Blast from the past: Does PPS know what it's doing?

(Thanks to Lakeitha Elliott)

Yesterday I wrote that the last reconfiguration of Jefferson High School had "been no less than disastrous."

Portland Public Schools board member Ruth Adkins agrees, or at least she did three years ago when she co-authored this Tribune op-ed piece bemoaning that newspaper's support for school closures and the dismantling of "successful" small school programs at Jeff:

"As we ... pointed out..., the previous round of reforms and special academic programs were working well including the highest increase in test scores of any school in the city ... . There was no need to throw all this work and dedication out the window and start from scratch.

"Moreover, how do we know the new programs/academies will actually result in increased enrollment... [?]  ... more than 70 percent of Jefferson-area parents who send their children outside the neighborhood were never surveyed as to what would bring them back.

"Unfortunately, it appears that Jeff is headed toward privatization... .Privatization is threatening our district: increased numbers of charter schools, private foundation/grant money influencing major policy decisions, and a top-down 'business' model for our schools."

The piece proved prescient.  Jefferson's enrollment has flatlined.  One of its single sex academies has closed.  Test scores (for whatever they're worth) and graduation rates haven't improved.  Academic offerings are scant.

So much for the reform of Jefferson.

The community at Saturday's gathering realize what's happened.  And that's why they demand a return to a comprehensive* high school like those found in wealthier areas of the city.

The question remains:  Is the district listening?

*(Small schools within schools are not at all incompatible with comprehensive academic and elective offerings.  The key is to allow students in small communities of learning, which typically focus on core academics, access to course offerings within the larger school.) 

Comments

[Nancy R.]

Here is the note I sent out to the listservs and all the usual suspects...

Hi all, we have been dealing with aftermath of death in our family, so Steve and I did not attend the forum yesterday. I am still unclear as to why there is no music teacher at Jefferson, no band, Spanish only and no other foreign languages (other than French at Tubman only), no AP classes or IB program. I, too, do not understand why Jefferson Dancers are allowed to attend just the dance program without being enrolled at Jeff.

(These are all are things my community has been "promised." None are things that we should have to "fight" for.)

We should not have to start at square one with every single discussion. It is exhausting, depressing and a waste of all of our valuable time. In the meantime, I am being told by my children's school that our 4th & 5th graders will attend Starbase next year.

http://www.mil.state.or.us/StarbaseOR/StarbasePDX/starbase.html

Its intent is "to raise the interest and improve the knowledge and skills of at-risk youth in math, science, and technology by exposing them to the technological environment and positive role models found on military bases and installations."

I told our principal that I am aware that my oldest child and her friends will be 18 in 8 years -- prime age for military recruitment. I am sure that the U.S. military is also aware of this. The college center at Jeff is littered with literature from the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines.

By denying our students the free K-12 education they are entitled to, PPS may be forcing them down paths they might not otherwise take. What can we do to change things? Immediately, and not in that elusive "sometime down the road"?

Best,

Nancy Rawley

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