Comments on: In the news: Botana weighs in

By: Steve Buel

Steve Buel — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:39:35 +0000

PPS still uses test scores as the goal for improving their schools. And Botana seems to be fine with this. Major problem.

By: John B. Tang

John B. Tang — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 07:07:17 +0000

With all due respect to Mr. Xavier Botana whom everyone in the upper echelon at PPS seems to be looking up to for decision-making, there is a huge learning curve for him. I think he does have an idea and vision for PPS but it will take a while to learn about the City of Portland and the State of Oregon. He reminds me a little bit of Dr. Jack Bierwirth who came from the East Coast and Jack did not really appreciate Portland very much. Mr. Botana is a little bit on the arrogant side very much like Jack but he is the best we have to work with Special Ed and ESL to turn things around for these students. Let’s hope he continues to get the support he needs to do his job and/or he is happy with Portland to stay a for a little while to get the job done. I would say give this guy a chance before he gets turned off too much by us.

By: S. Wilcox

S. Wilcox — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:35:07 +0000

As a teacher who has spent the last 500 some odd days without a contract, I would like to say that you can be sure that this farce of a redesign plan has had an impact on negotiations. Correction, non-negotiations. There are none. The district should have ONE focus right now. And that is negotiating a contract with its teachers (but wait, I think their lead negotiator quit). And, ironically enough, there is a post on the PPS employee web page soliciting our help in finding a new one. You cannot make this stuff up, folks.

By: Steve Buel

Steve Buel — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:52:43 +0000

I am going with a combination of ineptness and trying to postpone the pain of making a real decision.

Every time I talk to an administrator about the redesign they say the plan they are putting forth might not be the plan. When someone asked a specific question at the meeting I was at the answer was generally, “We’re not sure about that yet.” Lots of wiggle room to go with the political aspects I guess.

By: Zarwen

Zarwen — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:35:12 +0000

This is why I think the whole thing is smoke and mirrors. It’s not about “redesigning” anything . . . it’s just a song-and-dance prelude to the announcement of school closures so they can sell the properties to the developers. I will be totally shocked if there are any significant changes to enrollment policies or course offerings at any of the remaining schools.

Sorry if I’m too cynical for some of you out there, but I’ve been watching PPS since long before the K-8 debacle (which was already fixed, according to PPS!), and everything I’ve seen so far points to the outcome I described. We’ve already seen school board members hedging on the E & T policy . . . if that isn’t the FIRST thing changed, then nothing else will either.

By: cb

cb — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:27:06 +0000

I agree, it would be so incredibly painful to have to move while a junior or senior in high school. But can you see any way around that? I can’t. Without the critical mass there can be no program without huge expenditure … and we don’t have the funding. PPS needs to address this. They need to be up front in telling us that all students will have to return to their neighborhood (or new neighborhood) school, OR they will have to show us how they can support/fund/provide that full and enriching program without enough students in the building.

By: Steve Rawley

Steve Rawley — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:53:11 +0000

cb, this question should be addressed by PPS. I hope they address it soon, because it is certainly one of the most frightening questions for families with current (or near future) HS students. (I know one student at a school rumored to be closing who is very demoralized, and wanting to transfer out before her school closes.)

My plan would not be to attempt all four grades at once, but phase it in starting in ninth grade. I think it would be a disaster to force families back to their neighborhood schools in the middle of a four-year HS career.

Actually, my plan would have been to conceive of a full K-12 system first, and then plan a phased implementation. But PPS has yet to demonstrate any kind of system-wide K-12 vision.

This HS plan is the closest they’ve come, but it only affects a quarter of the total system.

By: cb

cb — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:41:05 +0000

Hi Steve,
I don’t know how PPS can allow students to be grandfathered into their current schools. In order for their program to be up and running on the first day of school Sept 2011, they need a full ~1350 students at all grades in the building. That’s the only way they can support the full curriculum, the electives, the 2 languages, the 10-16 AP courses.

If they try to phase it in year-by-year they will have another K-8 type fiasco where there are not enough students to support the program. Not enough students, not enough FTE, no electives, AP, etc.

By: Steve Rawley

Steve Rawley — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:25:11 +0000

Here’s another place where more specificity from the district would help: will existing transfers be grandfathered (one would hope!), or will they be forced immediately back to their neighborhood school, as some fear?

I have always advocated for the former; this is why two years ago I proposed starting with elementary schools and phasing upwards. Far less disruptive for all, and much more logical and progressive.

But the elephant in the room is the big facilities bond the board wants to get going on. They can’t do that until they know how many high schools they’re going to have, and they can’t know that until they get high school redesign settled.

Again, not the order I’d be doing things in if it were up to me, especially given what an incoherent mess our middle grades are in.

By: h.j.

h.j. — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:43:28 +0000

Does anyone have the figures for how much individual high schools raise through their Foundations/PTA’s? I read Lincoln raised half a million last year through their Foundation. Even if 1/3 of it goes to The Portland Public Schools Foundation, that certainly buys Lincoln a lot more FTE than the rest of the high schools. And that doesn’t even begin to address PTA money that can be applied to special programs. CB, I’m not convinced that transfer families will go back willingly to their neighborhood high schools just because PPS demands it. Does anyone know if PPS has surveyed transfer families to find out how they would respond if open enrollment was eliminated?