January 22, 2003 (Tl|c ^Jortlanh © bseruer Page A7 Making Mentors and Molding Minds PCC students 'Gear Up' for Jefferson kids instead serves the whole student body, said P h illip Christian, assis­ tant director o f Gear Up. The college advisors are trained and given resource materials be­ fore they are matched w ith one-to- 10 students. Jefferson High School students are getting personal guidance from college students through an adult mentoring program. Portland C om m unity College’s (ie a r Up Project is providing one- on-one, adult-to-student mentoring to help Jefferson kids envision “ a future o f possibi I ities. one hour per week and four hours per m onth.” The college volunteers cover sueh topies as building good study habits, searching fo r college schol­ arships, career exploration, college P ilo ro by M a r k VV vshington / T iie P or i land Oust: rv er choice and financial aid. Jefferson High School student Munira Amme (from left) is joined by college tutors Oni Auer and The program is not just for high Phillip Christian, along with classmate Chanesa Jackson in the Portland Community College Gear achieving or at-risk students, but Up project which gives Jefferson kids one-on-one, adult-to-student mentoring help. Keeping All Eyes on the Prize continued from Front tation included. This year. Jefferson has seen its lowest enrollment ever, and two fu ll-tim e teachers were lost as a result o f the transfers. Some say the odds have been h is to r ic a lly stacked ag ainst Jefferson, pointing to a trend o f students transferring out because o f the Desegregation A ct in the 70s, gang problems plaguing north and northeast Portland in the early 90s, and the school’ s reconstitu­ tion o f I 998, when 90 percent o f the s ta ff turned over after they were asked to reapply for their jobs. Dashiell, a Lewisand Clark C ol­ lege graduate, and former Jefferson vice-principal, said that he aims to P iloro bv D avid Pi k i i i ./T iii P o r t i . a m i O bserver Jefferson High School Principal Larry D ashiell p oints to a board th a t shows 971 students In J e ffe rso n 's school boundary who a tte nd other schools in the P ortland School District. get the school o f f the No C hild Left Behind list, and to bring a sense o f stability that the students and ad­ m inistration have been lacking. W hile students are fo llo w in g a stringent new reading curriculum and stru ctu re d aca de m y-style schedules, Dashiell's battle plan is to arm the educators and encour­ age parent, mentor and tutor in ­ volvement. “ W e’ve been doing a great deal o f staff development since August, (including) school-wide math and literacy training,” he said. Jefferson is among a group o f Oregon schools fingered on the federal "fa ilin g schools" list, mean­ ing it failed to meet its state’ s m in i­ mum academic standards for two years in a row. W hile some critics o f Portland Public Schools think the building would better serve the com m unity as a M eM enam in’s brewery, sup­ porters question how abandoning neighborhood schools w ill solve the problem. "You have students who feel that this is their neighborhood school and they want to succeed here," Dashiell said. “ This is the midway story. W e’re holding tight and working our way though. W e'll see where we are at the end o f the year story" White Teachers Flee Black Schools Trend in South called symptom of re-segregation (A P ) — Jason Johnston took a jo b at mostly black M idway Elemen­ tary School in Decatur, Georgia in hopes he eould make a difference w ith the children who needed him most. But Johnston, one o f only a hand­ ful o f white teachers at the school, decided to leave after less than a year, disillusioned by pupils who struggled, parents who weren't in­ volved and the constant pressure to meet state achievement stan­ dards. schools even in the Atlanta city and suburban DcKalb County dis­ tricts that were among the state’ s highest paying. “ It's discouraging," said study co-author Ben S cafidi, an assis­ tant professor o f economics, pub­ lic adm inistration and urban stud­ ies. “ A nd the most depressing part ... is our evidence suggests that even large wage increases w o n ’ t h e lp ." Elise Crisp teaches at DcKalb C ounty's Avondale High School, where the student body is nearly 100 percent black. She has been there for six years and seen other whiteteachers leave for more a fflu ­ ent schools, w ith more w hite stu­ dents. She says some are overwhelmed by the culture shock o f an all-black school; others just want to work closer to home. But John Evans, president o f the N A A C P in DcKalb County, says no one should be surprised to see young white teachers leave for the suburbs after a year o r two. M any teachers, especially young women, are scared o f black neighborhoods and don’ t want to be there after dark, he says. Evans rejects the idea that black schools can't be successful w ith ­ out white teachers. I f they don’t want to be there, then let them go. he says. However, there sim ply aren’t enough black teachers to go around. O nly 20 percent o f (ieorgia teach­ ers are black, but black students make up 40 percent o f the public school population. That means high teacher turn­ over at black schools, which hurts the quality o f instruction, Scafidi says. Schools that have a lot o f teaching positions to fill every year can t be as selective. They also wind up w ith more inexperienced teachers. Schools Transfer Deadline Extended Portland Public Schools have extended a transfer process until March 3 1 forelemcntary and middle school students wishing to trans­ fer to other schools fo r the 2003-04 school year. School officials said every effort w ill be made to give families one o f theirchoices fortransfer, but it may not be possible dtfe to lim ited space in certain programs and schools A lottery w ill be used for families wanting to enroll in schools and programs that have more applicants than space available, replacing the Conner first come, first served w ait­ ing list. The change in p olicy was made because o f the uncertainty o f the income tax measure facing voters on Jan. 28, school o fficia ls said. Depending on the outcome, fami­ lies w ho might not otherwise have requested a transfer may wjint to take advantage o f the process and should be given the same options for school choice, o fficia ls said. New Governor's Budget Cuts Community Colleges A proposed budget by new ly elected G ov. Ted K u lo n g o ski w o uld bring new budget reduc­ tions at M t. Hood and other com ­ m un ity college. The g o v e r n o r ’ s p ro p o s e d budget includes a $48 m illio n I nformation S essions fo r Trillium Charter School A New Portland Public K -12 Charter School 16 at 7.00 p . m . 27 at 7:00 p . m . T hursday J anuary M onday at J anuary 116 N. P age S treet Trillium seeks to create an environm ent of Independent learning w ith in a small school, small multi-age class setting. Learn how our focus of Community, Urban and Global Studies encourages cross-age relationships, social awareness and critical thinking. Alternatives...Choice... Change FOR INFORMATION AND APPLICATIONS CALI (503)285-3833 d o lla r reduction in funding to O regon com m u nity colleges for 2003-2005. “ T his is very disap pointin g news," said Mt. Hood Com m unity College President Robert Silverman. "T h is leaves us no choice but to continue on a path that w ill result in theelim inationofm ore positions and further reductions in classes and programs." Budget red uctio n e ffo rts at M H C C have already included a freeze on h irin g in w h ich over 30 positions have gone u n fille d , the e lim in atio n o f several a d m in is­ trative positions, a salary reduc­ tio n taken by adm inistrators, su­ pervisors and c o n fid e n tia l per­ sonnel, a reduction in class o ffe r­ ings and increases in tu itio n . OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WW W.TRILUUMCHARTERSCHOOL.ORG I A F R IC A N A M E R IC A N M E N ’ S C LU B, IN C . ‘2003 Annual valentines ^ a l l Featuring The Kirk Green Hand «5» * ft, S°'S° vèr Friday, F ebruary 14, 2003 9:00 PM - 2:00 AM The Melody Ballroom 6/5 S£ Alder Street region's schools have become in­ creasingly segregated. And a new study suggests that the trend is having a dramatic effect on where teachers choose to teach Three Georgia State University professors found that during the late '90s w hite elementary school teachers in (ieorgia were much more lik e ly to quit at schools w ith higher proportions o f black students. Afterthe 1999-2000school year, 31 percent o f white teachers quit their jobs at schools where the stu­ dent population was more than 70 percent black, and those who changed jobs went to schools that served lower proportions o f black and poor pupils. Johnston is part o f an exodus o f M any (ieorgia teachers say they w h ite teachers le a v in g black felt pressured to leave low -perform­ schools that some see as a trou­ ing schools after the state passed bling symptom o f the re-segrega­ an education reform law that tied tion o f the South. teacher pay to test scores. S till, the As decades-long court busing study found that white teachers orders are loosened or lifted, the were leaving predominantly black Time given to consider fate of tax measure PCC reeei ved a $2.8 m il lion fed­ eral grant from the Department o f I dueation to implement the five - vear program, which runs until 2005. f o r more inforniption. contact the PCC Cascade Campus at 503- 493-0131. Tickets Available fn m Cannon'« Rib E,x press 5410 N t JJrd Ave 503/288-3836 Hair Cre iiions 5425 Nfc 30