M a rtin L u t h e r K ing J r .
January 14, 2009
Page B5
2009 s p e c ia l edition
Helping Kids Regardless of Color
Gonzalez Shares Road to Equality
lie Schools, with varying degrees of success.
J ake T homas
"I have pretty extensive relationships," he
T he P ortland O bserver
M artin Luther King Jr. dream ed o f a world said o f his various experiences.
He explained that perhaps the biggest prob­
where peoples' skin color would act as neither
lem facing minority and
a social detrim ent nor
low-income students is
advantage.
the achievem ent gap.
Martin Gonzalez, a
There is a considerable
school board m em ­
disparity between cer­
b er and lo n g -tim e
tain ethnic groups and
com m unity activist
white and Asian stu­
recently named to the
dents when it com es to
P o rtla n d
S chool
academic achievement.
Board, shares K ing’s
For instance, in Port­
vision of equality, say­
land Publ ic Schools onl y
ing that while we are
about 40 percent of A f­
far from there, the
ric a n -A m e ric a n and
public education sys­
Hispanic students met
tem could be the road
o r exceeded reading
there.
standards in 2007. For
G o n zalez agrees
whites that num ber was
with the sentiment ex-
over 60 percent.
pressed by King that
Gonzalez said that one
a quality education
way to address the is­
can help children ob­
sue would be to set con­
tain true equality, and
crete and specific goals
w ithout it they are Long-time community activist Martin
and m ilestones for un­
relegated to "second Gonzalez reflects on Martin Luther
derachieving students
class citizenship."
King Jr. as he sets an agenda for
and ensure that they are
"To me, that's a Portland Public Schools.
followed through on. For
sa id
c h a lle n g e ,"
instance, setting
Gonzalez of
a
goal that ev­
the problem.
ery student can
G o n z a le z
re ad by th ird
is cu rren tly
grade and then
TriM et's lim ­
following up on
ited English
it w ould help
p ro fic ie n c y
c lo s e
the
outreach co­ - Martin Gonzalez, Portland School Board member
a c h ie v e m e n t
o rd in a to r,
where he helps people with limited English gap.
"For me, it's on delivering on the promise of
abilities use TriM et's services. Before taking
this jo b he held a litany of positions working in a decent and quality education for children,"
the non-profit sector and as a com m unity said Gonzalez.
He added that kindergarten could be an
organizer.
M ost notably he served as executive direc­ important battle ground for combating the
tor o f the Portland Schools Alliance where he affects ofinequality in children’s' backgrounds.
pushed for more im mersion language instruc­ He explained that some children come from
tion in low-incom e schools. He proudly states
continued
on page HI2
that all of his children attended Portland Pub-
by
For me, it's on delivering
on the promise o f a decent
and quality education.
Trudy Sargent is a member of the Portland School Board.
School board volunteers tackle issues
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
Trudy Sargent says the best
way schools can carry on the
work of Martin Luther King
Jr. is by helping students have
the best opportunities regard­
less of the color of their skin
or background.
"It's in the work we do
everyday," she said.
A mem ber of the all-vol­
u n te e r P o rtla n d S ch o o l
Board, Sargent worked as a
lawyer in San Francisco for
five years before transitioning
to real estate in Portland.
R ep resen tin g so u th east
Portland in Zone 6, she ex­
pects change at the national
level and is hoping some o f it
will trick le dow n to local
schools as part o f the eco­
nomic stimulus package that is
likely to emerge from the new
Congress.
" Portland has been working
hard preparing for facilities
work," she said, pointing out
that many o f our schools are
decades old and need renova­
tions. Sargent said that school
facilities need about $ 1 billion
worth o f im provements, and
getting them done will likely be
an ongoing project.
She added that she's hoping
that local voters will approve a
bond levy to help.
Portland Public Schoolshas
been carefully analyzing its
facilities and has been focus­
ing on "figuring out what we
need to do with them to really
bring our schools into the 21 st
century for students," she said.
She added that the school
district isn't just looking at this
from purely a facilities point of
view but as a systemic issue
with the high schools.
S arg en t said she w ants
schools to be in the best loca­
tions so that they can best
serve the community and make
sure that kids can have access
to the programs they need.
This will help address the drop­
out rate PPS faces, she said.
However, Sargent doesn't
see any school closures on the
continued
on page HU
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