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
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