50(í
Black Actors Make
Oscar History
Local Player Remembered
Eddie Barnett loved
the game o f basketball
Foxx wins for Ray’; Freeman
for 'Million Dollar Baby
See story, page A7
See story, Page A3
‘City of Roses’
Volume XXXV, Number 8
Established In 1970
w ww.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • March 2. 2005
School Closures, Mergers Opposed
Parents and community
are feeling excluded
Iraq Suicide Blast Kills 120
A suicide car bomber blasted a
crowd of police and Iraqi na­
tional guard recruits Monday as
they gathered for physicals out­
side a medical clinic south of
Baghdad, killing at least 120
people - the single deadliest at­
tack in the two-year insurgency.
See story on A2.
M ichael L eighton
T he P ortland O bserver
by
Local residents and leaders in
P o rtla n d ’s A fric a n -A m e ric a n
com m unity are feeling left out of
a plan to close six local schools
and expand Jefferson High School
to accom m odate seventh and
eighth grades.
Portland Public Schools Su­
perintendent V icki Phillips made
the proposal tw o w eeks ago in an
effort to low er costs and im prove
student achievem ent. O pponents
are m ystified that m ost o f the
changes are directed at schools
in north and northeast Portland.
“ People understand change is
needed and dealing with the fi­
nancial crisis is extrem ely im por­
tant.” said Urban League of P ort­
land executive V anessa Gaston.
“But we want Portland Public
Schools to com m unicate clearly,
transparently and openly.”
Gaston and a group o f local
parents, teachers and com m unity
leaders spoke out on the issue
Saturday at the B lazer Boys and
Bin Laden Said Getting Help
Osama bin Laden is enlisting his
top o p erativ e in Iraq, Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi, to plan po­
tential attacks on the United
States, U.S. intelligence indi­
cates. The Homeland Security
Department issued a classified
bulletin to officials over the week­
end about the intelligence, de­
scribed as “credible but not spe­
cific.”
U.S. Military Deaths Rise
As of Monday, at least 1,497
membersof the U.S. military have
died since the beginning of the
Iraq war in March 2003, accord­
ing to an A ssociated Press
count. Since May 1,2003, when
President Bush declared that
major combat operations in Iraq
had ended, 1,359 U.S. military
members have died.
Forum Thursday at Jefferson
Juvenile Death
Penalty Abolished
The Supreme Court ruled Tues­
day that the Constitution for­
bids the execution of killers who
were under 18 when they com ­
mitted their crimes, ending a prac­
tice used in 19 states. See story,
page A2.
No DNA in Jackson Case
Michael Jackson’s lawyer told
jurors in a powerful opening
statement Tuesday that authori­
ties found no DNA evidence in
the entertainer’s bedroom to
su p p o rt c h ild m o le sta tio n
charges and had to change the
dates of the alleged crimes be­
c a u se th e a c c u s e r’s sto ry
changed. “Mr. Jackson flat-out
denies these molestation allega­
tions,” Thomas Mesereau Jr.
told the jury. “They are false.”
U.N. Abortion Declaration
Wanted by United States
Ten years after the w orld's na­
tions pledged to achieve equal­
ity for women, a follow-up meet­
ing has become embroiled in
controversy over a U.S. demand
that its final declaration state
that women are not guaranteed
the right to abortion. The U.N.
Commission on the Status of
Women had hoped the session
would focus on health, educa­
tion and employment to political
participation and human rights.
G irls Club on N ortheast M artin
L uther King Jr. Boulevard.
Red flags w ere raised over the
lack o f com m unity input in the
proposals; student safety c o n ­
cerns in the streets adjacent to
Jefferson; and m ixing younger
students at the high school level.
Portland educator Joyce Harris,
a member of the African American
Alliance, charged that the district
was imposing untested educational
models that may fail minority and
low-income populations.
H arris asked if the m assive
changes slated for schools feed ­
ing into Jefferson w ere so good,
why w eren ’t they proposed d is­
tric tw id e ?
G aston said the com m unity
shares the school d istric t’s goal
o f raising student achievem ent.
“If there’s innovative models for
schools in high poverty areas and
those serving children o f color,
share those models with the com ­
munity,” Gaston said. “But that has
not happened. T h e re ’s been a
breakdown.”
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Portland Police Officer Deanna Lewis on routine patrol in front of Jefferson High School in north
Portland. Some area parents are considered about safety in a plan to add seventh and eighth
grades to the high school.
A c o m m u n ity f o r u m is
sch ed u led T h u rsd ay at 6 :3 0
p.m . at Je ffe rso n H igh S chool
to c o n sid e r p ro p o sals to close
six P o rtlan d p u blic sch o o ls,
including four schools in north
and n o rth e a st P o rtlan d .
S u p e rin te n d e n t
V ic k i
P h illip s ’ plan w ould expand
Jefferson H igh School to serve
g rades seven and eig h t, c lo s­
ing W hitaker M iddle School in
n o r th e a s t
P o r tla n d
and
T u b m a n M id d le S c h o o l in
north P ortland.
A pplegate and K enton E l­
e m e n ta ry S c h o o ls in n o rth
•Portland w ould c lo se , as w ell
as E d w a rd s E le m e n ta ry in
so u th east P o rtlan d and Sm ith
E lem entary in so u th w est P o rt­
land.
O ckley G reen M iddle School
in n o rth P o rtla n d w o u ld be e x ­
pan d ed to serve g rad es k in d e r­
g a rte n to e ig h th as an a rts an d
scien ces m a g n e t sc h o o l. O th e r
e le m e n ta r y s c h o o ls in th e
Jefferson attendance a rea a d d a
sixth grade.
P h illip s ’ basis fo r the p ro ­
posals is declin in g enro llm en t,
b u d g et sh o rtfa lls and the need
to ra ise stu d e n t ach iev em en t.
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ ■MMMM
Advancement Program Helps Hispanic Youth
1,600 s tu d e n ts h av e
g ra d u a te d O L I, w ith
many of them going on to
be mentors.
T he re te n tio n p ro ­
gram helps Latino stu­
dents from elementary to
high sc h o o l th ro u g h
h o m e w o rk
c lu b s,
by K atherine K ovacich
mentoring, tutoring, pa­
T he P ortland
rental involvement pro­
O bserver
grams, student support
For som e H ispanic
groups, arts and culture
teenagers, staying on the
activities, career devel­
right path isn’t always
opment, college admis­
easy.
sion support and work
W hen your parents
readiness training.
are S pan ish -sp eaking
S tu d e n t R e te n tio n
immigrants living in pov­
program staff are housed
erty and your friends are
in seven middle schools.
in gangs or are having
They have an academic
babies, there’s a lot more
caseload of 50 to 60 stu­
to w o rry ab o u t than
dents each.
w hat’s on the test tomor­
“ W e are in the
row at school. The O r­
tre n c h e s ,” M endoza
egon Council for His­
Gray said. “From the time
p a n ic A d v a n c e m e n t
the school opens, to af­
knows this and is help­
ter school, we really get
ing to m ake fu tu re s
to know the administra­
brighter for local Latinos.
tion. We re the cultural
photo by K atherine K ovacich /T hf . P ortland O bserver
According to the O r­
bridge between the fam ­
Spanish-speaking
students
listen
to
their
instructor
during
class
at
the
Oregon
Council
for
Hispanic
Advancement
in
egon Department of Edu­
ily and schools."
northwest
Portland.
cation, the dropout rate
L IS T O S (L a tin o s
for Latinos from 2002 to
Interesados en Superar Todos los
Mendoza
Gray
said.
“We
under­
three
core
student
initiatives:
The
Mendoza
Gray,
executive
director
2003 decreased from 10.4 percent in
Obstaculos) is the only bilingual,
the previous years to 9.1 percent. of the council. “A majority had Oregon Leadership Institute. Stu­ stand the culture of the kids that
bicultural alternative school serv­
w
e’re
serving.”
den
t
R
e
te
n
tio
n
p
ro
g
ra
m
and
dropped
out
because
of
cultural
Still, the dropout rate is double the
ing Latino teenagers and young
OLI
works
todevelop
leadership
LISTOS
Altemati
ve
I
.earning
Cen­
isolation and marginalization they
overall statewide average. Why?
adults
in Multnomah County. The
skills
and
mentoring
for
Latinos
“The barriers are cultural, lin­ felt in the mainstream education ter.
ages
15
to
19
by
pairing
them
up
“The
reason
w
e’re
successful
is
guistic, economic and social. It is system."
continued
on page Aft
The non-profit organization has that we provide cultural services,” with college students. Since 1986,
very d iffic u lt," said S te ffe n i
Cultural
barriers
targeted
i