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.
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•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
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