Ruth on the issues

As a Portland School Board member, I will:

What can we do together to achieve these goals? This great city and its wonderful children are worth every effort. Please click on the list below to read where I stand on specific issues affecting our children, schools, and neighborhoods.

 

As an advocate for schools citywide, I have not been afraid to speak out when I have disagreed with District proposals and policies. City and school district leaders cannot create and sustain a successful school system for Portland unless they work in genuine collaboration with the community--families, teachers, staff, and neighbors. There is much to celebrate and lots of good news in Portland Public Schools. I look forward to working in partnership with the Board, Superintendent, and staff to make our school district the best it can be.

If you have questions or comments, write me at ruthadkins <at> msn.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Advocate for stable, adequate school funding

Oregon's future depends on all our children receiving an excellent education every year. We cannot afford to shortchange public education and we cannot afford to wait.

We need School Board members to be strong advocates for school funding. I have gone to Salem many times over the past several years, as a mom and PTA member — most recently, with my entire family for the Feb. 19 rally at the Capitol organized by Stand for Children.

A Jan. 7 Oregonian newspaper story highlighted me as a parent activist eager for progress from the newly elected Legislature.

I’ve written letters to the editor and to legislators, lobbied in person, and organized other parents to do the same. As an elected Portland School Board member, I will renew and strengthen my efforts to influence the Governor and Legislature to re-invest in quality education for Oregon’s children.

I will join the Board and Superintendent and our business and community leaders to lobby in Salem for funding that is tied to the Quality Education Model established by the Legislature in 2001. Our state has yet to meet those mandated standards, designed to get at least 90% of our children to benchmark. We need serious tax reform and political will to make this happen. I will lobby for realistic, fair solutions like increasing the $10 corporate tax (based on size of the company) and eliminating the corporate kicker. We must invest in quality education for Oregon's children and our common future.

 

Ensure equal opportunity for all students, in all neighborhoods

As a Portland School Board member, I will make sure that “closing the achievement gap” is not just a slogan. Lower-income families and students of color must have access to the same great education that my own three children have received in Portland Public Schools. If any child in Portland gets short-changed of a quality education, then we all lose.

One size or type of school does not fit all. Families need to be able to seek the best fit and the best opportunities for their individual child. We have some truly outstanding focus option and alternative programs in Portland Public Schools, along with our wonderful neighborhood schools. However, the opportunity to transfer to a “better” school across town doesn’t necessarily help students’ achievement, and it certainly doesn’t help strengthen neighborhood schools. Bottom line: low-income children shouldn't have to travel across town to get a decent public education.

The Multnomah County/Portland auditors' June 2006 report, "Portland Public Schools Student Transfer System: District objectives not met" states:

Our audit determined that the transfer system was not able to mitigate the moderate ethnic and socioeconomic segregation in Portland’s neighborhoods or meet the Board’s diversity and equity goals. Further, due to the increasing complexity each year, we do not believe that the system is as open and transparent as it could be. Because the transfer policy competes with other Board policies such as strong neighborhood schools and investing in poor performing schools, we urge the Board to clarify the purpose of the school choice system.

The School Board has yet to follow up this report with the needed comprehensive review of the transfer system. As a school board member, I will make this a priority, paying close attention to the issues raised by the auditors.

Every Portland Public Schools policy needs to take into account how all students will be impacted, not just those in the middle class who happen to have the most power and the strongest voice. No more “trickle-down” education policies!

Let's not experiment with our kids. Imposing top-down educational “reforms” like uniforms and single-sex academies in just one part of town and not the rest, is fundamentally inequitable. If we are considering ideas like uniforms, it should be discussed citywide, not just for the one high school in Portland that is majority African-American.

I will also work for transparency and equity in the funding and resources available to schools. We must address the imbalances between schools: some are able to "buy back" teaching positions and enrich their children's learning environment, but many schools do not have the resources to fundraise. Adequate funding at the state level is the key, but we also have work to do locally to ensure that students in every school get the quality education they deserve.

 

Establish a reasonable school size policy

I've been working on this issue for some time and I will make it a priority on the School Board. Are schools of 400-600 the best or only size of school we can have in Portland Public Schools? I think not. Should we continue to sell off our historic school buildings, the heart of our neighborhoods? Not without a compelling reason to do so, and significant community input.

We need a community-based, long-term plan for our school buildings--maintaining and preserving our historic buildings, remodeling or building new ones where needed, creating new partnerships with the community to strengthen our schools. Let's not destroy our proud heritage of neighborhood schools.

For more detail on the school size issue, see below for the online petition I recently circulated and a letter I wrote to the Oregonian in 2004.

Letter to Oregonian on school size

Here is a letter I wrote to the Oregonian in February 2004:

Thanks very much for your article on Deborah Meier and small schools. While the article focused on creating smaller high schools, it's important to note that the benefits of small schools are equally evident at the elementary and middle school levels.

The State of Oregon's research on small schools has shown that elementary schools in the 200-300 size range not only tend to have better educational outcomes for kids, they do not cost any more to operate than larger schools. And, as Ms. Meier pointed out, the total long-term cost is actually lower, since kids who have benefited from a smaller learning environment are significantly more likely to end up graduating from high school.

At a time when PPS is considering closing smaller elementary schools for the sake of "efficiency" -- despite their outstanding achievement and strong community support -- we must not lose sight of the compelling educational and fiscal reasons for keeping these nurturing, successful, community-based programs open in our Portland neighborhoods. Closing neighborhood schools and busing kids to consolidated "mega-schools" is not a viable strategy if PPS wishes to increase achievement, spend its money wisely, and keep families in the public system.

Smaller schools located in smaller buildings are efficient and "right-sized" -- they should be left alone so that staff and parents can focus on education rather than having to constantly fight for their existence. In larger buildings, the district can "co-locate" administrative staff or rent extra space to community programs. Smaller schools work for Portland's children. They should be nurtured and celebrated, not threatened.

Sincerely,

Ruth Adkins

Petition on school size policy

http://www.petitiononline.com/smallsch/petition.html

To:  Portland Public Schools

We, the undersigned residents of Portland, call upon the School Board and Superintendent Vicki Phillips to put a temporary halt on the Portland Public Schools (PPS) 400-600 school size “policy” for elementary school programs.

• Both neighborhood schools and focus options are being forced to conform to a size requirement that often makes little sense in terms of the size or location of our school buildings, educational programs, enrollment area, or what many "customers" (parents) are looking for in a school. One size does not fit all.
• Many parents are opting for charter and private schools specifically because of their small size. If the 400-600 "policy" is fully carried out, the only smaller school options in Portland will be charters and private schools. This will severely undermine PPS, as parents seeking a smaller school environment will go elsewhere.
• Currently there are nearly 20 elementary schools in Portland below 400 in size, averaging about 320 students. What is the plan for each of these schools? How many will be closed?
• Focus option programs, including Winterhaven and Creative Science School, are being told they must grow to 400-600 students. They are facing upheaval and uncertainty created by the size requirement. Will other focus option programs soon be thrown into similar disarray because they are not “big enough”?
• Because no citywide, specific, long-range plan has been disclosed for bringing all schools into compliance with the 400-600 size requirement, no one knows where the axe will fall next. This uncertainty undermines both schools and neighborhoods.
• Any short-term savings from closing, consolidating, and otherwise disrupting schools will only accelerate a downward spiral in enrollment, and at $7,000 per student, each family lost to poor decisions and instability further undermines PPS.
• Requiring families to travel longer distances to larger schools also has a negative impact on our community: decreased ability for parents and community members to volunteer at schools; increased transportation costs; and increased pollution, fuel consumption, and traffic congestion.
• Many children do well in larger learning environments; others do not. While excellent learning can certainly take place in 400-600 student schools, much research supports the short-term and long-term benefits of smaller learning environments.
• The official justification for forcing schools to conform to a 400-600 size is that this will enable PPS to consistently provide smaller class sizes and “extras” like PE, art, and music. Theoretical economies of scale may be possible in a larger elementary school, but in fact are rarely achieved. In reality, the only thing that will make it possible for PPS to provide a high-quality program and smaller class sizes in every school is to restore adequate school funding from Salem.

The elected School Board must call a time-out on the 400-600 size policy. We need a full, public policy discussion of school size, and a long-term plan for stable, quality public schools in every neighborhood of this city.

Foster open, collaborative decision making involving the community

As a Portland School Board member, I will work with in partnership with the community, Portland Public Schools teachers & staff, the Superintendent, and the School Board to help improve the decision making process and connect better with the community.

We need to find a balance in the decision making process for Portland Public Schools. Too much “process” and endless discussion isn’t helpful if we are to move forward and make progress in Portland Public Schools. Our children shouldn’t have to wait to get the best education they deserve. But at the same time, moving too quickly and without truly involving and engaging the public risks poor outcomes and an alienated community, which undermines the progress we are all trying to make.

Major decisions such as conversion to K-8, standardized curriculum, and school consolidations & closures have a profound impact on our schools and neighborhoods. The Board and Superintendent must make sure they are proceeding prudently and are including the public in the process. Let's preserve and build upon what is already working well in our school district.

Too often, the public is brought in to comment or react to a proposed policy that is already far along the road toward implementation. This top-down approach tends to create an unnecessarily adversarial situation. Quite simply, top-down doesn’t work in Portland.

Another issue is the speed at which major decisions and sweeping changes are being pushed through in Portland Public Schools. Again, we need to find a balance: while it’s important to keep moving forward on all fronts, we also need to make sure we are making the best possible decisions — decisions that make sense in terms of financial impact, are backed by the professional experience of educators, and above all will improve the quality of education for all our children. If a major change is worth doing, it’s worth doing right.

Just a few improvements in decision-making processes I will work for as a Board member:

Increase school enrollment and strengthen neighborhoods

As a Portland School Board member, I will champion a positive, proactive, citywide effort to increase enrollment in Portland Public Schools. Instead of reacting to demographic shifts and the departure of families to the suburbs with destructive and self-defeating closures and consolidations, let’s focus on stabilizing and improving both schools and our city.

Let’s all work together — Portland Public Schools, the City, Metro, the County, neighborhoods, the business community, parents, teachers, and staff — to retain and attract families to our public schools.

Here are just a few of the positive ideas for increasing enrollment that I will work for as a School Board member:

Keep a watchful eye on how our tax dollars are spent

As a working parent trying to make ends meet, I am extremely mindful of where my hard-earned tax dollars go. We have been incredibly fortunate here in Portland to have strong support for schools from taxpayers, including those without children in schools and those on fixed incomes already stretched thin by taxes and expenses. Thank you, Portland, for digging deep to keep quality schools in our city! Investing in schools makes sense not just because it is the right thing to do for our children, but because strong schools drive a stronger local economy. Our investment in education also pays off fiscally with a more productive citizenry, with fewer needs for social services and fewer people in prison.

But we need to make sure that money we as a community are putting into education is being spent wisely--with the major focus always being on excellence in the classroom. The good news is Portland Public Schools currently spends only 4% of its budget on central administration. The Board, and the public, need to be continually vigilant to make sure our money is being spent well.

In my role as PTA president, I was responsible for overseeing the budget and was accountable to our members for how their money was spent. Every spending decision needed to take into account the best interests of all children at the school. I will follow the same principle and accountability as a School Board member responsible for approving and overseeing the Portland Public Schools budget.

I will work in partnership with the teacher's union to make sure that we are providing our teachers a competitive, fair compensation package so that we can continue to attract and retain the best teachers in the profession. Balancing the need to contain costs to the taxpayers with the need to compensate our teachers fairly is an ongoing dialogue, and one that I will enter with an open and fair mind.