I would respond by saying that a strong school needs 60% or more of its students to perform at or above grade level to serve as peer examples to underperforming peers. Having the support of the parents of those motivated students is beneficial to a school in many ways and serves to bring along parents who might otherwise avoid contact with the school.

Urban school districts do great harm when they allow large numbers of low-performing students to be segregated racially or economically in sub-standard schools.

Therefore it is beneficial to all students when school resources are equitably available and the various neighborhood communities are fully involved in “their” schools and the students. invested

Equity of class offerings is only a first step however. If you offer advanced placement chemistry in each school, but the students in poorer schools haven’t been adequately prepared for taking the class then equity has still not been achieved. And if the classrooms in poorer schools have more disciplinary problems and weaker teachers then equity has not been achieved there either.

High school success (including graduation) is built upon a good solid education in elementary school (where reading, writing, and basic math, as well as basic educational skills and love of learning are learned and nurtured) and the middle grades where students need to be immersed in education and activities which engage them in school and whet their appetite for high school. For poor kids we kind of do the first and pretty much don’t do the second at all. Don’t even recognize the importance of it really. Until we address the middle grade problems you can build all the equitable high schools you want, but the mess will still remain.

That is racist. Remediation of ongoing institutional racism is not a “racist agenda.”

The high school plan being discussed here is an attempt to address this inequity… every student in the district would be guaranteed access to a comprehensive high school. My proposal for socio-economic exemptions from the transfer restrictions is an attempt to address the understandable lack of trust in the communities that have seen consistent adverse impact from district policy.

How about any students. Period. Or do you only care about students of color? Where is this guaranteed access to a comprehensive secondary education in predominately white, middle class neighborhoods? Seems to me like this article is spurred by a racial agenda that you quite frankly should be ashamed of. Take race off of your mind, and focus on what’s best for Oregon students. All of Oregon’s students. Not just your racist agenda.