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nside
S cb o en -N ew sp a P er
Should Blacks attend a Black or white college?
Page 4
Spotlight on Nelson Mandela
Page 2
Mattie Ann Callier-Spears discusses the National Council of
Negro Women
Page 3
More on Earl "The Pearl" Monroe
Page 7
L ib r
U n iv e 7
O regon
E u gen e, U rey
PORTLAN&
Volum e X X , Num ber 26
By Professor McKinley Burt
Ceasescu (surely, the man jests).
Equally intriguing was the belated
request, “ Ask your employer to become
a “ partner” in the “ Star Plan” . En
courage your employer to support de
veloping the next-generation work force
through a range of company-sponsored
activités and by allowing you time to
make contributions...” I thought about
this late-blooming gambit when Mr. Ron
Herndon stopped by my house the same
week. During our conversation, which
included the success
ful fruition of his
‘‘P artn ers”
For
Success: Business
and Education proj
ect, Herndon re
marked that years
ago I had introduced
him to the concept
of harnessing the
clout and resources
of the business sec
tor in the effort to
effect meaningful
change in the edu
cational establish
ment.
A t
this time of the early
1970s, I was mak
PROPHET
ing the transition
from industry to teaching (Portland State
University), and was finding very useful
educational applications for the prag
matic, real-time functions of a highly
disciplined past experience. Several
weeks ago my “ Perspectives” column
described how these elements were inte
grated into my course designs. And
apropos to the discussion above with
Mr. Herndon, I recalled that he was a
member of the Black Education Center
at that time. I had first encountered
these young people when as chief ac
countant for a local corporation I was
asked to pass on their request for a con
tributions to what turned out to be a very
committed effort to achieve quality
education for African American chil
dren by means of an “ Alternative
School.”
However, the group was working
with very meager resources, scattered
high rent facilities and the constraints of
the usual limited financial experience of
recent college graduates. After achiev
ing an amicable relationship-consider
ing the generation g ap -I advanced the
idea that I could design a concept which
industry and the foundations would buy.
I would emphasize two major elements,
“ commitment and CONTINUITY” ; the
latter component really translating into
“ REAL PROPERTY” , an unachievable
goal for most non-profit corporations at
the time.
My 25 years’ experience in industry
and public sector as an accountant or
administrator had already apprised me
that the business/grantor community had
two major concerns: 1. The public
school system was sending them young
people whose low level of basic skills
shocked them sufficiently to get their
rapt attention. 2. They were equally
shocked by the 80 per cent failure rate of
the myriad non-profit organizations
coming to them for funds to “ escalate
the quality of life of the poor", or to
“ intervene in the deterioration of the
education establishment.”
The ‘troops’ were dispatched to find
and photograph a suitable available
building that could house a school,
bookstore and related activités. The
exercise culminated in my design of
short one-and a half page cover letter
addressed to twenty Oregon grantors.
Drawing on my experience the theme
was simple; “ W e’re committed and
we’re competent as herein documented,
but, just as importantly, ten or fifteen
years down the line your board of direc
tors can speak proudly and point to the
physical presence and continuity of their
original contribution.” It all worked
like a charm, not only for this project but
for several of my both Black and white
students after I incorporated the tech
nique into my “ Urban Economics Class” .
The school is still there, o f course, and
functioning; you saw the photograph on
the front page of last week’s Observer.
Now, that, like “ Schools of Excel
lence,” is just one of the many kinds of
meaningful contribtions that can be
brought about in a social/business/edu-
cational climate that PERMITS EXCEL
LENCE! Few o f us are naive enough to
believe that Mr. Prophet single-handedly
runs the educational show in Portland-
or even that he is the 'author’ of this
play. No knowledgeable person will
rise from his seat shouting “ Author!
Author!” I am not about to make him
the whipping boy. To completely define
the parameters of this position in the
particular case one would need to go
back a number of years-to the reign of
the “ friendly redhead” after whom the
orange administration building was
named-and assess the interplay between
the office of superintendent, school board
politics, and the cabals that actually ran
Portland. W e’ll do some of that next
week.
Then, too, we need to take a hard
look at these “ famed” Base Line Es
says, the Curriculum and Lesson Plan
Models, and the ephemeral “ Local
Consultants” ; wasn’t it Shakespeare
who might have been commenting upon
all these things, “ O, what a tangled web
we weave, when first we try to deceive” ?
■’ '>'403
ERVER
25<P
July 11, 1990
"The Eyes and Ears o f The Community"
School Superintendent Matthew Prophet
Says, "Reach For a Star"
c ’re reaching brother, w e’re
reaching! But, does this mean
that our little ones are going to
be taken on a metaphoric journey to the
heavenly sphere-even before the new
OMSI Science Center opens? Is there to
be not even a hint of an ‘earthly’ para
dise here in education land? W e quote
you, * ‘Right now, our children can’t use
any more innovative or curative ideas.”
How fortunate are those pupils, parents
and taxpayers in those American cities
where the principals
in the National As
sociation of Schools
of Excellence have
achieved such high
levels of effective
education; we sup
pose they have never
heard such admoni
tions.
Now, it has
always been said that
“ the best way to stop
a revolution is to take
it over” (if you can).
If you don’t believe
that, just take a look
at what is going on
in communist Roma-
n ia -o r better, still,
MATTHEW
take a look at the
Portland School District’s ‘‘Star Pro
gram” . For the past two weeks the
Observer has provided space for super
intendent Prophet’s description of this
effort: ‘‘Schools, Education or Social
Services” . The title, as is intended,
suggests that the school district has been
put between the proverbial ‘ ‘rock and a
hard place” - b y the competing pres
sures o f governmental constraints, pa
rental and public demands, and ‘‘the
complaints about spending on social
needs.” Since such constraints are a
nationwide phenom enon, we are
prompted to the inquiry, ‘‘Hasn’t any
one made an effort to determine just how
it is that 22 'schools of excellence’ were
able to deal with the problem in such a
successful m anner?”
It is interesting that a careful exami
nation of Mr. Prophet’s essays reveals
an almost point-to-point correspondence
or answers to the precise issues being
raised by the ‘revolutionaries’ in the
struggle for an effective educational
process. This, of course, is right in line
with our earlier comment, ‘ ‘ the best way
to stop a revolution is to take it over.”
Or, at least, to ” blunt* ’ itl I thought the
good superintendent put his position rather
well in this respect, yea, succinctly, “ We
want your heart, your energy, and you.
We don’t need your letters or telephone
calls or more suggestions, criticisms,
blue-ribbon panel reports or legislative
mandates.” Thank you Mr. Nicolae
B° °
U.S. Secretary of Labor Slated to Visit
Jefferson High School
During a visit to Portland on
July 13, U.S. Secretary of Labor
E lizabeth Dole will tour three
classrooms at Jefferson High School,
meeting participants in The Private
Industry Council's Summer Training
Elizabeth Dole
and Education Program (STEP).
Secretary Dole will visit a classroom
where students are learning about legal
rights, a life skills class covering topics
ranging from the consequences of teen
parenting to conflict resolution, and a
computer lab.
STEP efforts throughout
Washington and .Multnomah Counties
are primarily funded by The Private
Industry Council through the U.S.
Department of Labor and the Job
Training Partnership Act. In Portland,
STEP is operated in partnership with
Portland Public Schools and the Leaders
Roundtable—a group o f business,
education and government leaders who
have joined together to combat youth
unemployment.
Members of the
Leaders Roundtable will be on hand to
greet Secretary Dole during a brief
reception at Jefferson High School.
Fifty-six of the 325 Portland youth
being served through STEP this year are
funded by private business.
Dennis Cole, president of The
Private Industry Council, stated, "The
support of Portland Public Schools and
the business community has been vital
to STEP this year. As federal funds have
diminished, businesses are stepping up
to the plate to sponsor our young people,
helping build our future labor force."
Portland's STEP program is a
national model which offers basic skills,
life skills and work experience to low-
income young people who are between
one and four grade levels behind in
reading or math. Following morning
classes, STEP participants spend the
afternoons working in summer jobs, and
are paid for both activities.
The
program's goals are to improve school
retention rates among disadvantaged
youth, to decrease the incidence of tten
parenting, to prepare youth for higher
achievement during the school year, to
provide work skills, and to improve self
esteem. The summer component is
followed by school-year support which
includes one-on-one involvement with
student advocates.
While in Portland, Secretary
Dole will be speaking to the City Club
and making campaign appearances.
Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer
will accompany Secretary Dole on her
visit to STEP. There will be a ten-minut
reception for invited guests at Jefferson
High School at 10:00 a.m., followed by
a tour of STEP classrooms. At 10:45
a.m„ Secretary Dole and Attorney
General Frohnmayer will speak with the
media on the front steps of the school.
Neighborhood Community Policing
Award Narrations
Lieutenant Charles Moose and Sharon McCormack from
NE Coalition of Neighborhoods
Lieutenant Moose’s strategic policing and planning efforts in cooperation with residents and
community groups has fostered a new sense of mutual respect, teamwork and empowerment
between citizens and the law enforcement efforts of the Police Bureau. His work on the
Neighborhood Association Police Officer Program has energized the officer’s and commu
nity’s efforts on new and effective methods to help solve neighborhood problems.
AFRICAN AMERICAN FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION
Presents
Qur
Admission
FREE
Portland Area Co-Sponsors
win a cruise for two
COMPLIMENTS OF
The Sheraton Inn-Portland Airport
1990
&
THE travel company ,
P ortland , or
çOurt Coronation
J llS t J a m e s
F a s h io n s
For more information call:
Wednesday, July 18th, 1990 from 6:30 P.M. - 10:30 A.M.
(503)620-9431
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