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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2013)
Local News Poverty too. Toxic stress slows brain development, perhaps even before birth. “We are learning more about that over time,” Ratcliffe says. “… children don’t have the power to change things, but they can absorb and be impacted by the stress in the family: the up and down changes in income, and ability to pay bills; and to be living more on the edge; and also the impact on kids of changing schools. The stresses can have a ripple effect on their success in the future.” possible, even when they move out of dis- trict. Anti-Poverty Programs Help After analyzing 40 years of data on pover- ty, Ratcliffe found that the only way to lift substantial numbers of people out of pover- ty is to identify and help poor families as early as possible. She points to resources, such as the Women’s Infants and Children (WIC) nutri- tion program; childcare subsidies; transportation assistance; and expanded paid leave policies. They help keep families stable and support working parents, she says. “It really is about early investment in children and families and that if we don’t invest early we have costs later on down the road: we have kids who are not being productive in the labor market; there is incarceration. So I think it is better to put our resources in early to invest in these children rather than to assume the costs later.” ‘It really is about early investment in children and families and that if we don’t invest early we have costs later on down the road’ Moving for negative reasons, such as eco- nomic hardship or family breakup, was also associated with being less likely to graduate from high school, the study found. That echoes findings in the 2009 report by Eco Northwest for the Black Parent Initiative that looked at the reasons for low gradua- tion rates among Portland’s African American students. The report found Black students were far more likely than others to change schools. Ratcliffe says she’d like to see school dis- tricts agree to retain students, whenever Four out of Every 10 Black Babies are Born into Poverty More than 1,000 volunteers helped 44 organizations in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Weekend of Service. These volunteers worked on projects ranging from prepping bikes for a holiday kid’s bike drive in NE Portland to sewing baby blankets in Beaverton. The event, hosted by United Way of the Columbia- Willamette and Hands On Greater Portland, was sponsored by The Boeing Company. Together, the volunteers generated $76,235 in value from 3,500 hours of volunteer service. PHOTO COURTESY UNITED WAY Weekend Service continued from page 1 Nationally the statistics show that 5 in every 100 White children live in poverty for at least half their childhood. But for Black children that figure rises to 40 of every 100 children. What’s more the problem seems to be growing, not shrinking. When Dr. Martin Luther King launched his “War on Poverty”, he talked about the plight of 40 million people. Today official poverty estimates count almost $50 million Americans in poverty. And while it is true that the population has also grown, experts say the official poverty level doesn’t meas- ure real economic need in 2013. “It’s well understood by policy experts that the official definition of poverty is out of date and it undercounts real economic need,” says Juan Carlos Ordóñez, of the Oregon Center for Public Policy. The center issued a fact sheet for Martin Luther King Day, showing that poverty in Oregon is persistent, and disproportionately affects Blacks, Native Americans, Latinos and Pacific Islanders. Poverty among White Oregonians is almost 15 percent, but for Blacks, Native Americans and Latinos it is almost 30 percent. And for Oregon’s Pacif- ic islanders it is 36 percent. Woodlawn parents and sent to the Portland Public Schools management reads exactly like letters sent one year ago by parents at Humboldt Elementary and the Harriet Tub- man Young Women’s Leadership Academy, which was fast-tracked for closure even though it was the only science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) school in the state focusing on girls of color. “Our school community wants more time corporate leaders in the Portland metro area, all of whom literally begged the Portland Public Schools Board not to shutter the school. Political leaders predicted that the district’s abandonment of the all-girl STEM school would impact the economy in the long run. Despite promises of money, mentorships and unprecedented support from the corpo- rate sector, the board voted to shutter the Schools continued from page 1 the district slow down or stop its process and give schools more time to figure out solutions to their low-enrollment. “They produced six scenarios a few months ago, and on Jan. 14 they came up with two further scenarios that involve school closures,” Strong said. “We feel like the process took a long time but the school closures didn’t come up until the final hour.” The district says that officials have been looking at enrollment across the district, something that North and Northeast parents dispute. “Strong schools depend on excellent teachers, great leaders, creative community partnerships and committed parents,” the Portland school district’s proposal says. “They also need enough students to garner enough teachers to offer a well-rounded academic program that prepares students for a successful future. “Portland Public Schools has been work- ing across the school district to balance enrollment to provide stable and sustainable conditions that better support learning.” Nevertheless, a letter drafted last week by to turn things around,” the Woodlawn PTA pleads in its letter. “We have a good momentum going here. The Oregon Depart- ment of Education has designated us a Priority School. We hope to have the time to benefit from that designation.” The level of outrage last year over the quick closure of Tubman drew in local law- makers and city commissioners as well as school anyway, with the lone “no” vote cast by Board Chair Martin Gonzales. Meanwhile, Oregon Schools Czar Rudy Crew is traveling the state talking about how to create more STEM education oppor- tunities. Last week nearly 200 parents and com- munity members came to a parent meeting at Woodlawn to talk about what they can do to keep their school open. Woodlawn parent Rachael Banks cites the Portland schools’ new Equity Policy in call- ing for a more thorough look at how transfer policies are hurting the schools that keep landing on the chopping block. “The district needs to take a comprehen- sive approach to enrollment balancing, especially the transfer policy and the role it plays in under-enrolled schools,” Banks says. “This can’t be a piecemeal approach where you’re shutting down schools one at a time.” Banks says that another issue that comes up is trust – and that the district has acknowledged they have a trust issue with parents in the Jefferson cluster. “They need to have courage to be able to fight the status quo and do something about it —it’s a bigger issue and it needs a bigger solution,” Banks said. “That’s what we really want – an overall district-wide strategic plan to fix, stabilize and make all the schools equitable,” Strong said. “What they’re doing in the Jefferson Cluster is another short term solution.” nity to work on the King Papers Project, a large-scale research venture focused on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., headed by Dr. Clay- borne Carson. Carter says the experience cemented his love for history. During his first year at UW, Carter got involved with the Northwest African Amer- ican Museum. It is the only museum that focuses on the Black experience in the Northwest. Carter was one of the founding members. He start- ed as a volunteer, became an intern, and then an education director. Currently, he’s the deputy director and head curator for the museum, where he’ll be until Mar. 4, his first day with OHS. Carter emphasizes that he wants to con- tinue the good work OHS is doing. Specifically, he wants to continue making history more inclusive by focusing on underrepresented communities and people outside the Portland/Metro area. One of the first things Carter wants to do is get people from around the state together in small groups (around 10 people) and do a community survey. Attendees would be asked about their impressions of OHS, how they use the tool and what improvements can be made. Carter says the goal is to chart a course forward that meets the needs of the state. “With the changing demographics, not just in Oregon but nationally, you’ve got to be cognizant of the fact of that the people coming into your museum may be different now than they were 50-100 years ago,” he says. “For museums to succeed and grow and to be as truthful and honest as they can be, they need to acknowledge that work to fill the truth in. Part of that is to see a reflec- tion of yourself in the museum and to see your stories told.” The Jefferson Cluster Feedback forum is Saturday, Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. at Jefferson High School, 5210 N Kerby. The protest is at noon Carter continued from page 1 Black historical figures and specifically inquire about Black people who made histo- ry in Washington. Once they decided on a figure, the two would find books on him/her and read them together. Carter says he carried this with him throughout his life. He graduated from Stanford University in 2001, where he majored in history with a focus on enslavement in the U.S. south. Fol- lowing that, he received his Masters in museum studies at University of Washing- ton in 2006. While at Stanford, Carter got the opportu- January 23, 2013 The Portland Skanner Page 3
