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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 1987)
MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT A lthough educational futurists across the country have gained much notoriety by painting bleak pictures of contem porary American youths increasingly hampered by poverty, broken homes, language barriers and em otional and physical handicaps, the Portland School District has positioned itself to deal with those societal issues in effective and creative ways. Foresighted efforts of Portland School Board members, students, parents, teachers, adm inistrators, other school district employees and com m unity volunteers have helped bring that about through various means, not the least of which was approval of Portland Public Schools’ newest tax base in 1982. Having adequate funding allows a school district to address the com m unity’s expectations and attend to its respon sibilities for students. The Portland Board of Education, through careful planning and specific goals and objectives, provides the framework for dram atic accomplish ments in student achievement, m an agement, com m unity support and fiscal stability. T h at process has reaffirmed P o rtlan d ’s educational system as one of the finest urban school districts in the nation. Portland Public Schools not only provides for excellence on behalf of students traditionally equipped for success in school and society, but it also deals head-on with the much more difficult challenges of drop outs, basic-skills deficiencies, teenage pregnancy, truancy, child abuse, youth gangs, youth unemployment and student discipline. All members of Portland’s school fam ily deserve c o n g ra tu la tio n s . Future generations of Portlanders will be indebted to the support of today’s taxpayers for the quality of com m unity they are helping create with their com m itm ent to public education. We are e n th u s ia stic . We are positive. Things are going very well and we are working hard not only to m aintain, but to improve. Thank you fo r y o u r c o m m itm e n t and support. Matthew Prophet, Superintendent PORTLAND SCHOOL BOARD Report Card, an annual publica tion of the Portland School District, is written and prepared by the Department of Public Information and C om m unication. William Garbett, director. Marjorie McVicar Kerr, editor/writer. James Voigt, writer. Carol Buckle, designer. Larry Mills, photographer. For further information or copies of this report contact: Departm ent of Public Information and Communication, Portland Public Schools, 501 N. Dixon St., Portland, OR 97227. 503-249-3304. Portland® public schools ■