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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