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Page A4
May 18, 2005
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Education Becomes
Game
of
Chance
■ —- - -
School closures defer
‘American Dream ’
by S teve
L inder and L ynn S chore
For m ost A m ericans, earning a living
w age, hom e ow nership and a decent retire
m ent are part o f the A m erican Dream. Equal
access to public education for all is a cor
nerstone o f that dream . T oday, equal ac
cess to education is being redefined as
equal access to a "G am e o f C hance.”
The Portland Public School B oard’s
decision to close neighborhood schools is
the latest step in a strategy to m ove chil
dren from sm all neighborhood schools to
larger ‘com m unity’ schools where they
m ust be bused or w here there is sm all
lottery chance at getting into a w ell-funded
m agnet school.
A ccess to this gam e is not equal. Special
groups get priority access. C ertain special
schools pull a disproportionate am ount o f
PPS Foundation m onies, defying logic and
policy.
M agnet schools seem like window dress
ing on a failing school system . M agnet
schools have their place, but neighbor
hood schools m ust be the first priority,
because they best provide the equal ac
cess supported by law.
The school board has chosen to ignore
its own school closure policy. Will it follow
state and federal law? W ill it follow Brown
v. B oard o f Education o f Topeka ?
T his new separate and unequal design
w ill w o rsen se g re g a tio n in P o rtlan d
schools. P o rtlan d ’s new big box and lot
tery education strategy will prepare only
Neighborhood schools must be the first priority, because
they best provide the equal access supported by law.
1
the special few for the great jobs. U nfortu
nately, many excellent jo b s will g o to people
educated outside Portland, because our
local education system is im poverished.
Salem is draining M ultnom ah C ounty
and starving public education in Portland.
The State Legislature is standing by w hile
neighborhood schools are closed, neigh
borhood pride and identity are lost, fam i
lies are pushed out o f Portland, teachers
are laid off, and sound education is sacri
ficed.
The Portland Public School B oard is so
beleaguered it may not even realize the
short-sightedness o f conso lid atio n and
closure decisions. PPS is liquidating our
city ’s historic legacy: the sm all, w ell-situ
ated neighborhood schools.
An intrinsic elem ent o f value in a neigh
borhood is the school w ithin that neigh
borhood. T he neighborhood school re
flects com m unity vitality. W hen a neigh
borhood loses its school, it not only loses
identity and pride: it becom es im pover
ished econom ically com pared to any neigh
borhood w ith a school.
W hat are better strategies? M ake better
financial use o f the valuable Blanchard
A dm inistration Building property. C oordi
nate w ith City B ureaus for m ulti-purpose
use o f public properties. Show the public
som e PPS w arehouse closures ! T o im prove
custom er service and save m oney, co n
solidate the PPS central office and cut
adm inistrative fat. T here is som ething sus
picious about a school district that needs
a C om m unications D epartm ent and a Pub
lic R elations D epartm ent.
Steve L inder a n d Lynn Schore are Sm ith
School p aren ts fr o m southw est Portland.
They are m em bers o f the N eighborhood
Schools A lliance.
More Prisons Are Not the Answer
Increase safety
with sentencing
options
by J udge
G reg M athis
Crim e rates are dow n,
but incarceration rates in
crease. T he n um ber o f
people going in to prison
outpaces the num ber com
ing out. A s a result, our
p r is o n p o p u la tio n in
creased by ju st over 48,000 in one
year - that’s about 900 new inm ates
a week.
Last year, 2.1 million people called
a U.S. prison or jail hom e, a 2.3-
percent increase from the previous
year. These new num bers from the
Bureau o f Justice Statistics repre
sent a record 30-plus year rise in the
num ber o f prisoners in the U.S.
C hanges in sentencing law ex
plain m uch o f the increase. Laws
put into place in the 80s and 90s -
m andatory drug sentencing and
three strike laws am ong them - pre
vent judges from evaluating the
conditions o f the offense
and the background o f
the offender. Strict sen
tences are required, re
gardless o f w hether or
not they fit the specifics
o f the case. A side effect
o f this sentencing struc
ture is an overcrow ded
prison system where over
50-percent o f the inm ates are non
violent and drug offenders.
There is grow ing evidence that
the m oney spent to house lesser
offenders often d o esn ’t offset the
co sts o f the crim es p revented.
A dditionally, m any studies and
experts say large-scale im prison
m ent is not the most effective means
o f achieving public safety. There
appears to be a point at w hich the
harm ful effects o f this trend out
w eigh any reductions in crim e.
W hile incarcerating offenders
may serve to reduce the am ount o f
crim e com m itted in certain neigh
borhoods, those sam e areas are
dam aged as more people are im pris
oned and recycled in and out o f the
system . T his creates a set o f social
challenges that affect the offender,
the offender’s fam ily and the com
munity as a w hole and lasts long
after a sentence has been served.
Pressuring law m akers to rein
state ju d icial discretion is the first
step to easing prison overcrow d
ing. W ith th is p o w er re sto re d
judges can sentence a drug or non
violent offender to prison, order
them to seek substance abuse or
psychiatric counseling.
Policym akers m ust also make
sure inm ates and those recently
released receive the necessary psy
chological, drug prevention and
life-skills counseling. K eeping re
cidivism rates dow n is a critical
co m p o n en t o f m aking sure the
n atio n ’s prison population d o esn ’t
continue to increase.
It is no secret that poor and black
com m unities tend to carry m uch o f
the burden o f the escalating incar
ceration rates. W hen large n um
bers o f individuals from a particular
population are sent to prison, that
co m m u nity ’s ability to overcom e
financial and social obstacles is
severely w eakened. Furtherm ore,
that com m unity’s view s o f w hat is
‘n o rm al’ can begin to shift. Prisons,
m uch like schools or religious insti
tutions, begin to shape the values
o f that com m unity.
W ith a prison population m ade
up o f nearly 60-percent Blacks and
L atinos, society as a w hole, A fri
can-A m ericans in particular, c a n ’t
afford to let this trend continue.
Judge G reg M athis is chairm an
o f the Rainbow P U SH -E xcel Board
a n d a national boa rd m em ber o f
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
Neighborhoods in Danger
N eighbors are one o f my jo y s
and children are one the strongest
glues to hold us together.
If you ever becom e alert for a
child in possible d anger you al
w ays get a sm ile from the parent.
If you ev er volunteer to help a
child in hom ew ork you can get
invited for dinner.
L istening to the children is a
m ust for a strong neighborhood.
W hen children com plain about
w hat is happening at school it is
tim e to spring to alarm. This means
the neighborhood is in danger.
School policy can be as threat
ening as an earthquake. If children
feel disrupted by changes in school
it is tim e to act. If som e children
feel they are being left behind, it is
tim e to get together and act. T he
neighborhood is in danger.
E veryone in the neighborhood
should be concerned about the
children, not ju st parents.
A child w ho sees a constructive
future is not easily derailed into
destructive behavior. A child w ho
sees y o u r concern for their safety
and openness to their creativity is
not going to see your place as a
spot to vent frustration. For the
ch ild ’s good and our ow n well
being, all o f us should be support
ing the children.
W hat a jo y o f the spirit is a
neighborhood w ith happy ch il
dren. T his m eans their m ain jo b o f
learning is going well. T hey are
safe. They the adults are listening
to th em . They can even feel it if you
cast your votes thinking o f them .
T hese are the roots o f a strong
n eighborhood.
Jim Anderson
Northeast Portland
____________ THE_____________
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