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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1983)
Page 2 Portland Observer, November 9,1983 Is your child learning at grade level? across the board, but the achieve ment scores are also below the Dis trict's average in poor white neigh borhoods " Herndon discounts theories which say poverty is the reason for poor achievement. “ The one program that shows being poor does not limit a child's ability to learn is Head Start. Since 1964 it has worked with poor children and tests show that they do much better in school and in all areas of life ." Thelma Brown. Principal of Humboldt School, said poverty is one of the reasons schools in the A l bina area are below the District’s av erage in Reading. M ath and L an guage "T h e kids on the west side are not subjected to this kind of poverty. It has a lot to do with their income level and fam ily stability. A lot o f students come to school with external problems and we have to deal with those.' Next week, as parent/teacher conference time arrives, the Black United Front wants parents to: •F in d their child's achievement level; •Com pare it to the District’s aver by L oni la Duke Grassroot News. N . W .— " Is my child learning at his or her grade level?” Thi» question is being framed by the Portland chapter of the Black United Front for parents as parent-teacher conference time nears. This year’s conferences coin cide with the release o f achievement levels which show Black students starting two grades behind and stay ing behind with each successive grade. These achievement levels were re leased after the publication of last spring's test scores in October by The Oregonian newspaper. The scores showed the North side of Portland on the other side o f the track educationally as they scored below the District’s average in Reading. M ath and Language Usage. Karen Powell. Educational Pro gram Director for the Ametican Friends Service Committee, said these test scores reveal that Black students are starting the third grade behind and stay behind in the Port land Public School system. ” Across the board there is no change Not only are they not re cording a change but they are start ing out and staying behind white students in the same grade." She called this phenomenon "strange.” "W h a t is not coming across to my child is coming across somewhere else. The excuses of be ing a single parent and low-income does not bear any weight with me. If that is the case why is this discrepan cy not showing up with white stu dents." Powell attributes the low scores in schools in the Albina area to poor classroom management. There are many teachers who have yet to learn how to control kids.” Another reason for this disparity among achievement scores between Black and white students is the his torical stand once taken by the School District regarding Early Childhood Education Centers. Powell states, "E C E C s were used as magnets to bring white students School district admits errors The Portland School District has announced that an error was made in its earlier report on the compara tive achievement o f Black and white students. The rate of gain o f average Black student achievement scores in the last two years in reading, language arts, and arithmetic has been 53 per cent higher than that o f white stu dents (not 67 percent) or 3.2 R IT units vs. 2.4 units (not 3.5 Rit units vs. 2.1 units). I f reading and mathematics alone are considered, the difference in rate of gain is 36 percent (not 100 per cent) so the average achievement levels o f Black students have in creased one-third more rapidly than white students. Doing fine: Tiffany Mitchell, a 6th grader at King School, la doing wall at her grade level. The BUF wants parents of kids who are not cutting It to find out why. (Photo: Richard J. Brownl into the area while locking out neighborhood kids. A t one time Hum boldt School had more white students while the neighborhood kids were being bused to Beech and other schools. The District pulled the white kids out in the second and third grade and they went to schools in the Southwest side where they continued to clim b ." Schools in inner Northeast, be cause o f demographics, received ad ditional federal money known as Title One or Chapter One funds. Powell said she believed the extra funds are not benefitting the pupil. “ Schools in the Northeast are using that money for staff and staff train ing but the benefits from this addi tional training are not being realized by the child in terms o f achieve ment. Schools in the South and Southwest area who receive Chapter One money will invest that money in equipment, and schools in the Northeast will invest in personnel A lot o f it gets back to the attitude of the teachers who feel “ these kids cannot learn ." Ronnie Herndon, co-chair o f (he Black United Front, agrees with Powell. “ There are teachers w h j don't expect Black children to learn We also have principals and adm in istrators who are not able to give the proper kind o f direction because when they were in the classroom they were not able to educate Black children. Not only are low expecta (ions experienced by Black children Petitions ask zones for board members The Committee for a M ore Re sponsible Portland School Board annoucned a petition drive to re quire the Portland School Board to put to a vote o f the people, the ques tion o f zoning the district. " W e live in a time in history when all people are demanding more rep resentation on the government bodies that affect their lives, spend their money, and educate their children,” Frank Shields. Chairman o f the committee said. "People want representation that is as ac countable as possible, and that means, they want a local state repre sentative. state senator; they also want a local school board mem ber.” The ears of com we eat today were, in their wild form hundreds of years ago, only an inch or so long. Saguaros, which are huge cactuses found in Arizona, are often called "apartment houses of the des ert" because they provide living quarters for so many The Portland district has been the only district in the state prevented by law from zoning. The Portland School Board opposed SB 740 which removes the restriction and allows the Board to zone. It also provides that the citizens can peti tion the board to zone. Currently candidates run and are elected city-wide, requiring high f i nances and often professionally run campaigns. Shields explained that it is difficult for new persons to "break into” the system, perpetuat ing current school board members and denying some areas o f the city representation. Two areas o f the city— the West Hills and Irvington have five o f seven board members but 17 percent o f the population Southeast Portland, with 39 percent o f the population, and North P o rt land. with 12 percent, have no rep resentation. City-wide campaigns require much money and therefore largely restrict candidacies to professional people while the poor remain unrep resented. "T his is an idea whose time has come long ago in most places," Shields said. “ Regardless of the whisper network of the rich and powerful, regardless of any form of subtle repression, it is an idea whose time has come now to Po rtlan d." SB 740 allows only nomination by zone, with elections district-wide "This is a first step," Shields said. "Z on e elections will be our next tar get ” bird species. h takes 21 days for a grape to become a raisin in the Glad's of Hollywood sun. In 1790 only five percent of the American population lived in cities. business with South Africa American State B a n k AN INDEPENDENT BANK j 3616 N .E . B ro ad w ay Costume jewelry Over 300 paira of earrings in stock (Between Rita's Reck ft 37th) """steed Office 2 7 1 7 N. E. Union Portend, Oregon 9 7 212 _____________________________ > Mon. Sat. 10-5 • Sun. 12-6 age. •A sk the teacher three questions: ( I ) Is my child performing at grade level? (2) What level test did my child take? (3) W hat can I do to bring my child up to grade level? The answers to these questions seriously affect the education of children in the inner city for years to come. The published fact that Black children stay two grades behind is a sweeping indictment o f the Portland Public School system and its staff. Others said the bulk of the weight must be borne by parents in the A l bina area It is their responsibility to see to it that their children are per forming at grade level And if not, it is their responsibility to take the ne cessary steps to bring their children up to grade level. T h i most frightening aspect of this disparity will show up among the children in their senior high school years as many will not be able to pass the minimal competen cy test if the are allowed to stay ‘ behind their white counterparts." ri 1 3 n n F 1 n Please jo in us fo r The Catlin Gabel School's third annual OPEN HOUSE O N Sunday. November 13. 1983. fro m 2:00 to 4:30p. m. Tour :he campus and the four divisions of the School See our prize winning slide show. Meet students, faculty and staff members. Ask your questions. Refreshments will be served. We look forward to this opportunity to share our school with you. Call 297-1894 for more inform ation. The Catlin Gabel School. 8825 SW Barnes Rd., Portland, O R 97225 DR. 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