April 26, 2017 The Skanner Page 3
News
the largest employer.
Currently, 350 of its
graduates are working as
administrators in 96 Ore-
gon school districts.
Lynn spoke with The
Skanner over the phone
from his current home in
South Bend, where he is a
professor and the dean of
the School of Education
at Indiana University. He
the very bottom of that.
I’ve seen that in every
place I’ve worked, and
I’ve worked in a num-
ber of states at public
institutions of higher
education. So wherever
I go, it’s always part of
my mission to try to ad-
dress that issue; because
I feel that public institu-
tions of higher education
‘You’ve got to really deal
with America’s racial his-
tory if you’re going to talk
about the origin of the
N-word… and it’s a racial his-
tory lesson. Teachers have
to be prepared to do that’
relocates to Portland this
summer to begin his new
leadership role at PSU.
The Skanner News:
How would you like to
see the outcomes for stu-
dents of color in Oregon
improve?
Marvin Lynn: Unfor-
tunately we have a situa-
tion in the United States
where there are educa-
tion disparities across
the board — whether
that’s Oregon, Indiana,
Illinois or New York. We
see these disparities be-
tween differently situat-
ed groups. For example,
poor and working class
kids don’t achieve at the
same level as kids that
are more well off.
We also see that dis-
parity between African
American, Latino, White
and Asian American
students, where White
and Asian American
students perform at the
bottom level in terms of
academic achievement,
and Latino and African
American students often
times performing at the
bottom levels. In many
cases, African Ameri-
can male students are at
Doulas
should be engaged in
these larger questions of
education disparity – or
as some would refer to
as achievement gaps –
because it leads to other
kinds of disparities later
on, such as income, em-
ployment, degree attain-
ment.
As a dean of the Gradu-
ate School of Education, I
feel very strongly about
the role of teacher edu-
cation and educational
leadership, and being
invested in solving that
challenge. We (need) to
direct our instruction-
al effort — in terms of
what we do with our stu-
dents who are going to be
working in these schools
and communities — and
shape our curriculum
in a way that is designed
to really transform that
problem into a positive.
That’s a big goal any-
where I go, and Oregon
will be no different. I
have colleagues at Port-
land State that are abso-
lutely committed to that
as well, and are looking
to doing that work at a
higher level.
Read the full story at
TheSkanner.com
Science March
An estimated 20,000 people showed up for the Science March, on Earth Day April 22 at Cal Anderson park. After listening to Washington
Governor Jay Inslee, Congresswoman Suzan Del Bene and other speakers representing the scientific and environmental communities
the marchers made their way to the Seattle Center. The Seattle Science March was one of hundreds held across the country in response
to the Trump administration’s plans to defund the Environmental Protection Agency and cut billions of dollars from scientific research.
Smith
cont’d from pg 1
“We continue to have ongoing
concerns over the disparate treat-
ment provided by the county in
personnel matters involving Af-
rican Americans, whether those
persons are the subjects of an HR
investigation or are accused of
some kind of misconduct,” reads
the tort, filed by Smith’s lawyer,
Craig Crispin.
The notice comes on the heels of
a settlement agreement that was
reached with Smith’s policy advi-
sor, MeeSeon Kwon, two months
after she made potentially damag-
ing allegations against her boss.
On April 5, the county agreed
to pay Kwon $23,820, which in-
cludes attorney fees, plus six
months’ administrative leave.
Her resignation is expected on or
before Sept. 8, 2017, as stated in
the agreement.
The settlement was the result of
Kwon’s Jan. 22 email, published
by Willamette Week in Febru-
ary, in which she claimed Smith
had used county resources for
her personal campaign events,
and then asked staffers to sign
non-disclosure agreements. For
a public official, it’s a move that
raises ethical and legal questions.
A week later, Saba Saleem, who
worked for Smith in 2014 and
2015, came forward with her own
letter backing Kwon’s story of
“
should have ended with the settle-
ment. “Generally, once we sign a
settlement, everybody goes their
own way and gets back to work,”
Commissioner Smith said, on the
phone with The Skanner. “I didn’t
agree with the settlement, but I
‘I think this is politically and racially
motivated’ —Commissioner Smith
the commissioner’s mistreatment
of staff, Smith’s cycling through
seven chiefs of staff in six years,
and her use of public resources
for personal gain.
Yet despite the recent settle-
ment, the employee’s accusations
continue to bear weight on Smith,
who is only the second African
American to serve as a Mult-
nomah County commissioner.
“A human resources investi-
gation into (Kwon’s) claims is
ongoing,” Julie Sullivan-Spring-
hetti, communications director
for Multnomah County, told The
Skanner last week.
But Smith said suspicions
had no power to stop it.”
She asserted that Kwon’s claims
have not been substantiated by
the County Attorney’s Office.
According to Smith and Crisp-
in, the external investigation
currently being carried out is a
tactic by County Chair Deborah
Kafoury to undermine the com-
missioner politically and malign
her reputation.
“(Kafoury) thinks I’m going to
run against her,” said Smith, re-
ferring to the 2018 primary elec-
tion when the Chair seat will be
on the ballot.
Read more at TheSkanner.com
cont’d from pg 1
land area — using culturally compe-
tent doulas in the Sacred Roots Doula
Program.
In Oregon and nationwide, Black and
African American families experience
wide disparities in birth outcomes com-
pared to White families and to other
minority groups. According to 2014’s
Maternal, Child and Family Health
Data Book compiled by Multnomah
County, mothers identifying as Black
or African American were 1.7 times
more likely than non-Latina White
women to experience an unintended
pregnancy, 1.2 times more likely not to
access prenatal care at all or to access
it too late in pregnancy, 2.1 times more
likely to give birth to a child with low
birthweight and 2.3 times more likely
to experience postnatal depression.
Nationally, African American fam-
ilies are 1.5 times more likely to expe-
rience preterm birth, and the Centers
for Disease control records an infant
mortality rate that’s 2.4 times higher
for African American families than for
White families.
“Initially, doulas were for upper mid-
dle class White women,” said Porter,
who also serves as the diverse commu-
nities chair of the Oregon Doula Asso-
ciation.
In addition to working with African
American women, the program will
“
‘Initially, doulas
were for upper
middle class White
women’
serve homeless mothers and teenagers,
and Family Care will track outcomes
— including the rate of natural (rather
than Caesarian) birth and success with
breastfeeding. Porter wants to ensure
everyone who wants to work with a
doula can access doula services.
Porter received doula training her-
self in 2014, and BPI works with five
other doulas, all of whom are African
American and will be paired with Af-
rican Americans in need of prenatal
care. “Most doulas work with families
later in their pregnancy, at 35 weeks
and up,” Porter said.
“Our communit- based doulas are
considered full-circle doulas.”
They start working with families ear-
lier in pregnancy, and typically visit
homes two or three times after a child
is born.
BPI contracts with Family Care, which
has provided some grant funding for
the project, said Oscar Clark, vice pres-
ident of integrated services at Family
Care.
“It’s really someone from the commu-
nity, walking with them hand in hand
through their pregnancy and someone
just to be there when you have a lot of
unknowns,” Clark told The Skanner.
Clark also said Family Care will use
the project as an opportunity to track
outcomes — including any change in
PUBLIC DOMAIN PHOTO
“
cont’d from pg 1
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
PSU Dean
FamilyCare has partnered with Black Parent
Initiative to provide doula support to African
American women in FamilyCare’s network in order
to improve birth outcomes.
the rate of Caesarian versus natural de-
liveries as well as success with breast-
feeding. Once the CCO’s two-year con-
tract is up, the CCO will evaluate the
data it’s gathered to see what worked
and what didn’t, with the goal of help-
ing build a doula program that is sus-
tainable over the long term.
