PPS and the philanthro-capitalists

What do Bill Gates and Eli Broad have to do with the lack of comprehensive secondary education for Portland’s poorest students? Lots.

Money buys enrichment

Harrison Park teacher Bonnie Robb on the economics of enrichment

K-8s from a teacher’s perspective

As PPS presses forward with high school system redesign, significant problems with the K-8 transition remain unaddressed. Teacher and parent Sheila Wilcox shares her inside perspective.

High school system redesign: an (unauthorized) minority report

Analysis and recommendations in response to the proposed high school system redesign, and a Superintendent’s committee report.

The numbers paint a picture

 

Current enrollment and transfer data show a persistent pattern lost enrollment from our poorest neighborhoods due to student transfers. These same neighborhoods have almost completely lost comprehensive secondary education, even while transfer slots into comprehensive schools have virtually disappeared. See it all in full-size, living color.

“Choice” done right

There is a school district, of similar size and demographics to Portland Public Schools, with less funding per student than PPS, that manages to maintain strong and equitable neighborhood schools and a vibrant school choice program.

If they can do it, why can’t we?

Size matters

How student transfers, “small schools,” and K8s steal opportunity from Portland’s least wealthy students, and how we can make it right

The continuing history of racism in Portland Public Schools

Twenty-eight years after the Black United Front’s desegregation plan brought modest improvements in equity to non-white students, Portland’s schools have regressed into a two-tiered system, with schools more segregated than the neighborhoods they serve. What went wrong?

Non-educators derail contract talks

District folks are not educators and do not understand what being a teacher means. They don’t ‘get’ how schools function and the role that teachers play.

Teacher contract talks at ‘impasse’

In an e-mail to the community, school board presiding co-chair Trudy Sargent writes that the district has informed state mediators that negotiations for a teacher contract have reached an impasse, 583 days after the last contract expired.

Now that an impasse has been declared, both sides have seven days to publish final offers, after which there is a 30-day cooling off period. That means a teacher lockout or strike is possible as early as mid-March.

Updated with a statement by PAT president Rebecca Levison.

In the news: HS focus options questioned

Parent Rob Boime questions the emphasis on focus options in Portland Public Schools high school redesign plans in an op-ed in today’s Portland Tribune. Boime worries that plans to have upwards of 35 percent of students attend focus option schools would worsen inequities, and he urges planners put emphasis on community high schools first.

Jobs with Justice calls for show of support for teachers

As Portland teachers approach two years without a contract, Portland Jobs with Justice is calling on parents to join the fight for a fair resolution. Come find out how you can help.

• 6-7 p.m. tonight, February 4
• PAT office, 345 NE 8th Ave.
• Dinner and child care provided
• RSVP to Margaret, 503-236-5573 or margaret@jwjpdx.org

Board set to approve $320,000 military recruiting contract

The Portland Public Schools board of education is set to approve a contract with the U.S. military to take $320,000 in exchange for access to elementary school children.

The Starbase program, funded from the US Department of Defense recruiting budget, has been raising parent hackles since at least 2006. It is up for re-authorization at tonight’s school board meeting, in the midst of two shooting wars and the “Global War on Terror.”

Latest: This Week in PPS: teachers rally for a contract

“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