Page 2 Portland Observer April 4, 1990
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To Be Equal
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Z»y John E. Jacob
Education, Part II:
To Be Or Not To Be (Paid For Competence)
by Professor McKinley Burke
As to be expected I got a few dissent­
ing calls from last w eek’s headline in­
quiry, “ Should We Pay Teachers For
Performance? However, most comments
were positive-ihough I am not sure about
an extrem e negative from one caller
who claim ed to represent a teachers
union, but would not leave a name. It is
a needed reassurance since my position
is in substantial agreem ent with most of
Am erican industry which is increasingly
com ing to support the school systems
that produce its workforce. 1 know that
the organization to which 1 belong, “ Edu­
cators o f E xcellence,” gains more such
funding and support for its programs
each day.
I have another such controversial
position to put forward. That given all
the pressing need for an upscaling of
early childhood and elementary/middle
school funding, there be may even more
imm ediacy that there be a massive inter­
vention at the “ highschool” level. And,
I think, especially in the form o f in­
creased salaries and merit pay to retain
teachers o f ex cellen ce-an d funding to
attract com petent, experienced special­
ists from industry and other fields, in­
cluding the arts and sciences. Many
form er teachers would return to their
first love if adequately compensated.
Ask me, I know quite a number. Fur­
ther, the “ industry loan” gimmick has
been worn out, inconsistent, haphazard,
and uncoordinated as it often is.
I say this because it is absolutely
critical to redouble our efforts at the
high school where graduation is thebr-
idge not only to higher education, but,
for an increasing number, the last step
before entering the workforce. And an
even more com pelling case for major
intervention is the fact that a catastrophic
num berof students simply are notgradu-
ating (w hether w hite or minority). You
will note that last week I described a
scenario o f such educational excellence
and com m itm ent that many o f us “ drop
outs” were able to enter college on the
basis o f exam ination (this circumstance
still obtains).
I quote Dr. M anning Marable (Ohio
State U niversity) who recently remarked
that “ betw een 1977 and 1984, the rate of
Black high school students going “ di­
rectly” locollege plummeted from 50%
to 4 2 % ... while the percentages slightly
improved the next four years, that now
appears to be only an anom aly, not a
long term upward trend.” This is ex­
actly the circum stance with figures for
Oregon. Last year James Payne, A ssis­
tant Vice Chancellor for Curricular A f­
fairs reported to the State Higher Board
on Enrollment Trends that African Ameri­
cans, Hispanics and Native American
college enrollm ents have been climbing
for the past two y e a rs-b u t “ only after a
lengthy dow nw ard trend.” Efforts are
“ insufficient. . . fragm entary,” he re­
ported.
“ African Americans earned 78 col­
lege degrees in 1977-78 (the state popu­
lation o f Blacks is about 37,000) com ­
pared with 83 nine years earlier. His­
panics gained 124 degrees, a 50% im ­
provement. The Native A m erican’s rate
was 116, up 52% .” This is frightening
to say the least. The percent o f Blacks
who drop out of college is another grim
figure, as bad or worse than for high
school students. I understand very well
that intervention is neede here just as
badly as in the other areas; I simply
make the point of, and suggest, a par­
ticular priority level for action, i.e. high
school.
But let us return to the classroom it­
self and the teachers, those arbiters and
critics of their own performance as well
as that of their students. Again, I make
a case for differntiated compensation.
Few, I think, realize that some teachers
(at all levels) spend a great deal of their
“ disposable” income on their stu d en ts-
a lot of it nonreim bursable, but what
choices do you have when commitment
is driving one to enhance the learning
environm ent in any way possible? The
expenditure may be planned or im pul­
sive, ranging from the photocopying of
materials encountered in an unexpected
place to the purchase o f books or slides
n o to n an “ adopted” list. A lw ays,as in
my teaching experience, the dedicated
are perceiving new vistas or icons which
they know can be turned into a new
frame o f reference, capable o f guiding
the slow as well as the gifted. My rec­
ords for just one three-year period indi­
cated expenditures o f over $5000~not
counting the rental of vans for several
field trips where my prior experience in
industry indicated a close examination
of the cities infrastructure to be a must.
Next week we will return to my own
personal TAG program . . . Talented
And Gifted Teachers.
To be continued.
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Rights Act Counters Job Bias
Congress is considering a new bill
dence of gross disparities between African-
cosponsored by an impressive bipartisan
Americans and white workers that scholars
array of legislators, the Civil Rights Act of
have found is largely due to discriminatory
1990.
practices.
The Act aims at overruling some of last
They charge the Civil Rights Act of
1990 is a new affirmative action law and
year's devastating Supreme Court deci­
sions that drastically reduced federal pro­
raise the specter of quotas, when it is noth­
tections against workplace discrimination.
ing of the kind. The proposed law would
simply restore employment practices to
One decision overturned a 1971 ruling
that said employers had to prove that a
where they were before the Court acted.
practice had a disproportionate impact on
It doesn’t even address damaging af­
minorities was justified by legitimate busi­
firmative action decisions, such as the Court’s
ness reasons. Now, it’s up to the victims of
overturning a city minority set aside pur­
such discrimination to prove that such
chasing program. If anything, Congress
practices are unreasonable.
needs to undo that decision.
Another decision limited the rights of
Critics also want to scrap the provi­
victims of racial harassment to sue.
sions of the bill that allow victims of dis­
And in two cases decided on the same
crimination and harassment to sue for
day, the Court allowed white firemen to
damages.
challenge a standing consent decree ena­
It seems to me that when the judicial
bling more African-Americans to be pro­
system finds that someone is wronged, they
moted, but that it was not OK for women
should be entitled to compensation. Other­
demoted under a two-year-old seniority
wise, the perpetrator gets away free.
plan to challenge it.
And where the courts find gross, inten­
Already, those rulings have had a chill­
tional violations of rights that warrant punitive
ing effect on anti-discrimination efforts.
damages, such punishment should be en­
The NAACP Legal Defense and Edu­
forced.
cational Fund found that over 100 cases
Those means of redress are an integral
where victims o f discrimination and har­
part of our justice system, routinely applied
assment sued for damages have been dis­
to other forms of victimization. Refusing to
missed or are likely to be lost.
apply them to discrimination cases is itself
Standing local government minority
discrim inatory--a way of saying that bias is
hiring and promotion plans have been chal­
a minor misdemeanor, like a parking ticket.
lenged, despite meeting the strict legal tests
By restoring the right to sue for com ­
that prevailed before the Supreme Court’s
pensatory damages, the bill helps to make
actions.
anti-discrimination laws largely self-en­
In effect, the Court has sent a terrible
forcing, just as product liability claims
message to America--that it is drilling
force manufacturers to do a better job of
loopholes in anti-discrimination laws, and
ensuring that their products are safe.
minority rights may be violated.
It is urgent that this proposed new law
Now, the Congress must send a posi­
be passed without delay. The last time
tive message to both the Court and the
Congress tried to overturn a Court decision
American people--that discrimination will
that encouraged violation of basic civil
not be tolerated.
rights, it took four years to pass.
The proposed Civil Rights Act of 1990
With discrimination so common and
does that, and a measure of its probable
the legal tools to counter it limited by the
effectiveness are the alarm bells set off
Court ’ s actions, we can ’t afford that long of
among its opponents who are waging an all-
a wait. Congress and the Administration
out effort to defeat it.
need to enact into law a measure that would
They're claiming that a new law is not
roll back last year’s Court challenge to
necessary- despite the overwhelming evi- ■^justice and fair play.
T his W ay
for
B lack E mpowerment
by Dr. I.enora Etilani
Not “ Deceptive”~Attractive!
This past week the Anti-Defamation
League of the B ’nai B ’rith -an organiza­
tion whose mission is supposedly to moni­
tor anti-Semitism and other forms of big­
otry-published its latest attack on the New
Alliance Party, Dr. Fred Newman--the
progressive Jewish activist who is a dedi­
cated builder of the Black-led independent
political movemenl--and me.
The ADL’s 13page ‘‘researchreport”
is called The New Alliance Party: A Study
in Deception. It is an attempt to smear the
independent party that I chair as an anti-
Semitic, “ far left” cult controlled by Dr.
Newman. Some people believe that it is
better to ignore such vicious (and stupid)
attacks. But I think it is important to pay
very close attention to what the ADL is
saying--because what you see is not what
you get.
While pretending to be concerned about
N A P’s anti-Semitism, the ADL report re­
veals that the organization’s real problem is
the coming together of Blacks and progres-
sives--particularly progressive Jews like
Fred Newman—who share a deep and pas­
sionate commitment to building the Black-
led, working class-wide independent or­
ganizations and alliances such as NAP and
Reverend A1 Sharpton’s United African
Movement, that are rising up to lead the
fight for radical (meaning real, people’s)
democracy in this country.
In a section of the report called “ Tar­
geting the Black Community,” the ADL
says that "T h e NAP . . . has attempted to
forge an alliance with New York radical
activist Rev. A1 Sharpton . . . ” The impli­
cation is that the United African Move-
ment/New Alliance Party coalition is a
scheme which hasn’t worked out yet. But
the fact is that it’s very, very real- far too
real for the likes of the ADL. Because what
the forces of reaction and their agents fear
most of all is exactly such an alliance
between Blacks and progressives.
Together NAP and the UAM have
emerged as the organized, grassroots-based
pro-democracy opposition to the ccrTupt
and long-entrenched Democratic Party
establishment in New York which runs the
city in the anti-people interests of the bands
and the big landlords. That political estab­
lishment is now represented by David
Dinkins, New York’s first Black mayor,
who spent the last days of the campaign
advertising the fact that in 1985 he had tried
to prevent Minister Louis Farrakhan from
speaking in the city. The message was that
Dinkins was one of those “ good Blacks"
who--unlike the outspoken, “ uppity" ones
such as Minister Farrakhan, Reverend
Sharpton and me--deserved the trust of
Jewish voters.
Last week Mr. Dinkins and I ran into
each other when we were both panelists on
the nationally televised TV show Amer­
ica’s Black Forum. He is still highly an­
noyed with me, because as an independent
mayoral candidate last year, I dogged him
around New York to demand that he be
responsive to the concerns of the African-
American and Puerto Rican voters he was
counting on to make him the mayor.
On the show David defended himself
against my charge that in his efforts to
attract the most racist elements of the Jewish
community, he had betrayed our people by
saying that his repudiation of Louis Farra-
khan was a matter of principle- David Dinkins
doesn’t want this Black people’s leader in
“ his” city! Yet David isn’t prepared to
acknowledge that my “ doggin' Dinkins”
campaign was also a matter of principle- -!
will do whatever is necessary to make him
accountable to the African-American
community (and 1 won’t back off just be­
cause he is a “ brother” ).
The ADL’s attack on NAP, and the
stepped-up campaign by New York's po
litical and legal establishment to harass
Reverend Sharpton, comes at a time when
the new coalition that we are building to­
gether is just coming into existence. It is a
dangerous moment for David Dinkins, the
anti-democratic, corrupt Democratic Party
thatrunsthecity.and the financial Mr. Bigs
to whom the professional politicians owe
their souls. This coalition represents the
coming together of those whom the powers
that be all over the world will stop at
nothing to keep apart- people of color and
progressives.
From the ADL’s vantage point, the
problem and the danger is not that the New
Alliance Party is ‘ ‘deceptive,’' but that this
Black-led, multi-racial, people-instead-of-
profits independent parly is attractive to
progressive Jews like Fred Newman.
Say You Saw It In The
.
Portland Observer!
MR - * ’ ' U
N ew A lliance P arty
Dr. Fulani’s Lawsuit to
Democratize Presidential Debates
Dismissed by Federal Judge
Federal District Judge George Rever-
comb has dismissed a lawsuit brought by
Dr. Lenora Fulani to compel the Internal
Revenue Service to revoke the tax exempt
status of the Commission on Presidential
Debates on the grounds that the CPD's
exclusion of her from the 1988 debates it
sponsored constituted partisan political
activity expressly prohibited by the Inter­
nal Revenue Code. Dr. Fulani, now the
chairperson o f the independent New Alli­
ance Party, made history in 1988 when she
became the first woman and the first Afri­
can-American Presidential candidate ever
to be on the ballot in all 50 states. She was
also the first Black woman ever to receive
federal primary matching funds.
Dr. Fulani argued that her exclusion
from the debates by the bi-partisan Com­
mission—jointly created in 1987 by the
republican and democratic national com­
mittees for the explicit purpose of taking
over control of the Presidential debates
from the non-partisan League of Women
Voters, which had sponsored them since
1976-undermined her legitimacy as a
candidate, cost her media exposure, voter
recognition and support, and impaired her
ability to compete with the major party
candidates.
Fulani's attorney Arthur Block described
as “ fantasy” Judge Revercomb's assertion
that the CPD and the IRS could not be held
responsible for injuring Dr. Fulani’s his­
toric Presidential campaign because it is
“ possible” that the CPD could hold a
Presidential debate and the news media
would notcover it. “ For more than 30 years
aspiring debate sponsors have insisted that
they would not hold Presidential debates
unless they had guaranteed broadcast cov­
erage,” Mr. Block pointed out. “ That’s
why Congress passed a special resolution
in 1960 to waive equal time rules for the
Kennedy-Nixon debates and why the Fed-
eral communications Commission was
successfully pressured in 1975 to create a
permanent equal time exemption for Presi­
dential debates.”
Added Dr. Fred Newman, who served
as the manager of Dr. Fulani's Presidential
run, “ This decision allows the govern­
ment, hiding behind some claim of freedom
of the press, to abandon its responsibility to
ensure fair elections in America, while it’s
critical to have a free press in a democratic
society, it’s ludicrous to substitute a free
press for a democratic society.
Said Dr. Fulani, who conducted her
historic 1988 campaign as a crusade for fair
elections and democracy, “ it is particu­
larly ironic that while demonstrations by
masses of people around the world are
forcing the abandonment of government-
sanctioned monopolies on political power,
judge Revercomb’s decision perpetuates
the democratic and republican stranglehold
on our electoral process and prevents the
masses of the American people from hear­
ing any new voices calling for fair elections
and more democracy.” The African Ameri­
can independent is planning to run for
governor of New Y ork this year on the New
Alliance Party line.
Attorney Gary Sinawski, the independ­
ent party’s general counsel and one of the
country's foremost experts in electoral law,
condemned the “ absurd logic" that he said
Judge Revercomb had substituted for
"common sense” in ruling that the exclu­
sion of a national candidate for President of
the United States from the national candi­
date for President of the I'ni ted States from
the nationally televised debates by an or­
ganization formed and controlled by the
two major parties is not partisan. “ To say
that she was not sufficiently impacted on by
that exclusion to have ‘standing’ the right
to sue is not justice but gobbledygook,”
Mr. Sinawski charged.
Showing Effectiveness W illi Af-Risk Youth
The Minority Youth Concerns A c­
tions Program (MYCAP) has been op­
erational for almost two years now.
The program concept was started at
M aclaren School for Boys by Lonnie
Jackson and Roger W ilder. Due to its
success at M aclaren, the program has
received statewide acclaim and even
some national attention. But realizing
the need for a continuum o f care be­
yond M aclaren, Mr. Jackson set out to
develop a similar program in the Port­
land community. After m eeting with
various community groups and youth
providers, a small but determined core
group emerged. A ndon April 14,1988
M YCAP, Inc. was founded in the Port­
land community.
Among the founding members of
M YCAP are: the program ’s current
executive director: Samuel Pierce. The
MYCAP Board of Directors inlcudes:
Representative Mike Burton, Com m is­
sioner Gretchen Kafoury, Commissioner
Eam estine Berkey, Com m issioner
I
Lurlenc Shamsud-din, Dr. Floyd Jackson,
Dr. O. Virginia Phillips, Reverend
Bernard Ings, Reverend Phillip Nelson,
Jorge Espinosa, Carmen Jeffery, Jean­
nette Pai, Emmett W hcatfall, Greg
Gudger, Linda Kelly, Kathy Martin,
and Chris Pierce; Membcrs-at-large:
Jerome Kersey and Senator Jim Hill;
and Special Advisor: Lonnie Jackson.
MYCAP is a transitional program
designed to help gang-related at-risk
youth develop positive alternatives to
their negative lifestyles. Over the last
twelve months M YCAP has been hold­
ing intervention group meetings for youth
who have been paroled from the state
training schools. These youth are also
provided assistance in finding em ploy­
ment and educational opportunities. The
primary objectives of the program arc
to stabilize youth, prevent recidivism,
develop self-esteem and cultural aware­
ness, and leach independent living skills.
Each youth will be matched with a
mentor proving him with an immediate
role model.
Last year M Y C AP had a success rate
of 81.75% (no new crimes, no returns to
Maclaren, participation in MYCAP inter­
vention groups, etc) and a retention rate
o f 100% youth still involved in the
program after one year. These statistics
are noteworthy because youth partici­
pation is voluntary.
MYCAP target young men between
the ages 15-19 years. Because, accord­
ing to Sam Pierce, “ these youth are die
most at-risk to becoming the next gen­
eration of black males who populate the
state penal system. And if the cycle of
recidivism is going to be broken, then
this is the age group tltat has to break it!
Yes, they require the most energy, but
they also are the ones who can give the
most back; because these fellows are
the ones the younger kids look up to.
The focus of the organization is lon­
gevity. Participants have the option of
spending up to two years in the M YCAP
s program
a success pi„____ ______ t
nature; therefore by year two the youl
is prepared to live independently and b
a productive member of society. Sai
Pierce, “ for those youth who have bee
in our program for an entire year, nt
only is the retention rate a hundre
percent, but the success rate is a hundre
percent as well. I hat suggests to us, th
longer the youth remains in our pre
gram, the mote likely he will be able I
make a complete turnaround in his lift
On Saturday, April 7, M YCAP wi
hold a work session at its Northeast sit
(4732 NE Garl ieltl). I he work scssio
is part of a national event sponsored b
fraternities across the country. Pori
land State University and the Univei
sily of Portland are sponsoring th
MYCAP event About 40 to 50 volur
leers will be on hand: ini hiding youth
involved in the program, ( ounty Coir
missioner Gretchen K aloury,and otht
city and stale officials The work sc;
sionbeginsat 10 UOamand will lastur