Which schools are we closing to make room for speciaty high schools?

What will be the criteria for closing a school?

Will the community really let resources move from Lincoln, Wilson, Cleveland, and Grant to other schools in order to bolster them up?

How can we assess what needs to be in a high school, or any other school for that matter, when we don’t have a definition of what constitutes a good education.

Why will the neighborhood schools be any better than what there is now if we don’t address the weaknesses in discipline, teacher hiring, parent involvement, the rotten middle school educations which feed these schools, the dropout problems, and the community cultures which affect the school climate?

Nice to see they appear to be moving in the right directions though.

My report is a response to what made it into the SACET report (and what was left out), not what was discussed at meetings. Discussions are fleeting; the report is part of the permanent public record.

Perhaps a paragraph in my introduction above didn’t go far enough; I’ll repeat it here for emphasis:

As a member of [SACET], I bear a share of responsibility for these shortcomings, so this report is not intended as a personal attack on any of my committee colleagues who spent a great deal of time and energy on a report that reflects much that I agree with. Rather, it seeks to cover areas that SACET did not cover, and amplify their call for “a plan that has neighborhood schools as its foundation.”

I certainly hope SACET will stand behind Carole Smith’s bold policy proposal. I think it is very much in line with the values committee members have expressed (not to mention the recommendations of this report).

http://www.oregonlive.com/port.....rhaul.html

Very well… I’ve added the word “unauthorized” before “minority report” to make it a little more clear that SACET doesn’t condone minority reports.

(I’m not sure who decided there would be no minority reports; I don’t recall it ever being discussed in full committee. It’s a shame. It unnecessarily detracts from the credibility of the committee, in my opinion.)

I don’t know whether Zeke Smith is friends with the owners of this company, but I take issue with PPS hiring a PR firm to lead community discussions.

You hire a PR firm when you have something to sell, not when you want community input.

(Same story with the “qualitative” research — as opposed to statistical surveys — they did about the transfer policy a couple years back. You do focus groups when you want to hone your message, not when you’re trying to take the pulse of your constituents.)

Spending tax dollars on marketing instead of statistical research is just another abomination of the market-based school reform movement.

Another serious and urgent matter to be paying attention to is the issue of using the stimulus money. This is no small chump change: $12 million. I understand that there needs to be a public input process as to how this money should be allocated. This would be a perfect opportunity to the public to help shape equitable decisions for the students and families in the city of Portland.

Until PPS Equity and SACET I really thought there was a collective conspiracy against people with disabilities. It has been so wonderful to connect with like-minded people that simply did not know the brand of inequity our kids are experiencing in PPS and statewide. I have appreciated the questions and genuine curiosity of the people I have spoken and corresponded with. Most people do not know that students with disabilities are not guaranteed their neighborhood school and the heartache and financial strain of lawyer fees parents endure challenging segregated placements. I had someone on Urbanmamas call me a liar when I spoke up about this!
I agree with David, the formula is so simple.