KEB. J, 1999
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Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
Wl]e 'Jjlortlanb (Observer
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Attention ReadersI
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v e- $
Black History Month Is Here (Again)
p 6 r- $ p e c
take criticism well! G et your pow erful pen* out N O W and address your letters
to- E d ito r. Reader Response^ P.O . Box 3137. Portland. O R 97208.
This article was requested f o r
reprint, from the Black H istory
issue of, the Portland O bserver
on February 18, 1998
^ o rtla n h (©bseruer
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The following critical analysis o f
the teaching o f history in our schools
may extend the param eters o f our
own running com mentary here, “His-
tory on Trial: Culture W ars and the
Teaching o f the Past” Nash, C rabtree
and Dunn, A lfred A. K noff, N.Y.
1997.
Principally, my approach, or per
spective, has been to retrieve those
experiences/lessons that retain their
value over tim e and circumstance.
A nd there is no question but what
black people have many hundreds o f
such w ell-documented models avail
able to them, whether the Am erican
experience or on a w orld stage.
Builders, artists, poets, inventors,
educators, entrepreneurs.
G iven these facts about such an
extensive and authentic data base o f
relevance, then the rem aining ques
tions or issues m ust be about ease o f
access (to the many) and/or their
motivation and dedication to the task.
W here as I have been addressing the
latter param eter (for years), “His-
Portland and Vancouver.
SU BSC R IBE TO W
^ o rtla n ii (©bseruer
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T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver
f
c
0
ber o f troubling findings such as
“the Company has suffered recur
ring losses from operations and has
a
n et
a sse t
d e fic ie n c y
($102,947.00), which raises sub
stantial doubt about its ability to
continue as a going concern.”
W ithout even looking at this au
dit these districts pledged over $ 1
million to this nonprofit which has
owed the IRS over $50,000.00 in
longstanding delinquent payroll
taxes, $6,000+ to the Oregon Dept.
o f Revenue for unpaid unemploy
ment taxes, and started the school
year operating on a deficit that ex
ceeded $100,000.00. W hat is up
setting about this is that for a num
ber o f years this nonprofit has been
paying monthly penalties and fees
on its delinquent taxes, and guess
where the m oney to pay this has
come from. T hat’s right - Oregon
taxpayers.
Thisblind-leap-of-faithby school
districts in handing over millions o f
dollars to organizations that don’t
know how to conduct themselves
with sound management practices is
startling. W hat concerns me is the
nonprofit alluded to is waiting with
baited breath to transform itself into
a charter school so that there will be
even less scrutiny on how it admin
isters itself.
I don’t speak from ignorance as I
come from Arizona and was involved
at the ground level in the charter
M
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,111 I t ' \ i l \ Cl 1 H C
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W ash in g to n . D.C. - Recently,
D em ocratic N atio n al C om m ittee
(DNC) General Chair Governor Roy
Romer and General Co-Chair designate
M ayor Dennis Archer decried this
weeks Supreme Court decision to re
ject sampling in the 2000 Census.
Démocrates support the recommenda
tion by experts from the National Acad
emy o f Sciences that using scientific
statistical methods will result in pro
ducing a census that is more accurate
and less costly than the one in 1990.
Although the Supreme Court may
have rejected the use of sampling in
apportioning congressional seats, it did
leave open the possibility that it could
still be used in drawing election districts
and for distributing federal aid.
“Scientific sampling is the best way
to ensure that all Americans are counted.
school movement there. As a con
sultant I facilitated the chartering
o f four schools, one o f which
served at-risk youth such as the
nonprofit noted herein. The direc
tor had to close his doors because
o f his inability to manage a busi
ness, which a school ultimately is.
The excitement that fueled charter
schools in Arizona has waned and
the results are quite mixed. Some
have been closed for falsifying at
tendance, as it is the head count
that gets the funds to keep people
employed. Sometimes a private or
charter school can become more
interested in maintaining employ
ment for those who operate it than
in providing quality instruction to
their students.
Before Oregon foolishly rushes
forward to create what could be a
bigger problem than what it already
has with some o f its alternative
schools, I suggest that a prudent
and cautionary approach to charter
schools be taken. And be sure to
make sure that whomever operates
them has a clean financial history,
operating capital, and a com pre
hensive understanding o f school
finances and business practices.
James Houston, Ed.D.
Former Director o f the Consor
tium o f Arizona Private & Inde
pendent Schools and current Co-
Director o f CRIE - Consum er
Rights In Education
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especially those that are most often
ignored,” said DNC General Chair Gov
ernor Roy Romer. “The Republican
Party has clearly led the fight against
scientific sampling. The question is,
why don’t they want all Americans
counted?”
Millions o f Americans - especially
minorities, children, the poor and rural
residents - were undercounted in the
1990 census including 12.2% o f All
American Indians, 5% o f all Hispanics,
4.4% o f all African-Americans, and
2.3% o f all Asian Americans. About
half the Americans who were never
counted children.
The census has a real impact on the
lives o f real people. State and local
government to plan schools and high
ways use census information, lh e fed
eral government uses the information to
distribute funds for health care and other
programs. Businesses use census in
formation for long-range economic plan
ning.
“The U.S. Supreme Court’s deci-
that is reaching the school houses
during a ‘recently discovered’ Black
History Month. M ajor firms seem
intent on catching up with the to
bacco and liquor com panies in dol
lars directed to “ Special M arkets”,
e.g. A frican Americans.
Several teachers and a principal
have sent me copies o f materials
received. All o f course high light.
Reverend King, Jackie Robinson,
Dr. Carver, and a few cite Crispus
Attacks.
But th o se I ’ve seen p resen t a
black w hose ex isten ce in the U ni
v erse b eg an w ith sla v ery -th ere is
no E th io p ia, E gypt, B lack Popes
or V irgins, no L eo A frican u s, no
G reat P y ram id , no g reat u n iv e rsi
ties in W est A frica like T im buctu,
no speech by N ap o leo n . Standing
on the sands o f A frica, before the
G reat p y ram id , “ F o rty cen tu ries
o f g re a tn e s s lo o k d o w n u p o n
y ou.”
No sir, there is nothing that would
jeopardize a corporation’s bottom
line, that could provoke objection
by either a racist or a fearful cur
riculum specialist. ‘Blacks are just
here th at’s all-and w e’re stack with
them ’.
sion left open the possibility for use
o f sampling that can make a differ
ence in state senate and house races
and, more importantly, in dispersing
federal funds that help educate our
children and im prove our senior
citizen’s quality o f life,” said DNC
General Co-Chair-Designate Mayor
Dennis Archer, “I hope the Republi
can leadership will put politics aside
and support samping so that every
American is counted and receives vi
tal funds for their community.”
'You made it easier fo r a M om to stay
with her sick child 24 hours a d a y
because o f a kitchen on the floor a n d a
nearby laundry room. Thank you for
a job well
done.'
Mother of child
in Legacy
Emanuel
Children’s
Hospital
Sometimes the most powerful medicine is a mother.
You’re the expert. No one knows your child better than you. That’s why we’ve
designed our Children's Hospital to accommodate the needs of mothers and fathers.
For instance, parents can retreat to a 'Q uiet Room’ for a much needed rest Little things
like that matter. Studies have actually proven that with family involvement, children
recover more quickly from illness. But we didn’t need a study to tell us that. We see it
every day. tS * For physician referral: 335-3500.
Legacy Emanuel
Children's Hospital
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b lip :
equitable, ju st and unified,” he fur
nished a list “W hat Every American
Should K now ”
I point out, o f course, that what
Dr. Hirsch is about is not only a
further frigid exclusion from our
history texts o f the m ajor contribu
tions to the w orld’s culture and tech
nology by people o f color, but a
tactic to im plem ent for all tim e an
e d u c a tio n
system guar
anteed to pro
d u ce an ac
cepted ‘N or
dic response’
fro m e v e ry
student.
H itle r’s
propagandist. Dr. Herman Geobbels,
asked no more. N or did the famed
‘lib e ral’ p h ilo so p h er L ocke who
designed the C onstitution o f the
C arolinas to perpetuate slavery for
ever.
These guaranteed, one-hundred
percent, ‘A nglo’ lists are not the
exclusive dom ain o f the education
establishm ent. Every, teacher and
parent (who cares) should be aware
o f the avalanche o f corporation-de
signed “Ethnic Support M aterial”
DNC Chairs Decry Supreme Court’s Decision
to Reject Census Sampling
Letter To The Editor:
On January 25, 1999 the O r
egon Senate Committee on Educa
tion is expected to pass a charter
school bill which will be forwarded
to the House. I hope they slow
down their rush to embrace this
latest fad in education as this state
is a long way from making prior
efforts at alternative education to
serve families properly. I speak for
the 1979Alternative Education Act,
which although amended over the
years to address its shortcomings,
still has a long way to go before
being an effective approach to pro
viding alternative methods and en
virons in delivering efficacious
pedagogy and services to K -12 stu
dents.
As the recent Director o f O p
erations for a NE Portland non
profit organization that has con
tracts to provide alternative educa
tion services to African-American
and other m inority students with
eight local school districts (Port
land Public Schools; W oodburn;
Parkrose; David Douglas; Centen
nial; Estacada; Corbett; Hillsboro)
I find it appalling and a complete
abdication o f their responsibility
to honor the public trust they are
vested with that these districts en
tered into contracts with an organi
zation that had, and still has, very
serious financial and program
matic mism anagem ent problems.
Their 1997 audit contains a num-
tory O n Trial” represents a very re
cent generation o f educators and
historians who have gam ed or as
sum ed enough pow er to challenge a
firmly entrenched establishm ent. It
is only that,’ at present, a “chal
lenge”, but the energy, com m itm ent
(and courage) o f the 'Y oung Turks"
m ay yet allow them to successfully
engage those who believe the w orld’s
history is “ inherently
an d etern ally W e st
ern.” The latter view
point we find enthusi
astically adopted by
E.D. Hirsch, author o f
the 1987 best-seller,
“ C u ltu ra l L ite ra c y :
W hat Every American
Needs To K now”, Vintage Books.
Several readers say they rem em
ber a quarter-page special I presented
in the A ugust 8, 1990 Portland O b
server, “W here’s The Beef: is it to
be Cultural Literacy or European
Literacy?” My im passioned polemic
headlined my less-than-enthusias-
tic review o f the English profes
sors’ argument for “a com m on store
o f basic know ledge that w ould per
m it all citizens to talk the same
language...society would be more
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