Caroline Fenn, Charles McGee and Doug Wells:
Monday evening, the Portland School Board will vote on a teacher contract that, once again, ignores the elephant in the room — Portland Public Schools’ failure to adequately educate low-income children and children of color. We encourage all Portland residents to read the contract and see what some would have us celebrate. School board members should explain what they’ve gained and what they’ve given up with this negotiation. The public deserves answers.
The district’s budget woes are real. But the bigger problem is that PPS time and again puts adult jobs and politics ahead of students’ learning and graduating. Our community and state pay a hefty price. With an overall graduation rate of 53 percent (31 percent for Hispanic, 44 percent for African American and 45 percent for poor children), our quality of life is being redefined right before our eyes.
On Dec. 20, the Black Parent Initiative, the Coalition of Black Men, Community & Parents for Public Schools, and Stand for Children asked the school district, school board and teacher association to eliminate barriers to recruiting and retaining excellent teachers and principals, and to better serve our students, in particular our students of color. Barriers exist in both the teacher contract and district policy. The Native American Youth and Family Center, Latino Network, the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, the Hispanic Chamber and a number of civic leaders soon joined with us.