M a r t in L u t h e r K ing J r .
lanuary 14. 2009
Page Bll
2009 s p e c ia l e d itio n
MIMMM
/ believe that
unarmed truth
and
unconditional
love will have
the final word
in reality. This is why right,
temporarily defeated, is stronger
than evil triumphant.
Martin Luther King Jr.
School board volunteers tackle issues
continued
from H5
horizon. She explained that
w ith the renovations, the
schools will use up all its ex
cess space making school clo
sures unfeasible.
"We don't see that we have
excess capacity at this point,"
she noted. "The pressure to
close schools is really off."
Sargent said grim financial
forecasts are the biggest issue
facing the school district.
She noted that revenue is
expected to go down, and the
district is hoping it won't have
to lay people off as the reces
sion roars on.
S arg en t has p a rtic u la r
hopes that the local school
system will also get a bump in
its funding for special educa
tion, which she says is horren
dously underfunded.
"That would be a huge help
to PPS," she said.
With so many hefty items
on the national agenda, Sargent
isn't expecting any reforms to
come close to the controver
sial NoChild Left Behind Act,
which mandated standardized
testing in schools and pun
ished those that failed to meet
certain benchmarks by losing
funding and allowing parents
to transfer their kids to other
biggest issues facing school
districts across the country.
"It has really focused school
districts all around the country
on kids that have been left
behind," she said.
She also said that reducing
the dropout rate, which is nine
percent for Portland, is a pri
ority for the school district.
I think we're doing a
whole lot o f things right.
- Trudy Sargent, Portland School Board member
schools.
Sargent isn't a fan of the
punitive aspects of the law
and its rigidity. However, she
said that it has made schools
focus on where students are
failing and has highlighted the
achievement gap for students,
which she said is one of the
Although Portland Public
Schools has some weighty
challenges ahead. Sargent said
the outlook isn't entirely bleak.
"I th'nk we're doing a whole
lot of things right," she said,
pointing to good schools and
teachers in Portland. She also
said student achievement is up.
Portland State University, a public urban
university known for civic engagement, seeks
applications for a wide variety of positions. We
cultivate a community that values individual
differences, and we are strongly committed to
diversity and equality in education and employ
ment. We promote success for all students and
recognize staff and faculty diversity as one of
our greatest assets.
To read about current openings, please visit:
http://www.hrc.pdx.edu/
Portland State University is an Affirmative Ac
tion, Equal Opportunity institute and. in keeping
with the President’s diversity initiative, wel
comes applications from diverse candidates and
candidates who support diversity.
djp>
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u n iv e r s it y
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