Seriously, mneloa, from PPS’ own school enrollment profiles.

This is the trend, anyway, and unless PPS changes its enrollment policy, there’s no reason to think it’ll change…

As neighborhoods become more integrated through gentrification (for better or worse), PPS schools become more segregated through transfers.

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I’m a white dude who in college was inspired by the African American history I wasn’t taught in high school.

I would argue that no one’s education can be considered complete without exposure to the realities of slavery and its impact on all of American life. Or to the multitude of great black writers who offer a perspective that is otherwise invisible to modern white folks.

I would also remind you that in the poor schools of North and Northeast Portland, school enrollments will probably be significantly black for the forseeable future.

They’ve further narrowed options with their skewed implementation of “small schools” in every single neighborhood high school that isn’t predominantly white and middle class (while retaining comprehensive schools at Cleveland, Franklin, Grant, Lincoln and Wilson).

I haven’t heard anybody on this Web site calling for narrowing curriculum in our poor and working class neighborhoods. To the contrary.

What I want to see is access to comprehensive education in every neighborhood.

We do need enough flexibility to be able to offer culturally relevant curriculum in different neighborhoods and to serve our diverse student body, but this should in no way detract from an equitable core curriculum, available to all students in every neighborhood school.

But even if something like this were implemented, I see yet another equity hurdle to overcome to get people to reject transferring out of their neighborhood schools. It’s the NCLB AYP scores. The way these scores are detailed on the “AYP Report”, underscores any racist and classist perceptions many of us have failed to purge from our systems. I’m talking about how test scores are divided into categories of race, income status, etc. If a parent with a child approaching school age pulls up the AYP Report of his/her (poorer) neighborhood school and compares it to one in a wealthier neighborhood or a magnet school, he/she is likely to see scores that would scare most of us away. Even though some of us policy wonks understand all the problems with the NCLB testing and how unfair it is, etc., bad test scores and their association with the demographics of the school are hard to erase from your mind. A parent new to PPS is most likely going to go with his/her first impressions.

I strongly feel something like the 1980 desegregation plan should be reimplemented and would be a good start in the right direction. But the AYP Report and other school ratings are a huge hinderance in our work toward equity.

I might point out this was done against the wishes of the superintendent and came explicitly from the board itself. So when the board talks about not being a legislative body but letting the supt. run everything (that isn’t exactly how it is put, but pretty much comes out that way) it is pure hogwash. The board legally has the ability to address any of the problems facing the school district.

Seems like if you were serious about integration, you’d put the cream of the schools in your poorest neighborhoods, simultaneously increasing opportunity and investment where it’s most needed and encouraging voluntary integration.

PPS has this completely backwards, with the schools offering the most opportunity located in the wealthy neighborhoods, sucking enrollment and investment out of poor neighborhoods.

What’s really galling about this is that the school board completely shirks all responsibility and likes to talk about it being a “Catch 22,” even as they continue policies that reinforce this pattern.