roblem and m ake reco m m en da­
tions. This committee will meet for
the first time on April 30th.
H e persuaded the D is tric t to
orient every staff member who has
contact with children on child abuse
so they can bring abuse problems to
the attention o f the authorities.
He successfully proposed centrali­
zation o f counselling services, which
not only rejuvenated the counselling
staff, but for the first time is obtain­
ing in fo rm atio n on who drops out
and why.
Buel persuaded the ad m in is tra­
tion to set safety standards for play­
grounds and equipment and to as­
sign an inspector, as a result acci­
dents have decreased.
The District’s achievement policy
in large part came from Buel’s pro­
posal that each elem entary school
em phasize one subject area each
year for improvement.
A n ele m en tary school teacher,
Bud's main concern as he serves on
(he School Board is providing qual­
ity education for each child in the
District. He looks at every issue that
comes b efo re the Board w ith this
principal in mind.
and Natasha Beck
W o u ld a sales tax relieve high
properly taxes and boost Oregon's
economy, as business and govern­
ment groups say? O r would it be a
new burden fo r poor and working
people, as labor, farm , and commu­
nity groups say? The sales tax, beat­
en six times at the polls, has risen
again— and a m a jo rity o f the state
House say they could send it for vot
ers' approval next November.
The p ublic w ill gel a chance to
state its views on the sales tax at
public hearings in Portland. March
28, at the Po rtlan d Building (1120
SW 5th at 7:30 p .m .). But just what
would a sales lax d o , and fo r
whom?
Three sales tax proposals are now
b efo re the stale leg islature T he
main hacker behind each is the busi­
ness oriented Taxpayers for a Better
Econom y, state R epresentatives
Io n y Van V lie t (R -C o rv a llis ) and
Peter Courtney (D -S alem ), and the
Local Government Coalition.
Sales tax opponents fall into two
camps: those who oppose the sales
tax because i t ’ s regressive; and those
who oppose taxes in general. The
. ijis t group has organized into O re ­
gonians U n ite d to Stop the Sales
Tax (O USST) Members include the
stale A H C IO and several unions,
the O regon S tale G ra n g e , the
O re g o n W a s h in g t o n f a r m e r s
U n io n , the G ra y P an th ers, the
Democratic P arly, and the Oregon
Citizens Party. Other groups oppos­
ing a sales tax that would make the
poor pay more include Oregon l air
Share and the Black United F ro n t.
Anti-tax groups include the Oregon
Taxpayers Union, which has backed
three barely defeated lax lim itation
in itia tiv e s , and the L ib e rta ria n
Party.
T h e sales tax plans share some
common features A ll would go into
the state constitution, and could be
approved or changed o nly by the
voters. All would not lax necessities
such as food, medical care, housing,
and utilities A ll would cut property
taxes 40 to 50 percent, and limit fu­
tu re governm ent g ro w th . A n d all
would be regressive— taxing lower
incomes more heavily than lower in­
comes.
A 1980 C alifo rn ia sales tax study
showed differences between income
classes: households m aking under
$20,000 spent 40 percent o f that in ­
come on goods subject to the sales
tax. (California has exclusions simi­
lar to those projiosed in O reg o n ).
Bused on these figu res, a fa m ily
niukiug $10-20,(NX) a year would pay
about $240 a year, or 1.6 percent of
us income, with a four percent sales
tax.
A fam ily making $75,(NX) and up,
on the other hand, would pay $760,
or .67 percent o f its income. I f the
p o o re r fa m ily paid the same p e r­
centage as the richer one, it would
pay $105, a difference o f $135. The
same study shows a fa m ily pays
more sales lax for each child it must
provide for.
The sales tax is regressive because
rich people can affo rd to save more
than can hard-pressed low and m id­
dle-income people The sales lax a l­
so usually excludes some items used
mostly by the w ell-o ff, such as legal
services and private education.
T w o O regon plans deal w ith the
fairness issue by a rebate scheme
th at w o u ld re fu n d $8 to $40 per
household member fo r those m a k ­
ing under $17,500. But it's still not
eq u al; w ith a fo u r percent tax, a
fa m ily o f fo u r in the $ 1 0 ,0 0 0 to
$12,500 bracket would gel an $80 re­
fund, and still pay a higher rale than
the $75,OCX) + class. Critics also say
many poor people who pay no in ­
come tax y o u ld n 'l apply for the rc-
(PI ease turn Io page ti column /)
Parents, youth charge police abuse
by Lam ia Duke
P o rtla n d police o ffic e rs are
charged with racism and insensitiv­
ity in the reaction to and treatment
of six young people— four black and
two white— last Friday night.
Around 9:45 p .m ., M arch 18th,
six juveniles between the ages o f
eleven and fifteen were touched with
spring fever. Darryl M cW illins, 14,
explained the incident: " W e were
acting crazy, goofing o ff and doing
silly things. W e threw three rocks at
a police car. We were walking home
and came upon a policeman giving a
guy a ticket. W e ran to the alley on
Ainsworth and M oore Streets. The
police followed us and slopped me
in that alley ."
D a rry l was accom panied by
another youth, Frank Smith, 13.
" T h e police o fficer grabbed me
by the neck and threw me down on
the ground." Darryl received super
ficial cuts and abrasions on his face
from the impact. During the course
o f being arrested the o ffic er made
obscene remarks to M cW illin s , the
youth reports. " T h e o ffic e r said,
’C a n ’ t you find anything else to do
on a Friday night, like be with your
girl friend and get a h— on?"
T he parents and neighbors did
not condone throwing rocks at a po­
lice car. H o w ever, the harsh tre at­
ment and obscene language was felt
to be excessive and unnecessary con
sidering the repentful nature o f the
boys once they were ap p reh e n d ­
ed.
Mrs. McW illins said, " D a rry l was
wrong for throwing the rocks. But
the way they apprehended him was
just as w ro ng — such as putting his
knee on his b a c k , th ro w in g him
dow n and m a kin g that sexual re­
mark to a 14-year-old boy. Another
item is that all the boys that were
picked up were black and the tw o
white boys were told to go hom e."
The parents o f one o f the w hile
youths involved, Nathan Maszy, 11,
also believe that this was u n ju s t.
" A l l the kids were together. There
was no reason for the police to sin­
gle out Nathan and Donald Gibson,
1131. to go home. It wasn't the idea
that they d id n 't see a rock in D o n ­
ald 's or N a th a n 's hand. F ra n k ie
didn't have a rock and the police a r­
rested him, anyway. The police nev­
er did sec who threw the rock. A ll
they know is that rocks were thrown
and a group o f kids were running.”
The police took the four boys over
to Frank Smith's home. His mother
stated . " T h e r e has been so much
happening in our neighborhood. I
didn't realize the boys were involved
until I saw Darryl getting out o f the
car in h an dcuffs. T h e other boys,
Kicky, Faison. 13 and James Smith,
15, were in another poiice car and
the officers refused to let them out
until they had Darrly and Frank un­
der control.
" D a r r y l and Frank were not out
o f c o n tro l. I began to ask them to
take the cu ffs o f f o f D a rry l and I
noticed that they had the handcuffs
on so tight, they couldn’t take them
o ff. They could not get one o f the
c u ffs o f f . T h e Po lice kept saying
som ething ab o ut it's getting that
tim e o f the year and w ith c o m ­
m u n ity relations the way that they
are they d id n 't w ant to start this
kind o f thing. It seemed to me the
police were saying to us purents that
we were breeding a pot o f summer
violence.
" A g a in , I felt the treatment was
too harsh and throughout their in ­
terac tio n w ith the police the boys
were very remorseful and scared.”
The neighbors, parents, and the
yo u th w ho w ere in v o lve d all feel
that if this incident had occurred in
the S .W . H ills it would have been
viewed d iffe re n tly . As a group of
boys p e rfo rm in g a very ch ild ish ,
th ou gh tless act, n oth ing m ore,
no hing less. Instead, the police o f ­
ficers involved added insult to in ­
ju ry by treating the boys like crim in­
als and showing preferential treat
ment to the white youths.
T h e P o lice Bureau spokesman
said the police officers involved are
not available for comment until the
Internal A ffa irs com plaint, filed by
one o f the parents, is cleared
Educational Service District: Forgotten race draws few candidates
by Rouert Lothian
The Board o f the M u ltn o m a h
County Educational Service District
threw itself into the Jackson contro­
versy when it ruled that (he area had
sufficient resources to run its own
schools. Their decision helped pave
the way for Jackson’s secession, and
the outcome o f the M arch 29 elec­
tions, with three ESD positions con­
tested, could in flu en ce whether
other areas fo llo w Jackson's ex ­
ample.
But besides its increasingly con­
troversial boundary setting author­
ity, ESD is also a large cooperative
with a $21 m illio n budget. Il p ro ­
vides computer services and school
supplies at discount rates to the
C o u n ty ’ s 12 school d is tricts , and
funds special program s, including
(he outdoor school for sixth g rad ­
ers, a p ro gram fo r pregnant high
school students, and nursing ser­
vice*.
Over h alf o f ESD 's budget is de­
voted to special education— handi­
capped, speech impaired, English as
a Second Language (E S L ) and ta l­
ented and gifted programs.
After receiving recommendations
from the various districts, the E SD
Board, through its budget delibera­
tions, has u ltim a te a u th o rity over
the choice and extent o f special o f­
ferings
D r. H o w a rd C h e rry , a N o rth
Portland orthopedic surgeon, is the
incum bent ru n nin g fo r P o sitio n
Five, Zone One, an area which cov­
ers most o f N o rth and Northeast
Portland. Running against Cherry is
Ron M cC arty, a tax accountant and
former restaurant owner.
C herry found him self in the m i­
nority on the Board when he voted
against the decision fa v o ra b le to
Jackson's secession. H e fears it
could be the beginning o f a landslide
secession movement on the affluent
west side. This would be a "horrible
b lo w " to the Portland School Dis­
trict, he said, because the loss o f the
a fflu e n t west side tax base would
mean huge cu t* fo r rem aining
schools.
" V e r y , very v a lu a b le " special
programs should be kept, he said,
but some may be threatened by the
outcome of wage negotiations which
could mean cutbacks in other areas.
Cherry, who was a stale legislator
for 12 years, is also running as an in­
cumbent for the Portland C o m m u ­
nity College Board.
M cC arty's main qpneern is m on­
ey. “ We have to have fiscal respon­
sib ility," he said. "M o nies must be
spent w isely." Uncontrolled spend­
ing and waste are big problem s in
education, according to M c C a rty ,
and his jo b on the Board would be
to "ju d g e which monies are being
spent fo o lish ly " and do away with
unnecessary programs. H e was un­
willing to specify what needed to be
cut, however, saying he would have
to be on the board for awhile to find
out.
Alluding to the "ta x revolution”
and Ballot Measure 3, M cC arty was
concerned about the large number
o f foreclosures which he connects
w ith high p ro p e rty taxes. H e
Ihoughi Ballot Measure 3 had tech­
nical problems, but he supports the
idea o f a properly tax lim itation " to
keep people in their homes."
M cC arty said he doubts whether
he would support any new secession
movements. " I need more fac ts,”
he said. " I haven’ t totally made up
my m in d ."
John Sw eeney, a tree trim m e r
w ith the P o rtlan d Park Bureau, is
an incum bent ru n nin g unopposed
fo r the a t-la rg e P o sitio n S ix,
Sweeney leels that fear* o f a land­
slide secession m ovem ent are u n ­
founded. The ESD Board’s decision
in the Jackson case, he said, "w as
not a blanket ap p ro val" for all dis­
tricts that might want to pull out.
Each case must be judged on its
merits, but " i f they met the criteria I
would lend to go along with i t ," he
said.
Sweeney thinks the talented and
gifted program should be expanded
to in clu d e m ore th an the present
three percent o f students who quail
fy fo r the m ore exciting and ch al­
lenging subjects. It w ould provide
an incentive, he said, for some stu­
dents to stay in school.
P o s itio n seven covers the west
side, and secessin is the big issue
there. Pat D o o lin g , vice-president
{Please turn to page N column J)