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I’ll be taking a two week break from this blog to help my youngest child (and myself) prepare for her move out of state for college.

Once again…I’m inviting anyone interested in writing a guest post to contact me at carrie.adams@comcast.net.  I’m sure I’ve missed some stories or issues that others would like to share!

I’ll return to the blog on August 9th.

Congratulations to state representative Ben Cannon (district 46) for being chosen as one of Willamette Week’s 2010 Best People.  Ben won the Best Politician Money Cannot Buy category.  His district includes Marshall High School.

Carole Smith’s contract is up for renewal on October 1, 2010. 

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Lincoln has publicly entered the school closure discussion.  The Lincoln Stand for Children representative just testified before the board encouraging them to consolidate schools now.  She told board members not to cave to political pressure.  Lincoln can’t withstand the kinds of cuts the superintendent has proposed. 

The Lincoln Long Term Development Committee  wants to build a brand new high school.  Let’s consolidate following Option 7B.  Close Lincoln first!

There was a time when I sympathized with the PPS superintendent and board as they made what I believed to be difficult budget cuts.  My views on that changed while I was working at the PPS Central Office. 

The superintendent doesn’t have to make all of the cuts she’s proposing.  District administrators haven’t heard the expression take care of your pennies and your dollars will take care of themselves.  Complain about district administrators holding meetings at hotels and a PPS Communications representative will be there defending the practice because it’s just a drop in the budget bucket. 

Just as predictable as the annual sky is falling cry is the manner in which the cuts will be made. 

Pay attention to all Central Office cuts.  Superintendent Smith has recommended cutting 5 Central Office Communications positions.  It won’t be Robb or Sara or Lolenzo or Matt…the lowest level staff will be cut.  Staff that make less than the cost of a hotel contract for administrator meetings.

School board members:

I am writing to again urge you to reconsider your plan to close John Marshall High School. My neighborhood, Lents, has worked so hard on developing a sense of identity and on fostering economic vitality through education. Sending students at least 30 minutes each way on buses to central Portland will be a significant hurdle to eastside redevelopment and to the goal of creating 20 minute neighborhoods.

Also, I would call your attention to a PPS report School Profiles and Enrollment Data 2008/09 (pages 121-123) showing minority enrollment in the city’s attendance zone. I think it’s quite clear that a move to shutter Jefferson or Marshall would be met with civil rights questions at the U.S. Department of Education.

You’ve heard plenty of testimony on this by now, so I won’t take too much more of your time. So I ask again — change the boundary over to DDSD, keep us open with fewer students from PPS, but don’t derail the civic redevelopment in my neighborhood.

Thanks,

Nick Christensen

I’m going to take a few days off.  Anyone wanting to submit posts can email them to me at carrie.adams@comcast.net.

Rich Rodgers puts the school closure issue into perspective in “Things We Might Cut Before We Close High Schools”.  The following excerpt is from his post on  BlueOregon:

In fact, the instructional costs for every high school in PPS total $60.5 million–less than 10% of the overall budget for the district! Compare this, for example, to $145.9 million in non-instructional support services. While this $145.9 million includes essential line items like principals, utilities, custodial, maintenance and student transportation, a staggering $35.9 million goes to HR, information technology, and public information. The Superintendent’s office alone costs more than $4.5 million this year, with a request to boost the budget to $4.75 million for the next fiscal year.

Recently when PPS board member Trudy Sargent was asked if she represents the Marshall cluster, she responded by saying “well I live on Mt. Tabor.”  And?  She must have forgotten that she was nominated for Zone 6 which includes Marshall.  She needs to check her PPS bio for a map  of the area.  The Marshall cluster needs some representation.