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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 29, 2013)
g d - . 5 n el lt d ul r g ” t - d - ll it y e - ) a e, at y Opinion In Heritage Month Let’s Honor Women “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor T ED B ANKS Advertising Manager J ERRY F OSTER Account Executive L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor B RUCE P OINSETTE Reporter D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., W e joke — my best Viet Kieu, Korean, and Cam- bod buds and me do — about Asian ladies. About finding one of those submissive, slipper- shuffling nonyas you see in Hollywood movies. About taking home one of those mousy women playing that part at PJ Chang’s, bowing and repeating “hai . . . hai . . . hai” after every little thing I say or do. We joke about it, because you know, I’ve got a kitchen table crowded with women quite unlike that. Unlike them. Take our mom or elder aunties, take our daughter or my wife. Please. There’s not a mouse among them. And there’s a world of rea- sons for this. Reasons for women on both sides of our big blue sea being as alert and adap- tive as sparrows, as stubborn as bamboo. For as long as any grand elder’s memory: Cruel or careless leaders have failed to deliver dignifying work for our boys and men; angry armies from faraway places have warred over our neighborhoods; awful famines and hungry storms have devoured our mothers’ households. While a traditional man’s work ends when I return to our family wounded or worse, when I finish a workday tired or fired, or both — women’s work only accelerates. These are our women’s unscripted stories. No demure make-up, no hot camera lights, no big-screen special effects. It’s the same unadorned narra- tive in Southern Philippines as in A SIAN P ACIFIC H ERITAGE Ronault Catalani North Portland. It’s the same story in West Java as in Portland’s far Eastside. Our women have had to be adaptive and responsible and persistent. Hard history have made them so. And because May is home to both Mother’s Day and Asian Pacific Heritage Month, here’s a chance to talk about that. About them, our women. ster, California before they moved to Portland, Oregon. Meaning also, she stood firm in that matri- archal role back in the Republic of South Viet Nam before their fami- ly fled to the United States. “I remember when I was grow- ing in California and mom had to go to work, second shift, to help support our family. She would pre- pare everything ahead of time for us, so when we kids came home from school and when our father came home from work, all we had to do was heat the dinner she Sitting around Dr. Thuy’s kitchen table, with her mom nodding at her side and her daughter squirming in her lap, the logical core of her question is clear. Saigon to Westminster to Port- land Mdme. Han Tran is in her kitchen when Vera-An Nguyen comes home from Mrs.New- comb’s second grade class at Russell Academy, in far NE Port- land’s Parkrose School District. She’s always there, keeping her household warm and fixing Vera snacks fast. Same thing for older brothers Lucas-Minh and Oscar- Vinh Nguyen, when they come home from school. “She’s always been there for all of us,” says Grandma Han’s eldest daughter and Vera’s mom, Dr. Thuy Chu Tran. Meaning, she was their home’s center pillar in Westmin- already laid out for us.” Taking a blue collar job outside of her household was new for Han Tran. She was raising four kids and pregnant with her fifth when she and husband Diem Tran shoved out to sea at Vung Tau, a small fishing and harbor town a couple hours east of Saigon, a week before the Fall of the Repub- lic to North Viet Nam’s communist army in 1975. With minimal English in a bewildering new country, Mdme. Han went to work to make house- hold ends meet. “Five kids in a 2-bedroom apartment,” she says, smiling at her memories. She did assembly work at an aircraft com- ponant subcontractor for the Boe- ing Company. Her 3:00 pm to midnight shift made home-life more difficult, but frequent over- time demands made it possible to purchase their own home within 10 years of resettling in America. Our women are responsible, and adaptive. According to grand daughter Vera-An: “Grandma is a great cook.” But – according to the bright eight year-old – she’s pretty strict. On the other hand, Grandpa Dien Tran’s standards are a bit more relaxed, and according to both his retired wife and his doctor daughter, like all traditional Asian males, though he’s resourceful in any number of ways, he’s not much good in the kitchen. Our women have had to be persistent. Leadership forged for these times Dr. Thuy Chu Tran is plainly her mother’s daughter, responsible and adaptive. And given her place in the world of NE Portland busi- ness as an optometry practice owner; given her place in her kids’ universe as a Girl Scout troop founder, math and reading class volunteer, and a member of the Parkrose School Board; and given her place in Portland’s vigorous civic life as a president of the Lion’s Club and as a Lt. Colonel in the Oregon Air National Guard – she is every bit as persistent in her commitments. Dr Thuy is a leader. in the adap- tive old-school style of her mom. Read the rest online at www.theskanner.com 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2013 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds Take a Recess from Closing Public Schools C hicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Ben- nett has announced plans to close at least 50 schools as a cost- cutting measure. But before any other urban school system follows suit, it should take an extended recess and reflect on what has happened in the past that makes this such a foolish idea. We can start by looking at what has happened in Chicago. A volun- teer group called CREATE –Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education – has produced a brief- ing paper on past school closings that provides some interesting insight. First, there is the issue of trust. Based on its past performance, there is no reason to trust the Chicago Board of Education’s financial projections. The board approved a budget with a $245 million deficit for the 2010-2011 school year. But instead of a deficit, the board ended up with a $328 million surplus. There was a similar pattern for the 2011-2012 school year. The board budgeted for a $214 million deficit. Instead, it had a surplus of $328 million. In each year, the board missed its target by $500 million. And what about the students who had to enroll in new schools and students who had to receive them? Bad news on both counts. “A 2009 study by the University Page 4 The Portland Skanner May 29, 2013 T HE C URRY R EPORT George E. Curry of Chicago Consortium on Chica- go School Research (CCSR) found that 82 percent of the stu- dents from 18 elementary schools closed in Chicago moved from one underperforming school to another underperforming school, including schools already on pro- bation,” said CREATE. “In a graduating.” The researcher stated, “School closings will also negatively affect the achievements for students in the receiving schools… For one thing, closings often lead to increased class sizes and over- crowding in receiving schools. As a result, the pace of instruction is slower and the test scores for both mobile students and non-mobile students tend to be lower in schools with high student mobility rates.” When the Chicago School Board announced its previous closings, it figured it would sell, lease or repurpose half of the schools. However, a Pew study found that of the buildings closed between Based on its past, there is no reason to trust Chicago Board of Education’s financial projections. follow up 2012 report, the CCSR determined that 94 percent of stu- dents from closed Chicago schools did not go to ‘academically strong’ new schools.” It cited another study that found “students who transitioned into new schools following closure scored lower on tests one year after closure; they were at an increased risk of dropping out, as well as an increased risk of not 2005 and 2012, only 17 schools were either sold, leased or repur- posed. Another 24 closed properties remain on the market. Surprisingly, of the 77 public schools closed in the past decade, 80 percent now house other schools. Everyone realizes that with a dwindling school-aged popula- tion, not as many schools will be needed in the future. And across the country, we have seen how for- mer schools have been converted to community health centers, churches, community centers and other useful facilities. But if they are simply becoming schools again, what’s the point in closing them in the first place? Chicago is not the only major city that has overpromised and under delivered in public educa- tion. Administrators in Washington, D.C. boasted about how much money they would save by closing a group of schools. Pointing to a report by the Office of the D.C. Auditor, CREATE noted, “The audit determined that instead of saving the district $30 million, as claimed by former schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, the closures actually cost the city $40 million after factoring in the expense of demolishing buildings, removing furnishings, and trans- porting students. “Further, the district lost another $5 million in federal and state grants as students left the system, many to charter schools being built in tandem with the closings.” With all the lip service paid to public education by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, he has not been willing to put his money where his mouth is. Read the rest online at www.theskanner.com
