http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2008/09/19/amanda_fritz_and_charles_lewis Comments On: Amanda Fritz and Charles Lewis Debate at City Club by Amy J. Ruiz en-us Copyright 2009 Portland Mercury. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Portland Mercury readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Portland Mercury. webmaster@portlandmercury.com (Portland Mercury Webmaster) Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 -0800 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:45:00 -0800 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
But this has absolutely nothing do do with Jefferson's under-enrollment. The Jefferson cluster is still one of the largest high school clusters in Portland by population.

Lewis was flat-out wrong.

I'm not arguing against magnet schools. Jefferson used to be one, and it was destroyed. That was a real shame.

Sten's Schools, Families, Housing Initiative was a one-time, $1 million band-aid on a $40 million problem (the approximate amount of funding flowing out of the Jefferson, Madison, Marshall and Roosevelt clusters every year due to student transfers).

The real problem is that PPS refuses to provide equity of opportunity for Portland's least-wealthy students and neighborhoods, even as it claims to seek equity of outcomes. While the council has no direct control over district policy, commissioners should at least have a basic understanding of the problems facing PPS.
Posted by Steve R.]]> Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:06:21 -0700 Portland Mercury
You are mistaken in your analysis of Lewis' comments. I was at the debate too, and Lewis talked about low-income families being forced out of the inner-city because of the high cost of housing -- a trend that is undeniably true.

Your argument against magnet schools would only apply if students transferred to magnets within the same school district, not entirely different school districts. Over 11,000 students have left the Portland Public School District in the past 10 years because they followed cheaper housing (like near the David Douglas School District that is now bursting at the seams).

This problem is exactly why Eric Sten championed the Schools, Families, Housing Initiative. Affordable housing is imperative for keeping families (and therefore students) in Portland.

Steph
Posted by stephin83]]> Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:42:41 -0700 Portland Mercury
Jefferson High School is not "1/4 full" because people can't afford to live in the neighborhood. In fact, 1600 PPS high school students live in the Jefferson attendance area. The problem is that PPS has allowed these students to transfer to other neighborhood and special focus schools, while they've simultaneously destroyed most of the programs that used to distinguish Jefferson as an arts magnet school.
Posted by Steve R.]]> Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:05:51 -0700 Portland Mercury