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PORTLAND OBSERVER
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Volume XV, Number 19
March 6, 1985
25c Copy
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Two Sections
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Committee specifies
academic problems
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by Loruta Duke
GRASSROOT NEW S, N .W .-T h e
majority of Black children in the Port
land Public Schools are not being treat
cd in an equitable mannet ixw are pres
ent teaching methods effective in in
structing them. These conclusions
were among those presented to the
School Board February 28th, as the
Desegregation Monitoring and A d
visory Committee made its mid year
report.
Halim Rahsaan, D M A C ’s chair
person, defined the committee per
spective as, “ Wanting the content of
education to be accurate, appropriate
and relevant in reflecting contribu
tions o f African American, Native
American, African, Asian and His
panic cultures. W e want the aims of
education to be the complete develop
ment o f a person and not merely
preparation for the available low
level, or even high level jobs, that may
serve no purpose beyond individual
enhancement," Rahsaan noted.
D M A C both criticized and com
mended the school district in its de
segregation
effort».
Multiethnic curriculum
Deniae William» (toft) and Cynthia Oliver (right!,
member» of the Portland Breaker» rally »quad, the
Heart Braakar». Ju«t prior to the aeeaon'a opening
game with Lo» Angeles With the Heart Breaker», the
crowd put together the first succeasful wave In Civic
Stadium.
(Photo: Dan Long)
Anti-fascists to aid Nicaragua
by Robert Lothian
Nearly fifty years ago, Frank Alexan
der and Bob Reed fought on the sale of
Spanish loyalists against the dictator
Franco and his forces.
Supported by Nazi Germany and
fascist Italy. Franco invaded Spain with
a colonial army after the country elect
ed a democratic government
Reed and Alexander, both from
Seattle, see parallels between Spain
and Nicaragua, and although they
are both in their 70s, they retain their
internationalist ideals and want to
help. They, together with Abraham
Lincoln Brigade members across the
country, have organized an effort to
send ambulances to Nicaragua to aid
victims o f contra attacks.
“ Reagan is doing (in Nicaragua)
exactly what Hitler and Mussolini did
in Spain, and he’s using the same ex
cuses," said Alexander. "H itle r said,
‘ I am stopping Communism.’ That's
exactly what Reagan says.”
Alexander and Reed are heading an
effort in Seattle to raise $25,000 by
Apnl 10th for a fully equipped medi
cal vehicle. W ith the help o f churches,
Hispanic organizations, and Central
America groups, they have raised
about $8,000 so far. A L B veterans on
the East Coast are gathering donations
for an additional two ambulances,
they said.
Reed visited Nicaragua last summer
with a Seattle-Managua sister city
delegation. He said contra attacks
against civilians there remind him o f
the massacres o f civilians carried out
by Franco forces in Spain. " I t ’s on a
smaller scale than Spain but it’s the
same bloody thing," he said.
If the Nicaragua fighting intensi
fies, Reed said he is sure that an inter
national brigade will organize to fight
on the side o f the Sandinistas. The
Nicaraguan government would have
to call for such help but so far hasn't,
he added.
D M A C thanked School Super
intendent Matthew Prophet for im
plementing training incorporating
African American curriculum. But
D M A C said they were not satisfied
with the performance of project direc
tor, Darrel Millner. "W ithout the as
sistance o f local consultant, Joyce
Harris, the math and art essays would
not have been distributed......... There
have been contractual problems in the
handling of contracts by the project
director regarding payments to na
tional and local consultants," Rah
saan said.
D M A C recommended a full time
project director to coordinate the
baseline essays (lesson plans) through
the curriculum department. Also, it
said the project director should have
the support o f the community with a
background in classroom teaching at
the elementary or secondary level.
Special Education
BOB REED
Alexander is the son o f a slave and
one o f about 250 Black Americans
who served in Spain. He was among
the last o f the internationalists to re
treat, arriving in France on the day
that Franco proclaimed victory. Said
Alexander o f his service in Spain:
" It was the only time in my life that I
didn't know I was a Black m an."
One o f the first Blacks to be ad
mitted to the A F L -C IO , Alexander
remained an active union member
until his retirement.
Reed grew up in a family o f Texas
tenant fanners. He was educated by
free-thinking radicals at Common
wealth College in Arkansas, later
shut down by the government, and he
was an organizer o f the Southern
(Photo: Richard J. Brown!
Tenant Farmers Union before leaving
for Spain.
His ship was torpedoed o ff the
Spanish coast and he was picked up
naked by a fishing boat By the end of
his first day in battle, two-thirds o f his
platoon was missing. About one-third
of the Brigade members died in Spam,
he said. Alexander and Reed were
both wounded.
Reed will appear in Portland at two
showings o f “ The Good Fight,” a
movie about the Abraham Lincoln
Brigade, on Sunday, March 10, at
2:00 p.m ., Reed College Vollum Hall,
and at 7:00 p.m. that night in Room
75, Lincoln H all, PSU. A $3 donation
is requested for the ambulance fund.
D M A C analyzed the total special
education population and found a
"real bias present."
"Native American and African
Aniencaii students arc extremely over
represented by nearly twice as much
as Caucasian and Hispanic," Rah
saan said. "T h e percent o f African
Americans enrolled has decreased,
but the percent enrolled in special ed
ucation has increased.”
D M A C said they believed the dis
proportion stems from the lack o f
consistency in procedures for place
ment o f students in special education.
Discipline
D M A C commended the district for
retaining the services o f Dr. Junius
Williams, a nationally recognized
authority in the area of discipline. But
the committee added, “ African Amer
ican students are more than twice as
likely to be suspended or expelled,"
Rahsaan stated.
Ronnie Herndon, co-chair o f the
Black United Front, expanded on the
discipline disproportion: "Five years
ago when we started this campaign to
address inequalities in the school sys
tem, the major areas o f discipline
abuse occurred in schools outside the
Black community. The situation has
Hkim Raahaan. chair person of »ha Desegregation Monitoring and
Advisory Commina» addressee the School Board.
(Photo Richard J. Brown)
been reversed. The major areas of
abuse occur in the Early Childhood
Education Centers (EC EC s)."
Herndon added, "Blacks make up
60 percent o f the EC EC population,
but comprise 90 percent of all suspen
sions. Vernon has a Black population
of 62 percent, yet 85 percent o f all sus
pensions are Black students. Irvington
has a Black student population o f 50
percent but 90 percent of all suspen
sions were Black students."
D M A C called for a consistent disci
pline policy. Herndon said there was a
need to evaluate the in-house suspen
sion program and keep records of
those students referred to time-out
rooms.
Academic achievement
Prior to D M A C ’s presentation,
Superintendent Prophet issued a
progress report. "Forty-one percent
o f our Black students in grades 3 - 7
are reading above the national level.
This is up from 31 percent three years
ago. In mathematics, 31 percent are
above the national level compared to
23 percent three years ago."
Herndon questioned these results.
“ I f it took three years to go from 31
percent to 4 1 percent in reading, it will
take 18 years for Black children to
read at the national level." Herndon
added, " A t the rale the district is
teaching math, it will take 24 years to
get 87 percent o f Black students at
national level.”
Herndon also expressed concern for
the number of children of color re
ceiving modified diplomas "T otal
minority students are 26 percent, yet
they are given 66 percent of all modi
fied diplomas."
He recommended the district ex
pand its Desegregation C oordinat
ing Committee to include business
representatives, community residents,
effective teachers and principals
"W e need a collective resolution to
these problems. If we do not come up
with some way to positively address
this problem society will pay for it one
way or another," he concluded.
Philippines increases freedom
by Robert Lothian
Filippinos refer to government
opposition leaders who are "salvaged"
— sent to their salvation in heaven.
It ’s a semi-religious, half-joking way
o f saying they were assassinated,
says Peter Bacho, professor o f F ilip
pino history at the U niversity o f
Washington, who spoke in Portland
recently.
Ironically, many Filippinos escaped
oppression in their country by being
salvaged. That is, until the assassina
tion o f democratic opposition leader
Benino Aquino at Manila Airport in
1983.
A t that tim e, said Bacho, the na
tional reconciliation promised by
A q u in o ’s visit seemed dashed to the
ground. "F o r many Filippinos then,
growing p olarizatio n and civil war
seemed the grissly components o f
a future without hope.”
But surprisingly, said Bacho, while
the assassination added to ranks o f a
growing leftist insurgency, it has also
brought unprecedented reform. "O ne
surprising result is that democracy, if
not quite healthy, is not yet dead,"
he said.
There is now m ore freedom o f
the press, said Bacho, a F ilip p in o -
American who visited the Philippines
recently. The supreme court has been
m aking decisions unpopular w ith
a u th o rita rian President Ferdinand
Marcos, he continued, and last M ay,
the country’s National Assembly was
revitalized by elections which saw
60 seats change hands
" T h e real story was the people
turning out in the face o f bayonets,
and voting to show their displeasure”
with the government, he said.
The National Assembly, once d o r
m ant, can now serve as a forum for
issues and candidates that w ill chal
lenge Marcos in the 1987 elections.
M arco s’ health is at issue, and if
he should die,” said Bacho, the P hil
ippine m ilita ry might take over the
country and wipe away recent re
forms. The military, a key component
o f M arcos* a u th o rita ria n rule, has
been shaken up recently. M an y top
leaders were demoted after having
been implicated in the Aquino assas
sination.
Tw o huge U .S. bases and U.S. aid
(Atonr rum to fhtge 9. (oium n I)
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