Sheila Wilcox had a problem. She was teaching eighth grade at a newly expanded elementary school, its first year with eighth grade. The building did not have adequate physical space for the middle grades, and the staff had almost no training or advice on teaching a self-contained middle grade class [...]
Nigel Jaquiss reports in today’s Willamette Week that Nike, PGE and other large Oregon corporations are funneling money to oppose two tax measures on the ballot in January through the Portland Business Alliance and Associated Oregon Industries.
PPS School board director Pam Knowles recently resigned as Chief Operating Officer [...]
Beth Slovic reports in today’s Willamette Week that there are serious concerns for life safety in our schools. Carrie Adams pointed out the district has facilities reports available for all schools, including life and fire safety.
Take a look. I notice my kids’ school has “Fire Alarm is Missing [...]
Susan Nielsen had a pretty decent article in today’s Oregonian (even a blind squirrel stumbles upon a nut!). Teachers, Nielsen finally realized, aren’t a bunch of lazy, incompetent, know-nothing idiots – they’re actually hard workers, pretty sharp, and — get this — really like kids! What did these teachers [...]
Earlier this week, the Oregon Department of Education released report cards for the state’s schools. The scoring system is a new formula that, in my opinion, actually makes testing even more high-stakes. I’m not sure that’s beneficial to our children, teachers, or schools. Here’s a run-down of how this new [...]
Schoolhouse Supplies has set up a special account for donations to the Marysville community, who lost their school to a fire yesterday. Donations of cash or supplies are accepted.
[...]Willamette Week is reporting that Portland Public Schools has found enough money to drop demands for a five-day teacher furlough in the contract currently being negotiated.
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“More than anything, people just want to feel like they’re respected… If people felt more respected, they might have more sympathy for the district’s ongoing financial difficulties.” –Cheyne Cumming, teacher and PAT organizer
Approximately 1,500 teachers and their supporters took [...]
When staff at BESC sold (and bought for themselves) “surplus” supplies at below market prices last month, Willamette Week bid unsuccessfully on a kiln and a pallet of paper, with the intention of donating them back to the schools. The buyer of the paper, who paid $100, agreed to [...]
It’s a concept I brought up without much thought: since a major sticking point in contract negotiations is a five-day furlough for teachers, does the district want to force a strike, then, after five days of teacher picketing, come back to the table without the furlough in their contract offer? [...]
Much has been written, at least of late, about the Gates Foundation’s influence on public education. From donating money to Race to the Top applicants to the multiple Gates officials serving in the DOE (and all the billions of dollars flowing in between), there’s no doubt the foundation [...]
I’m feeling discouraged. The district seems to be once again careening from crisis to crisis, from an unresolved teachers’ contract, to an unfinished, perhaps unfinishable K8 transition, to charter schools preying on the empty buildings left in the wake of destructive enrollment policies. We’re embarking on an ambitious high school [...]
In another sign of the failure of Portland Public Schools to fund and support a performing arts magnet school in a historically black neighborhood, a proposed charter school focused on many of Jefferson’s current and past strengths — namely video production and music — has its eyes on the now [...]
The Portland Association of Teachers is sponsoring a rally and march for teachers Monday, November 9 at 6 p.m., starting at the Rose Quarter Benton Surface Lot (between the Coliseum and North Broadway). After the rally, participants will march to school district headquarters, where PAT president Rebecca Levison will [...]
While district administrators attended seminars like “Successful Teacher incentive and Pay for Performance Programs in Urban Schools” last week at the Great City Schools Conference, teachers leafleted attendees with the following:
To the Attendees of the Council of the Great City Schools Conference:Welcome to Portland. In Portland, we are proud [...]
As Portland teachers approach 500 days without a contract, and as discontent bubbles to the surface over a failing experiment in K8 schools and an ill-conceived “surplus” auction, senior management of Portland Public Schools spent last week at the downtown Hilton, enjoying seminars and speakers, not to mention complimentary breakfast [...]
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“It is a civil rights violation of the worst kind in the city of Portland when based on race and zip code roughly 85% of white students have access to opportunity in rigorous college prep programs, curriculum and [...]
Beth Slovic report in today’s Willamette Week that Portland Public Schools last week sold “surplus” copy paper and toilet paper, among other items, for less than market value. Portland teachers spend an average of $600 a year out of their own pockets for classroom supplies, according to their union. [...]
Teachers in Portland Public Schools are in their second year without a contract. District negotiators seem to have “backed themselves into a corner,” according to Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) negotiators, and are unwilling to entertain creative bargaining suggestions, like adding a third year to the contract under consideration.
The [...]
Fox 12 TV is reporting that Woodmere Elementary School in southeast Portland will begin charging parents late fees when they pick up their kids more than ten minutes after the final bell. For every each ten minute block after the first ten, parents will be charged $5, the equivalent [...]
Jennifer Anderson writes in the Portland Tribune about issues facing Portland Public Schools superintendent Carole Smith, including stalled teacher contract talks and the stalled — some would say failed — experiment in k8 schools.
[...]Beth Slovic documents the obvious inequities between K8s and middle schools for middle grade education.
[...]
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This is a full transcript of the podcast, with hyperlinks:
This week in PPS, we mourn the passing of Terry Olson.
The veteran teacher, husband, father of three, and grandfather of two passed away peacefully [...]
Friend of PPS Equity Terry Olson passed away on Thursday. Tomorrow’s PPS Equity podcast will be a tribute to him. His son Adrian posted a note on Terry’s blog Thursday.
[...]Teachers and their unions are gearing up to take on the Obama administration’s pro-charter, pro-merit pay “Race to the Top” initiative. Paul Abowd writes in Labor Notes reports that teachers from New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles met recently in LA “to bring a vision of education [...]
Amidst unstable funding for education and a lingering recession, Portland Public School teachers like me are stuck in the middle of contentious contract negotiations, one year overdue. Much information that is available to the public is filtered through Portland administrators, namely Carole Smith, who seems very much out of touch [...]
Approximately 400 people gathered before the school board meeting last night to demand a new contract that doesn’t balance the budget on the backs of teachers.
From Jobs with Justice:
Please join us in standing with Portland’s Teachers:
Monday, Oct. 12, 6:15 p.m. Rally to Support Teachers*! At Blanchard Educational Service Center (PPS), 501 N. Dixon. Support the Portland Association of Teachers’ Bargaining Team and its efforts to achieve a contract settlement with the Portland Public Schools!? Please [...]
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A report from the PPS Parent Union kickoff weekend, with Sheila Warren, Stephanie Hunter, Ken Libby Shalonda [...]
Families unable to attend the all-day high school redesign sessions hosted by the district will have the opportunity to engage the district on the topic at the PPS Parent Union Parent Information Gathering this Saturday, October 10, from 1 to 2 p.m.
The full event runs from 11 a.m. [...]
Superintendent Carole Smith is back on the job today, according to a PPS status update on Facebook. Smith has been on a leave of absence following the passing of her life partner. Welcome back, Carole. Our thoughts have been with you.
[...]“American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV.”
– The Kaiser Family Foundation
Ms. Nancy discusses strategies for getting kids to [...]
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This week in PPS, the school board and community get their first chance to really dig in to high school redesign, and the PPS Parent Union kicks off.
But first, a review of last week’s news.
On PPS Equity.org, [...]In a story complementing elementary teacher Bonnie Robb’s story here two weeks ago, Beth Slovic explains a similar problem for high school students in yesterday’s Willamette Week.
[...]Note:The author and her son were featured in a recent story in Willamette Week by Beth Slovic. –Ed.
I am a parent of a son who supposedly graduated from Pioneer this year. I have tried for years to advocate for the students at Pioneer by letters, e-mails and being on [...]
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When school communities raise money to hire certified teachers for their own children, they are required to contribute a portion to a district-wide “equity fund.” The first $10,000 they raise is exempt, but for every dollar above that amount, they must contribute 30 cents. (Money raised and spent for other [...]
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I am a teacher at Harrison Park Elementary (formally Clark K-8 @ Binnsmead). Our demographics include a wonderfully diverse population with students from over 20 countries. I have seven languages represented in my room alone. We also have 80% of our families receiving free or reduced lunch benefits, which places [...]
PPS Parent Union founder Sheila Warren is joining forces with Elijah Muhammed to present “Focus on the Black Families” this Friday, September 18 on Portland Community Media.
The first hour of the show will be broadcast on cable channel 23, and the second hour on cable channel 11.
[...]Note: This the first episode in a new series, This Week in PPS. This will be a weekly podcast featuring news and events of interest to the greater PPS community. –Ed.
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School starts two hours late on Wednesday, [...]
Be part of the national movement of fathers taking their children to school. Rob Ingram is asking local fathers of all backgrounds to take part.
[...]Oregon Public Broadcasting’s morning talk show Think out loud is covering school equity on the first day of school (Tuesday, September 8), with a focus on the PPS high school redesign. Guests include yours truly, Jefferson principal Cynthia Harris, and John Wilhelmi, who headed up the high school redesign [...]
In a press release yesterday, Portland Public Schools announced it would seek state mediation in their stalled contract negotiations with the teacher’s union.
The district is offering a retroactive 2% cost of living raise for the past school year, but would force teachers to take five furlough days in the [...]
Join your friends and neighbors to help spruce up your neighborhood schools 9am – noon this Saturday, August 29. Hands On Greater Portland has a complete list of schools and more details.
[...]Carla Randall has been hired as principal at Madison High School. She was principal at Wilson from 2002 to 2005, and also served as vice principal at Jefferson and Cleveland.
More recently, Randall was director of curriculum for the Tigard-Tuallatin School District.
In a letter to Madison families, deputy superintendent Mark Davalos [...]
How about this compromise. Once a child is in the 5th or 6th grade and has passed benchmarks then let’s quit testing him or her. No more NCLB testing, none, zip, nada. This does a lot of positive things yet retains the NCLB idea (albeit corrupted one) of leaving no [...]
Note: this is a response to e-mail sent by Carole Smith regarding Oregon schools’ performance as measured against federal benchmarks. See below for the text of Smith’s e-mail. –Ed.
Portland Public School Superintendent Carole Smith’s unconditional support of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) sickens me. “Say what [...]
The Mercury reports on controversy at Lincoln High over a classroom move that has prompted a teacher’s family to put up a Web site in protest.
[...]Community Care Day is Saturday, August 29 this year.
[...]From Rob Ingram:
You are invited to attend a special Meeting @ The Community Meeting Room, North (formerly Northeast) Precinct, 449 NE Emerson, July 30th , Thursday, from 2 to 3 PM.
If you are a representative, are working with or serving in the following areas or if you just have an [...]
The Urban League of Portland has issued a State of Black Oregon report, with troubling statistics for black students.
The dropout rate for black students is twice as high as for white students, and black students face expulsion and suspension at twice the rate of white students.
The study paints a [...]
On Our Global Education, Kenneth Libby dissects the source of Mayor Sam Adams’ and school board member Pam Knowles’ erroneous claim of a forty-something percent dropout rate in Portland Public Schools.
The source? A Gates Foundation-funded study. The actual dropout rate is something less than 37%. The study counts 63% [...]
A member of the Oregon Assembly for Black Affairs (OABA) e-mail list asks this very pertinent question:
Can anyone…help me understand the benefits to Black students to be required to attend a high school with an impoverished academic program compared to other Portland public high schools just because the Black [...]
Local teacher Bill Bigelow notes in the summer edition of Rethinking Schools that recent Portland Public Schools text book adoptions in science — Physical Science: Concepts in Action (Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006) — and global studies — Modern World History (McDougall Littell, 2007) — are “dismissive of human-caused climate change.”
In [...]
This article is reprinted with permission. It originally appeared on the author’s blog Global Ideologies in Education –Ed.
Portland Business Alliance COO Pam Knowles recently won a seat on the PPS school board. She ran against Scott Bailey in a high-price race for the zone 5 seat. Knowles [...]
Adrianne Jeffries reports in yesterday’s Tribune on the ways principals are using Portland Schools Foundation (PSF) Equity Fund money to restore cuts to classroom teachers and librarians, and even adding staff in the case of Benson High. This is possible for the first time since that fund’s inception under [...]
Chicago schools blogger Alexander Russo tosses in his two cents on new PPS Chief Academic Officer Xavier Botana (”I sort of liked the guy”), but one reader questions Carole Smith’s reference to his “strong record of building shared ownership of school improvement among parents, teachers and community.”
[...]With the coming of the newly designed high schools it is even more imperative PPS fixes its middle grade education. Here is my proposal:
Put four 7th and 8th grade junior high schools, one each, into the Roosevelt, Madison, Jefferson, and Marshall attendance areas. If there are about 1400 students [...]
The Autism Association of Oregon (ASO) is presenting Peter Wright of Wrightslaw in a one day special education law and advocacy training conference October 29 in Portland. Details of the program and online registration are available at the ASO Web site.
[...]Everyone’s a critic, it’s true. It is easy to point fingers, but try to fix something? This takes more effort than most people can muster.
I have been a witness, for the last four years, to Portland Public Schools’ fiasco known as K-8 schools. I have tried to shed light [...]
In her boldest policy proposal since taking the reigns of Portland Public Schools, Carole Smith has endorsed a high school system design that would guarantee every [...]
Superintendent Carole Smith will announce her recommendation for the high school system redesign tomorrow, 10:30 am on the steps of Benson High School. Advance reports indicate the chosen design will be most similar to the “strong neighborhood schools” model (which was the strongest of the three proposed models), [...]
The PPS Parent Union is meeting Wednesday, June 24 from 6-8p.m., at 101 SW Main, Alaska Room (seventh floor).
From the PPS Parent Union Facebook page:
The work starts. This meeting will concentrate on a strategic plan (mission, vision, goals, objectives, intiatives, measures and targets).
We will be forming a parent advisory [...]
Note: The Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Enrollment and Transfer (SACET) was asked to study and report on the high school system redesign. The SACET report (67 KB PDF) was issued in May, with the full support of 12 of 14 members of the committee. One member supported the report [...]
Reported on both KPTV television and KXL radio, a nine-year-old boy reported he witnessed a possible rape in the restroom of his K8 school, only to be accused of lying by school staff.
Portland Public Schools officials have piled on with further denial, claiming the alleged perp couldn’t have [...]
In today’s Willamette Week, Beth Slovic details the “Gravy Trainers,” “Sweet Talkers,” “Real Estate Moguls” and others who seem to be escaping the budget knife, even as the district pushes a budget that would force furlough days on represented employees (without first consulting their unions). Rumor has it that [...]
Should school board members be paid? An unpaid board position is conservatively estimated to be equivalent to a half-time job. Why should service on the board be limited to those who can afford to work a half-time job for free?
Should school board members be elected by the zones they represent, [...]
Dear Super Team,
I honestly feel that you missed some very clear issues that were expressed at the May 16th meeting.
You can not complete a diverse high school system redesign with out first addressing why it isn’t fair to begin with. The lines that are drawn for our schools need to [...]
Nineteen schools are eligible for non-competitive grants under the Portland Schools Foundation’s streamlined formula, reports Jennifer Anderson in the Tribune today.
Under the new rules, these schools will not have to write competitive grants. The will automatically be awarded funds if they submit the proper paperwork along with a school [...]
Election results are in. With fewer than 15% of registered voters bothering to mail in their ballots, Pam Knowles has coasted to victory in her zone 5 race over Scott Bailey, 61% to 38%. Zone 5 was the “money race;” the two candidates raised a combined $75,000. Bailey, who [...]
Portland Public Schools teachers are currently “working to the rule” to protest stalled contract negotiations, reports the Portland Business Journal.
Portland Public Schools spokesman Matt Shelby could not confirm which schools are actually affected by the work slowdown, but he did say that for the past several weeks teachers [...]
Note:School board candidate Rita Moore sent this letter to Oregonian reporter Kim Melton regarding her coverage of the community high school redesign meeting at Jefferson High Saturday. The Portland Sentinel also covered the meeting. –Ed.
Just read your article on today’s meeting and I wanted to say thank you. [...]
Portland Tribune reporter Jennifer Anderson has put out a call for input on PPS principals.
Also from the Trib, a distributed school funding rally is planned for tomorrow.
[...]I attended the school board meeting this evening where they discussed the new discipline policy. Apparently this policy has not been updated since 1977 with the exception of the the drug/alcohol policy. This draft policy is a significantly different and far more uplifting and proactive than the current policy. I [...]
The Parent’s Union is on its way. We will have our first meeting on May 13, 6:30 at 2941 NE Bryant St. Please invite anyone or any group you think wants to be a part of this landmark gathering. Let them know they get to be on the ground floor [...]
PPS school board member David Wynde takes the legislature to task in an Oregonian commentary this morning.
It’s no coincidence that Oregon has the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation. Our lukewarm commitment to education hurts Oregon’s short-term and long-term economic growth.
Oregon’s response to this crisis couldn’t be more contrary [...]
Jennifer Anderson writes in the Portland Tribune that current Roosevelt High principal Deborah Peterson has decide not to accept her appointment to lead a unified Madison High in light of the significant controversy ignited by her appointement there without community involvement.
“I have rescinded acceptance of the appointment in [...]
Steve Duin hits the nail on the head in his Oregonian column this morning:
The adhesive power of trust is invaluable for public schools, especially in communities in which adults too often vanish before completing the job they started. Therein is the irritation, and the irony, regarding Deborah Peterson’s [...]
Saturday I woke up to this quote by Carole Smith in Anna Griffin’s column in The Oregonian: “It can’t be that where you live determines what kind of education you get, but that’s what we have right now.”
The significance of this statement can hardly be overstated. When board members [...]
The Oregonian today echoes yesterday’s Willamette Week endorsements, giving their nod to Pam Knowles and MartĂn González for next month’s school board contest. Ballots go out tomorrow.
[...]Willamette Week has endorsed Pam Knowles and MartĂn González for school board. On the national front, the New York Times reports that the achievement gap persists in spite of No Child left behind.
The achievement gap between white and minority students has not narrowed in recent years, despite the [...]
The Portland Schools Foundation (PSF) is mostly doing away with its competitive grant program, and will award most of its Equity Fund money based on need. Under the leadership of former PPS school board co-chair Dan Ryan, the foundation will also allow schools to hire teaching staff with the [...]
Things have been lively at PPS Equity lately. Chalk it up to growing pains (readership suddenly doubled and comments went through the roof a a few weeks ago), but I’ve had to become a little proactive on moderation of discussions. A few notes with regard to a recent [...]
Racism exists in many forms. Perhaps the most hurtful form is the unconscious kind, expressed inadvertently by people who consider themselves to be well-meaning. I don’t think anybody who contributes to the discussions at PPS Equity is a racist, but there have been times when non-white readers have contacted me [...]
I have posted before and testified to the school board about the importance of a strong commitment to making schools ADA accessible so the policy that all PPS students have the right to go to their neighborhood school will actually be true.
When the city begins to make these changes it is [...]
As expected, Pam Knowles has caught up with Scott Bailey in the race for dollars, with both candidates having surpassed the $20,000 mark in fund raising. Bailey leads in spending, with $12,500 spent. Knowles has spent $6,900.
Incumbent MartĂn González leads off the much saner money race in [...]
Last week Madison High School received the news of the departure of our principal to a job in the central office. With that news came the announcement of the new appointee as principal. This announcement did not come from the mouth of our Principal as we were to wait for [...]
In the models for high schools, I see two things that are not being addressed: (1) race/class differences that drive people apart and send some families fleeing from their neighborhood schools, and (2) the reasons why kids drop out of high school. If the design does not address one [...]
This is Pam Knowles’ contribution to the K8 conversation that we started with Scott Bailey last month. Thank you Pam for offering your take on the issue.
Thanks for contacting me and providing the opportunity to join the discussion about K-8 and middle schools. I attended the CPPS Conference [...]
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) states that parents are presumed to act in the best interests of their children. So how come when parents act in their child’s best interest the IEP team brings in more and more bodies to fill the room to outnumber you in placement [...]
Dennis Newman reports on his Natural Oregon blog that two bills are working their way through the Oregon Senate that limit the use of toxic pesticides and cleaning products in schools. Links to contact committee members are provided.
[...]I believe that relationships are crucial to learning. Parent involvement can take many forms and honoring any and all contributions is key. While it is important to do all you can to improve education for your child you have an opportunity to help another child as well. Your child benefits, [...]
I publish this Web site to advocate for the greater common good. I even came up with a mission statement some time back to capture this notion more specifically:
The mission of PPS Equity is to inform, advocate and organize, with a goal of equal educational opportunity for all students [...]
As I stated in a previous blog post Multnomah Early Childhood Program has been notified by PPS that they will not be renewing the contract for early intervention evaluations and PPS plans to take this over. MECP has a streamlined, cohesive, family-friendly, child empowering, and working system in place. [...]
In the early 1970’s the Pennsylvania ARC won a court case that allowed children with disabilities the right to a public education. Their attorney Thomas Gilhool used the precedent set by Brown v. Board of education in 1954 that separate but equal was inherently unequal. In 1973 the Vocational Rehabilitation [...]
