School Board applicants
August 4, 2008 6:51 pm
As of the July 31 deadline for applications, five people had applied to serve out the remaining year of Dan Ryan’s zone 4 school board seat.
- Stephen Blanton, a civil engineer with Entrix, a natural resource management consulting firm,
- Steve Buel, a teacher and former Portland school board member who co-authored the Black United Front’s 1980 school desegregation plan (PPS Equity has endorsed Buel),
- Martin Gonzalez, a long-time Portland community organizer currently employed by TriMet,
- Rita Moore, a supervisor for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), and
- Mark Stephan, an associate professor in Public Affairs at Washington State University, Vancouver.
I admit to knowing very little about any of these candidates, with the exception of Buel and Gonzalez. If anybody has any information on the other candidates, please share here. Any candidates interested in writing an article to introduce themselves to the readers of this site may contact me directly at steve at ppsequity dot org.
Steve Rawley published PPS Equity from 2008 to 2010, when he moved his family out of the district.
filed under: School Board
August 5th, 2008 at 7:54 am
The school board was explicitly casting about for a “black or Hispanic male”.
Looks like they found one, so you don’t need to know anything about the other applicants. Does anyone else think this is a little offensive?
August 5th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I find myself disappointed that PPS Equity has already endorsed a PPS Board candidate while simultaneously stating “I admit to knowing very little about any of these candidates, except Buel and Gonzalez.” We owe ourselves and the candidates the respect of careful review.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
It looks pretty bad, doesn’t it Samantha?
Let me try to explain myself.
Steve Buel was the runner up in the 2005 election for the zone 4 seat. Thousands of Portlanders have already cast their vote for him for this position.
Buel also served a term on the Portland school board, and has significant direct experience in the job, specifically regarding equity (the stated “overarching” concern of PPS administration and of this Web site).
If PPS is serious about doing something about equity in our schools and appointing somebody who can hit the ground running, he’s clearly their man.
Now, if these other applicants have public credibility and policy experience in a different city, that might give me reason to reconsider my endorsement. But if any of them had these credentials in Portland, I expect I would already know about them.
(Do note that I’ve invited all candidates to introduce themselves here. My endorsement doesn’t end the discussion, on this Web site or anywhere else.)
August 5th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Rita Moore as I recall is a Winterhaven parent.
In response to Samantha, PPS Equity’s “endorsement” (and mine) was more an encouragement to two activist educators –Buel and Nancy Smith– to make themselves available for Dan Ryan’s vacant position. And to encourage the board to seriously consider them as potential replacements.
At the time, I knew nothing about an official application process or deadline.
As it stands, Steve Buel appears to be the only applicant with public school classroom experience. I believe that’s what this board needs, not bankers, consultants, engineers, or college professors.
We’ve been down that road. It’s time for a new perspective.
August 6th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
I know Rita personally. She is indeed a parent at Winterhaven and also a past site council chair. One issue that has been of great concern to her over the past few years is the way the district has been closing or otherwise punishing schools with small enrollments. I know Buel has a lot more experience, but believe me, Rita would be a good person to have there too. (Too bad we can’t have both!)
August 9th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
I think that it is great that Rita is concerned about closure of schools with small enrollments. In fact I too am concerned about the closure of any school. But, that sounds like one issue and I don’t exactly see where that fits in on the “over-arching” discussion about equity. Where does she stand on the transfer policy, or the fact that there is no middle school option in the Jefferson Cluster? These are going to be hot topic issues and we need someone who is prepared to bring the “real” equity agenda to the table.