I went to a meeting at Binnsmead to discuss the fate of Clark, Binnsmead, Winterhaven, and SUN. As concerned as I was about my own cause, I found the concerns of the Clark and Binsmead families extremely compelling. What was being proposed for those programs seemed even more ill-conceived that what was being proposed for ours.

After sitting through that meeting, tt was quite clear to me that moving the Clark kids was a very bad idea. I have been curious how it all turned out ever since. Unfortunately it sounds like the answer is as bad as could have been predicted.

Bonnie, thanks for explaining. Guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at your anwer, but I was anyway, given the very determined unity with which the Clark community had rejected the possibility of being divided back in 2006.

Regarding the idea Steve B. suggested above, about pairing up poor schools with wealthy ones: I remember Michele Schultz suggesting something along those lines back when she ran for school board. I think she was calling it Foundation Sister Schools, or something like that. I had heard from a Bridlemile parent a few years ago that Bridlemile was sending their surplus volunteers over to Rigler to help out. So it is possible.

It could also be a big help with regard to books. Teachers in schools whose families order Scholastic Books every month get a few free books with every order—maybe more than they need. Wouldn’t it be nice if PPS set up a “mechanism” (to borrow a word from Matt Shelby) to send the extra books to teachers who don’t have any?

Reality smacked us in the face when our kids reached middle school. We clearly weren’t welcome there.

This may belong with a different post but I think parent involvement changes at the middle school level. I’m curious about what steps, if any, the district has taken to address those differences when they closed schools and created K-8s.

I’ve become pretty cynical over the years but I believe that the small schools fiasco, transfer policy, and K-8 mess were created intentionally to divide communities. No unity, no backlash.

Zarwen, your question has a two part answer.
I began at Clark in fall 2001. At that time, it was a k-5 with approximately 60% poverty and 30% non-white students. During the last 8 years, the school make up has changed drastically. We are now 82% poverty and 70% non-white students. Why? While the inner city neighborhoods have been gentrifying, the people who lived there need a place to live now. With its small starter homes and many apartments (including an incredible amount of infill over the past 5 years) we are a very affordable neighborhood.

The other factor is the k-8 configuration. When they kicked us out of our building (yes, that sounds bitter, but we were a very successful k-5 program, and our voices were ignored in the “process”) and moved us to the old Binnsmead building, the district decided to put a focus option in the Clark building.

There have been many posts about focus options, and how by virtue of the even the application process, they tend to “weed out” certain families.

After giving our new situation one year, most of our more involved families left and enrolled their students in the CSS program. Why? Well, with 740 students, the pure size of our school is difficult. Sure, it means our 7 & 8th graders get more electives, but the rest of us are feeling very overwhelmed. We have some very big kids who are loud and often unsupervised, which can be intimidating for a parent with a small child (and teachers of small children, like me)
Also, with 740 students, one could estimate that represents at least 500 households/families. That would represent at least 500 parents. If even 10% of our parents participated in the PTA, that would be, conservatively, 50 adults. If I remember correctly, I think we had less than 10 parents on the PTA. Most of them went over to the focus option school, with a mostly white population and a very large parent involvement group. Who can blame them? So few people trying to get so much done…it is tiring.

We still have a small group of committed parents who help with SUN school and volunteer individually in classrooms, but no official organization.

That is reality. I do not begrudge schools who have more involved parent groups. I am amazed, however, when I read in the Oregonian that Duniway parents have the time and energy to research how to get rid or the foam lunch trays and plastic utensils at their school. Then raise money to buy washable items and the machine to was them. THEN give enough volunteer hours to WASH the trays to make this happen.

We can’t get enough people to shelve books in the library. Or run a PTA. I have co-workers who have had to cancel field trips due to lack of parental involvement.

So the gap between rich and poor widens. The gap between the education the children in this city receive depending on where they live widens…and our district leadership has no problem with the status quo.

What happened to your PTA? I used to work at Binnsmead back when Clark was one of its feeders, and I remember a very active parent group at Clark. What happened to them? I realize that no one I knew would still be around any more, because their kids have grown up, but aren’t there any among the current families that want to help out at the school? Has the neighborhood changed that drastically over the past decade?

If you read to the end of the quote, it said, “I am being a smartass, I know, and I am sorry for that. But it is offensive to me when people who don’t know the neighborhood, don’t know the families, staff and teachers, swoop in and decide that no one has done anything to ‘help’…” etc.

Didn’t mean to offend, I am just frustrated with gentrification of my neighborhood. Obviously, not everyone who lives on the west side lives in the west hills. didn’t mean to stereotype.

In terms of comment moderation, I tend to err on the side of letting things go… to a point.

Please keep in mind, though, that the topic of discussion here is that students in poor neighborhoods get less “enrichment” (e.g. field trips) than students in wealthier neighborhoods, as observed and reported by a highly-regarded, award-winning teacher.

If others stray from discussing facts and issues, I encourage you to help steer the conversation back, as I am attempting to do here.

I’m not interested in hosting a pissing match, but I do think criticism of main stream media for not covering important issues is germane to the conversation.

Thanks.

“Indeed, those schools are catering to a clientele that could send their kids to private school.”

“After all, people in the West Hills seem to want some sort of experience where their children come in contact with the less fortunate. Maybe they would pay for the privilege of learning about life on the other side of the river for themselves. You could run some classes like explaining where main east side streets run. “Division is just up the street from Powell” etc.
You could call the whole thing — “Poorabalooza”. Charge $100 a ticket.”

“He will send the slummers to cheer on your next sporting event, satisfying both their urge to polish their own halos as well as their comfort level that minorities are best cheered on in athletics, not academics.”

“I always call them “the folks who are here to save our little brown and black brothers and sisters.”

I wasn’t derailing or denying. I came to this blog because I have many questions and serious problems with the system and instead I found bigoted stereotypes. And don’t talk to me about “privilege” since you have zero idea what your talking about in relation to me or my situation.

I’d rather be accused of being “stereotypical” than being in DENIAL that a problem actuallly exists.

I direct you to Roses comment #13 to show that stereotyping is destructive and the fact that you support it in any form undermines your credibility. People who perpetuate those ridiculous/hateful stereotypes also claim to be pointing out that “a problem actuallly (sic) exists”.
There are certainly serious inequalities here, as I know all too well and which led me to this very blog but clearly it’s only for congratulating each other and any other voices (especially if they don’t toe the line) are marginalized…nice circling of the wagons. Oh, and your attempts at silencing and shaming are right out of the privilege handbook…page 1.

Of course, all of this is a great way to find common ground, build consensus and work for change…not.