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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 1992)
Page 2...The Portland Observer...April 15. 1^92 JOURNAL# I CIVIL I I— By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ Dismantle American Apartheid in Education Kalb County school officials conclud ing that the school district should re main under federal supervision until it had achieved and maintained racial equality for at least three years in seven specified aspects of its operation. The Supreme Court now says it disagrees with the U.S. 11th Circuit Court in Georgia, and instead agrees with the De Kalb County school offi cials who want to be released from federal scrutiny and supervision on the issue of school desegregation. Ruling unanimously 8-0, the Supreme Court has given a clear signal to hundreds of school districts that “local control” and resegregation of school systems is be coming more and more tolerable and perm issive. Interestingly, Justice Clarence Thomas, also from Georgia, did not participate in the vote because it was argued before the Supreme Court prior to Thomas’ appointment. We know, though, from reviewing Tho mas’ public position on related matters that the vote would probably have been 9-0 if Thomas had voted on this case. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in the De Kalb decision. Kennedy wrote, “Partial re linquishment of judicial control, where justified by the acts of the case, can be an important and significant step in fulfilling the district court’s duty to return the operations and control of schools to local authorities.” We must not forget why the federal courts were first petitioned to order school desegre gation. The NAACP Legal Defense and Now that the stage is being set inside South Africa for the dismantling of apartheid, it is our concern that re newed attention be given to disman tling systems of racist segregation and discrimination here inside the United States The latestmling by the Supreme Court of the United Slates on school desegregation is another step in the wrong direction. It has been 38 years since the his toric 1954 Brown vs. Board of Educa tion decision in which the Supreme Court voted that separate and unequal u hools were unconstitutional. For years considerable progress was made to ward desegregating the nation’sschools. In most cities this was only accom plished after severe court battles and local struggles against institutionalized racism in the educational system. Dur ing the past 10 years, however, the Supreme Court has taken incremental steps backward away from the firm stance of the Brown decision. Today, school systems across the nation are resegregating based on race. At a time when there should be a stron ger federal demand that all of the chil dren of this nation be given an equal opportunity to receive a quality educa tion in public schools, the highest court in the country acts to dilute the federal role in achieving school desegregation. The latest ruling involves the De Kalb County, Georgia school district, which has been under federal court ordered desegregation since 1969. The United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1989 ruled against the De ing some of its close custody facilities as public child care institutions, CSD could increase by approximately SI.2 million per biennium its federal foster care maintenance funds. CSD esti- mates it could increase by an esti mated $1.5 million per biennium its federal funds for mental health treat ment for youth by establishing a pro gram that enables private residential treatment facilities to bill for Medic aid services. In addition to increasing federal funds, the audit reports that CSD could better ensure the safety of children in foster care and avoid an estimated $3.6 million of general fund expendi tures per biennium in foster care pay ments. This would result in net ongo ing savings of $1.8 million per bien nium. (The other $1.8 million would go for increased adoption assistance payments.) The report recommends that CSD decrease the time children stay in foster care and reduce the state’s potential liability from overcrowded foster homes by improving its man agement controls over the foster care program. The audit also recommends man ^ n riía n h (Ub ser Her BY PROF. MCKINLEY BURT agement “ * ‘ improvements including: specifying which certification require ments must be met before foster care certificates are issued; improving the use of written agreements; and more quickly seeking adoptive or other per manent homes when it is determined that children cannot return to their par ents’ homes. The audit also says that by improv ing the efficiency of its staff, CSD could provide more family-based services, “a cost-effective alternative to substitute care in which caseworkers work directly with children and fam ilies to prevent the removal of children from their homes.” The audit notes that caseworkers pres ently spend only 20 percent of their time in directcontact with children and fami lies, in part because they attend more administrative and judicial reviews than required by federal regulations, and per form reporting tasks that could be done by clerical staff or volunteers. By im proving efficiency in these areas, the audit suggests that caseworkers could devote more time to individual group counseling and therapy, parent training classes, homemaker training, and other family-based services. Publisher Contributing Writers McKinley Burt Bill Barber Sharon Camarda Mattle Ann Callier-Spears Allred Henderson Production Staff Operations Manager Dean Babb Sharon Camarda Gary Ann Garnett Jennifer Johnson Joyce Washington Accounting Manager Gary Ann Garnett Public Relations I I I ^nrtlanù © bseriicr I I I I P ortland O bserver I S ubscribe (USPS 959-680) OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION Established in 1970 T he CAN BE SENT DIRECTLY TO YOUR HOME ONLY $30.00 PER YEAR. Chuck Washington Sales & Promotions P lease Tony Washington fill out , ENCLOSE CHECK OR The PORTLAND OBSERVER is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company, Inc. 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211 503-288-0033 • Fax 288-0015 Deadline for all submitted materials: Articles: Monday, 5:00 pm-Ads: Tuesday, noon POSTMASTER: Send A ddress C hanges to : P ortland O bserver, P.O. Box MONEY ORDER, and M ail I I I I to : S ubscriptions T he P ortland O bserver PO Box 31 3 7 P ortland , O regon 9 72 08 3137, Portland, OR 97708 Second class postage paid at Portland Oregon. The Portland Observer elcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and can not be used in other publications or personal usage, without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 1991 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. Subscriptions:$25.00 per year, The Portland Observer-Oregon’s Oldest African-American Publicatlon-is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded In 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc., New York, NY. ItyP’ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ Name Address city, State zip-code T hank Y ou F or R eading ! T he P ortland O bserver ¡ I seemed to have shocked a few readers with last week’scolum n,“Free At Last,” but no more so than did the article preceding that one, “This Is Where I Came In.” Let me assure those concerned that it is not so much desert ing the ship as it is being about recov ering from an unpleasant experience and finding that one can successfully get back on task). I borrowed today’s title from a recent column by Marion W right Edelman, the African American advo cate for inner city children (President, Children’s Defense Fund). Certainly, the goals of this dedicated educator, as she seeks to untrack the alleged“leam- ing disabled” and “special ed” con signees, exactly parallel our local ef forts to get off of a leaky and ineffec tive ship—but not to desert the passen gers or crew. That is, we will continue to deliver a successful educational prod uct, the innovative methodologies and curriculum we have developed our selves. I promised to return to the discus sion of those ubiquitous BASELINE ESSAYS, the motivation and learning vehicle developed by the Portland School District as the primary bridge over which a foot dragging administra tion might enter the modem world of MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION. For a recent review of this controver sial approach to acquainting both mi nority and other pupils (and teachers) with the true heritage of African Americans, one should see a major article in the Forum section, Sunday Oregonian for March 8: “Fighting Words: Portland Schools National Es says...” This report by Joe Uris is fairly accurate and conveys a good sense of the urgency, dedication and the acri mony on the part of many of those involved. But what I am about here, today, is not so much a rehash of past failures and transgressions but to illus trate why several of us made state ments last week like “Fenced outof the systcm -a plantation with drivers and strawbosses." In my particular case, I contend that my suggested interven tions and modifications of the process would not only have seen this motiva tional curriculum developed as a more factual and less controversial product, but would have made Portland a na tional center for teacher training and curriculum development in this field. Given that I was brought into the process late (circa 1980s) as a local consultant, but the essays had not yet been written by individual NATIONAL CONSULTANTS, my first contracted task was to work with a school admin istrator at an outlying office in the compilation of accomplishments by Africans and African-Americans in the fieldsof science and mathematics. This massive document which lists my name among the contributors was intended as a teacher’s manual and guide (also curriculum people); title: “ Mathemat ics Scope and Sequence and Science Scope and Sequence, K-12.” My first contribution was to the revi sion of data that produced the docu - ment above; few of my citations ap pear and those not in their original form. It is to be further understood that this “Orange Book,” as it is called, was designed to include the achievements of ALL RACIAL GROUPS (as given here): Asian (Asian-American), Afri can (Afro-American), European (Eu y AfcftA * * ft k - ropean-American), Latin-American (Hispanic-American), American Na tive (Indian-American), Pacific Is lander (Pacific Islander-American). Not just blacks. But as Joe Uris says in his Orego nian article of March 8, “$2.36 million dollars later...only the African-Ameri can Baseline Essays Lesson Plans for grades K-5 and other materials have been w ritten-all of the Essay authors have been asked to reexamine their work for content accuracy, style and reference verification.” As I have writ ten here several times in the past few years, the process disregarded all ac ceptable norms for program develop ment, system design and human fac tors correlation. In no business, indus try or public program in which I have worked as administrator or accountant over the years, have I encountered anything similar. I grant the internal dissensions and acrimony on both sides were driven by the emotion and ideologies in race and culture, but that is still not an excuse for educators who arc often found at criticizing others for such responses. This observation includes the roles of the local consultants and here, again, there was not a firm direction, delega tion of tasks or powers, or an organized system of correlation with the princi pal consultants in other cities who were writing those Baseline Essays. Keep in mind that we local consultants were now about writing Lesson Plan Models within our particular fields of expertise. Mr. Uris says the district has plans for only one grade. I am deliver ing my multigrade designs across the nation. They were finished 8 years ago. (Continued next week)... T he B lack -L abor A genda ‘Civil Rights Past and President: A Word to Black Students’ BY NORMAN HILL, President, APRI, A Philip Randolph Institute This column will give a thumbnail historical overview of the civil rights movement and review the challenges we face today, the skills we need and the tasks we face in the 1990s. We at the Randolph Institute di vide the civil rights movement’s his tory into 3 periods: first, the period from 1896 to 1954, encompassing the legal struggle to end Jim Crow; second, the period from 1955 to 1965, encom passing the popular struggle to end Jim Crow in thecivic arena; and finally, the period from 1965 to present, which has encompassed the political struggle to achieve economic justice and to main tain and enforce the legal platform for racial equality. In 1954, the Supreme Court, in the ruling on Brown vs. Board o f Educa tion, effectively killed the concept of “separate but equal.” But the Brown decision in itself did not represent a final victory. Instead, it required politi cal implementation and support. The NAACP, the nation ’ s oldest and largest civil rights organization, played a key role in this period by tirelessly mount ing legal challenges to Jim Crow doc trine. Because im plementing Brown would require broad political support, the civil rights movement had to gener ate such support by dramatizing and publicizing the evils of segregation. This was the beginning of a new era for the civil rights movement. In the period from 1955 to 1965, the civil rights movement’s dominant strategy was “directaction.” Our focus was on build ing a popular protest movement across the nation, and particularly in the South, a movement so influential that change would be inevitable. This strategy and this period suc ceeded for several reasons. Because our struggle was against unjust, brutal, and blatant racism, that attacked all blacks, most of America could unite behind us. The pig-headed brutality and bigotry of people like Bull Conner and Sheriff Jim Clark painfully yet effectively advanced our cause. Civil rights became the dominant domestic political issue. Ending legal segrega tion was possible at little or no eco nomic cost to the government or to society. Finally, this period depended for its success on thecourage, commit ment, and short-term organizational skill of civil rights activists, leaders, and volunteers, especially thousands of committed black students. This pe riod achieved a legal platform for ra cial equality, and laid the groundwork for the broader and more difficult struggle for economic justice. In the period from 1965 to the present, the civil rights movement’s dominant strategy has been, and needs to continue to be, political participa tion and coalition-building for eco nomic justice. In this period, we have seen a tremendous growth in black political power, reflected particularly in an explosive growth in the number and influence of black elected offi cials. We have seen significant voting rights progress, and the substantial elimination of legal segregation. In this period, while discrimina tion still exists and demands our oppo sition, black problems and issues have been overwhelmingly economic, not purely racial. We have shared interests with workers, have-nots and have-littles of all raceson issues such as healthcare, unemployment, affordable housing, quality education, deindustrialization, and the weakening of the American labor movement. Furthermore, a coali tion of broad social forces (including blacks, trade unions, and liberals) has better chances of success than any “go- it-alone strategy” that is sure to be hampered by blacks making up only some 12% of the population. The civil rights and labor leaders A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin founded the Randolph Institute in 1965 to advance the struggle for economic justice by working with black trade unionists and the black community. They believed that, due to our histori cal experience and role in the working class, blacks and black students could be a key part of an overall broader socio-economic reform or revolution. Today’s challenges for black stu dents is to develop the skills necessary to help achieve economic justice. In the past, skills needed by activists in the civil rights movement included courage, commitment, perseverance and short-term organizational skills. Students played a key role in demon strating these skills, particularly in the period from 1955 to 1965 when stu dents were in the vanguard of the move ment. In that period, students substi tuted for the participation of their el ders, who were generally tied down with daily responsibilities. Students were the teacher to the rest of society, showing the world what commitment and faith meant. Students were the front line in the direct action period of the civil rights movement’s struggle. Skills needed today by the civil rights movement include those skills which black trade unionists develop in the labor movement. These skills in clude organizing and organizational know-how, and an understanding of economics, politics, and coalition building. To assist the movement, today’s black students can and must develop additional skills while build ing local organizations, skills such as analytical abilities and communica tions skills. To strengthen lies between labor and the black community, black students must learn to emphasize our common concerns. This demands ex perience working with local Randolph Institute affiliates, with local unions or with the local AFL-CIO, with Get- Out- Thc-Votc campaigns, and with Frontlash, the student arm of the labor movement. For our movement to be successful in the future, we must avoid the politics of symbolism, and empha size the politics of substance, coali tion, and substantial change. In conclusion, the cliche is true: today’s students will be tomorrow’s leaders. Developing the skills and ex perience necessary to serve our move ment ascffective leaders is essential to our future success. • Portland'Observer encourages our readers to write • letters, to the'editor in response to any articles we p u b l i s h . - L r ▼ ▼ ▼ Teaching Children to Get Smart Educational Fund and other civil rights organizations had to sue hundreds of school districts throughout the country to challenge the racist segregation of students in public schools. Now some of these same school districts are attempt ing to use the federal courts to justify the resegregation of schools. Sadly, it ap pears that the present composition of “justices” on the Supreme Court are also prone to be more sympathetic to this regressive and backward tendency. The school systems of our nation should be preparing for the increasing multiracial diversity of the national population. On the contrary, the ugly specter of racial discrimination is re gaining new pseudo justification not only in some local school districts but also in the Supreme Court. All of these wrong steps pose a renewed challenge to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1990’s. Yes, there has been considerable progress. But there are many indications that certain as pects of the foundation of the progress won are being removed. The opposition to racial progress is methodical and persistent. We must not rest on the memory of past victories. The immoral ity of the recent decisions of the Su preme Court in regard to public educa tion must not go unchallenged. All children should have a fair chance at life. To deny educational opportunity to a child based on race is wrong, and should never be tolerated no matter what attempts are made to justify it. American apartheid in education must be dismantled now! Audit Finds Children Services Division Can Realize $4.5 Million More Per Biennium Every dollar we can find to help our neediest children and their families must be treated as a precious resource,” Secretary Keisling said recently. “The performance audit of Children’s Ser vices Division we are releasing does just th at-it suggests how the state can provide better services and realize sev eral million dollars in the process.” The audit report finds that the Children’s Services Division (CSD) can increase federal funds by $2.7 mil lion per biennium and achieve a net savings in foster care payments by $ 1.8 million per biennium. The report sug gests how to improve foster care ser vices and provide more family-based services. “This performance audit is an ex cellent example of how the Audits Division and state agencies can work together to make government more effective and accountable,” said Sec retary Keisling. "Whenever we waste money, or don’t receive resources to which Oregon is entitled, we short change the future and our ability to ensure decent lives and opportunities for the next generation.” The audit says that by reclassify- er SV V?* *■ * !*./
