FEBRUARY 8, 2017
25
CENTS
Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 19
News .............................. 3,8-10 A & E .....................................6-7
Opinion ...................................2 Emmitt Till .......................9
Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
PHOTO BY MELANIE SEVCENKO
LADY A’S LUNCHEON
Relocation Assistance rally, organized by Portland
Tenants United, outside Portland City Hall,
Feb. 2, 2017.
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
O
n behalf of Multifamily NW, an
association of property owners
and managers, attorney John
DiLorenzo sued the city days after
it passed an ordinance requiring land-
lords to provide relocation assistance
to tenants evicted without cause.
DiLorenzo did not respond to The
Skanner’s request for comment, but the
suit claims the new ordinance conflicts
with the state prohibition on rent con-
trol.
The suit, filed Monday, follows direct-
AP PHOTO/J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE
See LANDLORDS on page 3
Holding a transcript of her speech in the Senate
Chamber, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of
Massachusetts reacts to being rebuked by the
Senate leadership and accused of impugning a
fellow senator, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
World News
Briefs
Travel ban, Warren
barred and more page 10
Unequal Justice
page 8
Lyric Nasir Rochelle Simpson, 8, claps for the inspirational words of Mother Margaret Hardin 104 during Lady A’s Ladies Luncheon Feb. 4 at the NW
African American Museum. Lady A brought together 200 women for an afternoon of inspiration that included music, comedy and personal stories.
Program Helps Black Students Outpace
Oregon’s Average Graduation Rates
Graduation rates among Black students were up 3.6 percent in 2016
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
B
ack in 2010, the four-
year high school
graduation
rate
for Portland Public
Schools was under 55 per-
cent. For African Amer-
ican students, it sat at 44
percent.
But in recent years, one
program in particular has
been making strides to
improve the academic per-
formance of the city’s most
vulnerable students.
As a nonprofit organi-
zation, Self Enhancement
Inc. has been supporting
at-risk urban youth in the
greater Portland area for
more than 30 years. It of-
fers both academic and
nonacademic services, as
well as college and career
preparation, parenting re-
sources and counseling.
When Jefferson High
School in North Portland
– Oregon’s only remaining
majority-Black public high
school – took a look at SEI’s
graduation rates, it got in-
spired. For two decades, 97
percent of SEI’s predomi-
nantly low-income African
American core program
students have been gradu-
ating from high school on
time, and 85 percent were
going on to post-secondary
education.
SEI’s success lies in its in-
tegrated approach, accord-
ing to president and CEO
Tony Hopson Sr.
“SEI services the stu-
dents, the families, the
schools and the commu-
nity,” Hopson said. “It also
maintains its relationship
with students from ele-
mentary school through
college or a family wage
job, basically until stu-
dents become adults.”
Threatened with closure
due to declining enroll-
ment and poor perfor-
mance – with only around
half of the senior class
graduating – Jefferson de-
cided to use the its nega-
tive statistics as a catalyst
for change.
In 2011, the high school
partnered with Portland
Public Schools and Self En-
hancement Inc. to create
the SEI Whole School Mod-
el for underserved youth
– and the results have con-
tinued to improve year by
year.
The program works by
making available SEI’s
mentoring, tutoring, and
See GRADUATION on page 3
Reacting to the Travel Ban
Community groups offer legal resources, advice on
engagement in wake of rapid changes in immigration
By The Skanner News Staff
T
uesday afternoon the Ninth Cir-
cuit Court heard arguments on
whether it will restore Presi-
dent Donald Trump’s Jan. 27 ex-
ecutive order banning travel to and
from seven predominantly-Muslim
nations.
That hearing was the result of the
states of Washington and Minne-
sota’s legal brief arguing against
the Trump administration’s appeal
(which was later joined by attorneys
general from multiple states, includ-
ing Oregon). The executive order has
been the subject of numerous other
legal complaints, including a lawsuit
brought last week by immigrants’
rights groups in Oregon.
The 9th Circuit Court has said it
will issue a decision on the execu-
tive order as soon as possible. It’s not
clear whether the court will over-
PHOTO BY CHRISTEN MCCURDY
A property managers’
association has filed suit
against the city over
relocation assistance
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Making
Landlords
Pay
Mat dos Santos, legal director for ACLU of
Oregon, speaks at a Feb. 1 press conference
with Manije Mehrnoosh, Unite Oregon board co-
chair and Muwafaq Alkattan, Unite Oregon staff
member and Iraqi refugee.
turn the ban entirely, or merely over-
turn parts of it.
See BAN on page 3