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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 24, 2004)
Page A 4 March 2 4 . 2 0 0 4 O pinion Portland Observer USPS 959-680 Established 1970 Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer f j \ z Hie Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photo graphs 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 cannot 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 © 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRO DUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED 4 7 4 7 NE M a rtin L u th e r King, Jr. B lvd., P o rtla n d , OR 9 7 2 1 1 Eunnii-in-CHit-f. PvtusHtu: Charles H. Washington E ditok : The Portland Observer--Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertis ing Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver P osn usnn: S e n d ad d ress ch an g es to P o rtla n d O bserver P 0 Box Michael Leighton 3 1 3 7 , P o rtlan d , OR 9 7 2 0 8 Mark Washington D istkikution M s n m u k : CniATivt DmenoK: Paul Neufeldt Ornce. MssMitu: P erio d ical P ostage p aid In P ortlan d, OR S u b scriptions a re $ 6 0 .0 0 p e r year 503-288-0033 Kathy Linder • FAX 503-2880015 news@oortlandobserver.com • subscnption@Dortlandobserver.com ads@oortlandobserver.com • classihed.s@oortlandobsorver. com R c r o i r e i : Jaymee R. Cuti Fix and Fund Education Economic Outlook is Not Good ‘No Child Left Behind’ Needs Help O rd in a r y by J udge G reg M athis The “ No Chi Id Left Be hind Law ” continues to be one o f the most con troversial pieces o f leg islation initiated by the B ush A dm inistration. T he law requires in creased student testing an d se v e re c o n s e q u e n c e s fo r sc h o o ls whose students fail to steadily improve. If stu dent test scores don’t improve over sev eral years, the students are allowed to transfer to another school, and teachers and adm inistrators at the failing school can be replaced. At first glance the law appears to be a good thing. Certainly we want to see steady student im provem ent, and we want sub standard schools and faculty to be re trained or w eeded out o f the system. The problem with the law is that the new re quirem ents for testing provide little money to assist school districts in meeting the dem ands o f the federal government. W e know many o f children are failing. W e d on’t need more tests to tell us that. W e need more money and resources for our schools. Parents and educators have consistently stated that smaller classroom sizes, teacher retraining and curriculum and technology enhancem ents are the m ost necessary ingredients for student success. Parents, educators and state officials throughout the country are com plaining that the “N oC hild Left Behind Law” is too cum bersom e and needs to be “fixed and funded." Acknow ledging shortcom ings in the law, the Federal E d u c a tio n d e p a rtm e n t re cen tly an n o u n ced ch a n g es relaxing some o f the stringent requirem ents forteacher quali fications. Clearly the adm inis tration recognized that you co u ld n 't ex pect better-trained teachers unless we better invest in teacher retraining, con tinuing education and more com petitive salaries. H opefully, the recently announced changes are the beginning o f an honest and sincere effort to invest the necessary money and resources to improve student achievem ent. Playing give and take with an education law that gives no additional money to fund its requirem ents is nothing more than sm oke and mirrors. Perhaps the adm inistration should use the same strat egy in rebuilding our education system as it uses in rebuilding Iraq. There, our ad m inistration is not only fixing the laws in Iraq but they are also funding them. Judge Greg Mathis is Chairman o f the Rainbow PUSH-Excel Board and a Na tional Board Member o f the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. A m e ric a n s h a ve reason to w o r r y B ernice P owell J ackson If you only read the new spapers, watch television or listen to Bush ad ministration officials, you would think that the econom y is rosy and all is right with the econom ic world. You would never know that millions o f A m ericans are still out o f work, with some 2 mi II ion o f them out o f work for two years or more. You would never know that m illions of Am ericans have ju st given up on finding work and therefore are not counted in any o f the unem ploym ent figures. You w ould never know that m il lions o f A m ericans w ho lost their jobs and have found new ones are now earn ing low er salaries with few er benefits. But the econom y is on an upturn, they say. Not to worry. But m illions o f ordinary Am ericans do worry. They worry about how they will pay their m ortgage or their rent or w hat will happen if som eone in their family gets sick. For the past 42 months, factories and plants have closed in cit ies across the nation, with many of these jobs moving across the world. These m anufacturing and textile jobs by will never return. Not even Levi jean s are m ade in America anym ore. A dded to that reality is the growing outsourcing o f white collar internet and engineering jo b s in far aw ay places. Even A m erican Express and A m erica On Line are not all Am erican anym ore. Indeed, our nation has experi enced the greatest sustained jo b loss since the G reat Depression over the past three years. Even American Express and America On Line are not all American anymore. - B ern ic e P ow ell Jackson The federal budget that was ju st pro posed by President Bush to the Congress was called a “Pinocchio budget” by the N. Y. Times editorial page a few weeks ago, pointing to the m isleading figures o f that budget, including the hundreds o f million dollars for Iraq and A fghanistan occupa tion and re-building w hich was conve niently left out altogether. W hile Presi dent Bush has show n some indication that he wants to seem concerned about what some cal I the hemorrhagi ng o f Am eri can jobs. For instance, he recently visited a com m unity college and pledged new funds for the retrain in g o f American work ers under his “Jobs for the 21 st C entury” initiative. Yet a few w eeks later, when elated com m unity college officials looked at the budget proposals, they realized that the federal dollars proposed w ould not even cover the state budget cuts they have ju st experienced. Whi le w ealthier A m ericans have expe rienced gains in income due to incom e tax cuts targeted for the wealthy, m iddle and low er income A m ericans have seen no increase in the m inim um w age for several years. Even as the adm inistration has an nounced dozens o f budget cuts in educa tion, housing and environm ental protec tion, the reality is that the non-defense, non-hom eland security costs that they plan to cut account for only one-sixth o f the budget. W e know, in addition, that the total costs for M edicare prescription drug plans and the Social Security pay-outs for baby boom er will hit in the next five years or so. There will be no way for our children and their children to pay back all o f these dollars, even if we have boom tim es for the next 20 years. We m ust require that both Republican and D em ocratic candidates for President and Congress com e clean about the bud get. We deserve the truth and our children deserve a budget w hich is not balanced on their backs. Bernice Powell Jackson is the execu tive minister o f Justice and Witness Min istries fo r the United Church o f Christ. our best 50% OFF Meat Sale! SA FEW A Y FO O D & DRUG A ttention SENIORS Extra Lean Ground Beef Fresh Strawberries 85% Lean. 16-oz. Container. Great for dessert! Valu Pack. SAVE up to $3.49 lb. on 2 Safeway Senior Shuttle Service! SAVE up to $3.99 on 2 BUY ONE GET ONE Introducing a groat new service lor our neighborhood senior citiwns. 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