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PDXdesigner's comments:
on Our High School
Another creative idea the district will ignore because this re-design is about closing schools, not delivering curriculum. Curriculum equity is a smoke screen.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on Our High School
mertz-
There is a difference between this re-design and the rushed Vicki Phillips K-8 redesign. In the K-8 re-design PPS was upfront about the fact that they were closing schools.
Another difference is now we know enrollment is rising in lower grades and we know, from recent experience, how cost savings are more than off-set by losing enrollment from disgruntled parents leaving the district or going to private school.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on Our High School
On-line schools do not teach socialization and with diabetes and obesity at an all-time high among children, I think teaching sport and other outdoor physical activities is a critical part of a school day.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on Our High School
In addition, there are many examples from the “American economy” where there is not competition, don’t you remember those “no-bid” contracts Cheney gave Haliburton?
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on Our High School
The answer to this question is that in business competition results in most businesses failing due to competition. We cannot afford to have a large part of our schools fail due to competition. The schools of the well-off, like Lincoln HS, will always be able win if they are allowed to buy teachers and programs beyond the normal funding levels. We need to level the playing field between schools.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on Our High School
Fulfill Past Promises FIRST
Portland’s high schools are built on a foundation of feeder schools, like middle schools, elementary schools and K-8s. PPS needs to fix the lower feeder schools before it can redesign the high schools. If not, PPS will build the high schools reflecting a broken foundation of inequitable lower schools and so schools like Lincoln would be built larger than want is actually needed for Lincoln neighborhood. While other parts of the city would loose their high school completely.
The last schools redesign rushed through by Vicki Phillips, left lower grade schools all over the city in disarray and over-crowed. PPS is spending millions more dollars on more and more portable trailer classrooms, a high school shuffle and busing children all over town, instead PPS needs to fulfill the promises made in the LAST re-design, before make NEW promises of equity.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on Our High School
Enrollment is actually rising in the lower grades we should not size our schools to fit a historic low in enrollment.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on Our High School
The stated motivation for Portland’s high school re-design is that there needs to be a “critical mass” of students at each school to support teachers for expanded curriculum like classes of IB or AP, but the district never talks about sharing teachers between schools. A teacher could teach AP at Franklin in the morning and AP at Marshall in the afternoon with half of the “critical mass” that the district is stating.
It would be much more efficient and green to have some teachers change schools mid-day, than to bus hundreds of children to new larger schools, and deny certain neighborhoods proper access to a comprehensive high school.
Larger high schools are great if an area needs a large high school, but there are more creative and efficient way of expanding curriculum within our current schools, if that is what the district actually wants.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on Rethinking Schools
We need excellence and flexibility in curriculum in all schools, and not just a few charter schools. Charter schools often exacerbate inequities that exist between programs and encourage parents to drive their children across town daily. We need more support for elementary schools to which children can walk or bike, schools that reinforce their neighborhood community by connecting neighbors of all ages.
What would be innovative in Oregon is more State money getting more teachers in front of students. We need more money going to pre-K, and full time kindergarten in all schools, and less money to administration and consultants.
posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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on State of the City
The city has a long history of providing funds and planning for public schools. Most of our current school building were planned for by the City of Portland.
If the city can pay for a Tram for a private corporation, it can help build schools.
posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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on State of the City
posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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on State of the City
With current economic conditions, shouldn’t Mr. Adams change his goal of a public paid yearly trip to Europe and Asia, to travel just when absolutely necessary?
posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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on State of the City
Why did Mr. Adams take off-line his “First 100 Days" document listing his commitments and what he plans to accomplish in these 100 days?
Here:
http://www.portlandonline.com/mayor/100days.html
This compounds my mistrust.
posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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