May 3, 2017 Page 5 Healing Our Schools c ontinued from f ront Munson is running for the seat representing Zone 4, which in- cludes all of north and parts of northeast Portland. While the can- didates for each seat must reside within their respective zone, the voting is school district-wide. Bringing more equity to stu- dents of color is another import- ant plank of Munson’s platform. Munson said her own experiences within PPS opened her eyes to the disparities present in Portland’s educational system. “There was a lot of separation in terms of the demographics of who was in honors classes and who was in regular classes,” Mun- son said of her time at Grant High School. “Predominantly, the kids who were in the more advanced classes were white.” Bridging that gap has been one of the motivating factors through- out Munson’s candidacy. Munson says that since Portland’s teaching population is not representative of the diversity present in the class- room, it’s important for schools to develop strong partnerships with community organizations. “Our teaching population is not reflective of our students,” Mun- son explained. “Until we can get to a place where we can increase and diversify our teaching popula- tion, we will benefit from having community partnerships. It brings additional role models into the building.” Munson’s campaign is the re- cipient of an abundance of en- dorsements from groups such as the Asian Pacific American Net- work of Oregon, and prominent local officials, including Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and former Oregon State Sen. Avel Gordly from Portland’s African American community. In spite of the prevalent com- munity support, Munson’s cam- paign faces opposition from the Portland Association of Teachers, the union of educators. The union cites Monson’s past work with charter schools as cause for con- cern, and has endorsed her oppo- nent in the race, education advo- cate Rita Moore. Munson says that she is sympa- thetic to the criticism surrounding public charter schools. While she describes charter schools as in- novative, she says that we must temper their development with an evaluation of whether conven- tional public schools are being left behind. “I think we have to be very careful about the way that we open up charter schools,” she explained. “It is important that charter schools still continue to be monitored by the school board… They should still be ac- countable, and they should still be public.” Munson says that she’s hoping to help PPS heal and redevelop af- ter the district’s difficult past year. She wants to develop stronger community partnerships within the school system, and offer more equitable education to Portland’s children. “My vision,” Munson said, “is to have strong community schools that are accountable to excellent outcomes, and that are really grounded in our neighborhoods.” Running for School District Change Parent activist places blame on governance c hriSta m c i ntyre t he p ortland o bServer Portland Public Schools suffer from a chaotic and dysfunctional system of governance according to Rita Moore, a long time volun- teer, parent advocate and school activist who is running for school board from Zone 4, representing north and northeast Portland. Moore takes issues with current and past school board members who have supported her opponent in the election contest, Jamila Sin- gleton Munson, a former teacher and principal and native Port- lander from the African American community. “The board needs to be paying attention and they haven’t been. If you look at who’s endorsed Jami- la, you think she’s going to be the candidate to bring change? She has 4 current school board mem- bers endorsing her. These are the very people who brought PPS into the sorry state it’s in now,” Moore said in an interview with the Port- land Observer. Last year’s lead- in-school- water crisis peeled back a scab on the internal problems plagu- ing the school district and helped force former superintendent Car- ol Smith into retirement. Many problems which Portland Public Schools face are shared across the by nation. Older buildings with crum- bling plaster, cracks in walls and holes in ceilings and restrooms that aren’t working. Newer concerns are homeless children being able to complete grades with the additional stress of unstable shelter and food. Long term concerns in the Afri- can-American community include the lack of teachers and principals of color. Moore says the over disciplin- ing of students of color and cultur- al sensitivity are still challenges which families face. photo by c hriSta m c i ntyre / “We as a district need to do a t he p ortland o bServer much better job of listening to Rita Moore, a school activist, real people about real issues. We single mom and former college professor is running for the c ontinued on p age 15 Portland School Board.