Volum eXXX XI
‘City of Roses’
Number 35
Neighborhood
Activist Fired
Marching for
Peace
Northeast Coalition votes
out its executive director
Annual tribute to
victims o f violence
See Local News, page 3
See Local News, page 3
lUj 1 Jl
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www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • September 12, 2012
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
photo by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
The Oregon Department of Education is making disciplinary data from schools more accessible to the public. One key goal is to ensure education reform efforts ad­
dress the disproportionately high numbers of suspensions and expulsions of minority youth. Pictured is Grant High School in northeast Portland.
Advocates hope for
better outcomes
M indy C ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
by
As school year begins for youth throughout the city,
civil rights and education advocates are hopeful for an
increase in equity for students of color.
One key goal is to ensure education reform efforts
address the disproportionately high numbers of suspen­
sions and expulsions of minority youth in Oregon school
districts, which educators say is an influential factor in
dropout rates.
“The evidence clearly demonstrates students of color
are more often suspended or expelled than their white
peers,” said Dana Hepper, who worked for Stand for
Children Oregon as advocacy director for the past five-
years.
Unequal
School
Justice
National data, she said, shows similar trends. “We
know we have been inspired into action by what we have
seen in the data,” said Hepper. “We are not treating all
kids equitably and that needs to change.”
According to Hepper, awareness of the issue is the
first step to equity within education. “Our biggest con­
cern is when we send kids out of school for suspension
or expulsions, they miss valuable learning time, they are
less engaged with school and they are more likely to drop
out of high school,” she said.
In June, the Oregon Department of Education launched
a new website aimed to make disciplinary data from public
educational institutions more accessible to the public
and made possible through the dedication of five advo­
cacy organizations unique within the state.
The organization Stand for Children Oregon, along
with the Urban League of Portland, Salem-Keizer Coali­
tion for Equality, American Civil Liberties Union of Or­
egon and the Tribal Government to Government Cluster,
applauded the state’s efforts, in hopes the new database
will reduce the disproportionate disciplines of students
of color.
Working together with the Oregon Department of
continued
on page 5