Page A3
May 01, 2002
Smith Pleads for YO Center
Northeast job center at center of presidential visit
called critical to helping disadvantaged
A fight to keep government funding for the
Youth Opportunity Center on Martin Luther
King Jr. Blvd. has entered a new round.
Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. has sent letters
to the chairman and ranking member of the
Senate Appropriations Com m ittee’s Labor,
Health and Human Services and Education
Subcommittee, asking that they retain fund
ing for the job-training program in next year’s
budget.
The YO Center was the backdrop o f a visit
to promote the economy by both Smith and
President George W. Bush in January, but
support for the center turned sour when the
Bush administration cut its funding as part of
proposed cuts to all Youth Opportunity cen
ters across the country.
“The Youth Opportunity Center in Port
land is critical to helping disadvantaged youth
realize their dreams,” said Smith. “Congress
should make clear its commitment to young
people by assuring that funds for the Youth
Opportunity Center are included in next year’s
budget.”
The YO center assists youth 14 to 21 years
of age who live in a high-poverty area plagued
by a dropout rate o f 55-65 percent and poverty
rate twice the city average.
The center offers young people a chance to
develop the necessary skills they need to
pursue education and job opportunities. As
part of Worksy stems Inc., the center has de
veloped an effective program that depends on
the full amount o f the grant, originally sched-
continued
Family Is Family
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on page A5
Investing in Early Childhood Literacy
Training, staff and materials to help Boise-Eliot school
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Judi Johansen (from left), chief executive officer for PacificCorp, joins Boise-Eliot co
principals Deborah Berry and Eileen Isham, and Isaac Regenstreif o f the PacifiCorp
Foundation for Learning at a state summit on increasing early childhood literacy.
Boise-Eliot Elementary school in inner north
P o rtlan d has earn ed a gran t from the
PacificCorp Foundation for Learning for train
ing, additional staff time and materials to make
kindergarten students better readers.
The foundation is spending $1 million in
three western states to dramatically impact
early childhood literacy levels at selected
elementary schools.
Administered through the Oregon Depart
ment o f Education, the project delivers spe
cialized reading instruction to kindergartners
to the targeted schools.
Already, the program has shown dramatic
improvements in reading, with 96 percent of
children in the program brought up to appro
priate levels by the time they reach first grade.
The project is part of a continuum of service,
including one-on-one reading assistance
through programs such as Start Making a
Reader Today of which the foundation has a
been a longtime supporter.
“We are extremely excited about this pro
gram. This will mean a lot to all of our students,
especially that it will give us the opportunity
to put resources toward targeted students,”
said Deborah Berry,co-principal at Boise-Eliot
school.
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