Academy Ignored
Parents’ Progress Report on the Latest Effort to Attract Jeff Kids: We want out.
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 Willie Holmes: The principal of the Young Men’s Academy faces unhappy parents and a lean budget. IMAGE: Amy Ouellette |
[December 5th, 2007]
Ten months before Portland Public Schools opened the doors to its newest rejigger of Jefferson High School, then-principal Leon Dudley told district administrators and School Board members he already had concerns that math classes for some students would be inadequate.
Yet when the first bell rang in September at the John H. Johnson Leadership Academy for Young Men, a small school for boys housed at Jefferson, there was no certified math teacher. That’s still true today.
Due to a strict district staffing formula that gives schools a certain number of teachers based on how many students are enrolled, the Young Men’s Academy got just three teachers to cover everything from language arts to algebra—from the elementary- to the high-school level. That’s one more than the formula requires.
Today, about 55 boys in the sixth through ninth grades attend the North Portland school, which was supposed to offer a “rigorous college preparatory curriculum,” according to marketing material.
Now, parents of at least 10 percent of the students want out. They’re on the verge of transferring their boys—midway through the semester—because the school can’t offer adequate instruction in the basics, they say.
“It’s getting to the point where I’m ready to pull my sons out,” says Jerry Lincoln, who has two boys, in the sixth and seventh grades. “The School Board needs to support the school a lot more.”
But because the program’s future success depends on having more students at the school, administrators have already tried to block some parents from taking advantage of what’s known as a “hardship” transfer. One mother granted such a transfer for her son was then told the district preferred coming up with a plan to keep her son at Jeff.
“That has been the overall strategy,” says Cynthia Harris, the school’s top administrator. As of Monday, six students had petitioned to leave the school so far this year. Only one has been given permission.
That resistance has further angered some mothers and fathers.
“They can’t define a parents’ responsibility to make decisions for their children,” says one mother, who refused to be identified. “The Young Men’s Academy lacks everything.”
The unrest is discouraging because:
- The district spent $30,000 in grant money from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to recruit students and plan a curriculum beginning in January.
- Brochures promised classes in business and law that haven’t been put in place.
- The district has made exceptions to its staffing formula to add extra teachers elsewhere, such as the Winterhaven K-8 magnet school last year, when it used the district’s general revenue money to pay one bonus teacher’s salary.
- Parents and community leaders have been working back channels without success since September to make improvements for their children.
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“The district has had enough time to address the staffing problem,” says Jeff Miller, president of the Portland Association of Teachers union.
Many problems, however, remain. A teacher certified in science is also teaching math, a class one eighth-grader called pure “craziness” because students throw markers and otherwise disrupt instruction nearly every day.
The teacher is well meaning and kind but seemingly unprepared, parents say. She has written numerous disciplinary referrals this year, according to the district.
The new academy’s principal, Willie Holmes, who must attend meetings off campus, frequently is unavailable to assist teachers with lunch duty or disciplinary problems, according to one teacher. There is no Saturday School, no law class and no emphasis on careers in the sports industry, as promised. The school has, however, found new lunchroom space for the academy so boys aren’t mixing with older students from the two other academies at Jeff, which include girls.
Holmes, who was recruited from Texas to lead the school, doesn’t blame parents for considering leaving. He understands what they’re facing. “We need more resources for a better program,” Holmes says. “What I have to do is use what I have.”
Some parents are holding out hope that change is imminent. But in a testament to how sensitive the issue has become, only one out of the five dissatisfied parents interviewed by WW was willing to be identified.
“It’s a new school and there are going to be some bumps in the road,” one father says. “People are doing the best that they can. I don’t want to be negative.”
Another father says he’s ready to abandon the experiment. “I don’t want my son at a school that’s going down,” he says.
Carole Smith, the new superintendent who’s often said the academies at Jeff will be “great,” now says administrators are doing what they can, but she avoids talking about “details.” Miller of the teachers’ union says the answer is obvious.
“The solution has to be in one shape or form to give the school more staff,” Miller says. “To expect one teacher to teach 14-year-old kids four or five subjects is completely unrealistic.”
Finally, a story that depicts the frustrations and genuine concerns of parents with students attending the so-called Jefferson? academies. Beth Slovic should be commended for her journalistic integrity and ability to connect with the folks who matter the most, parents and their children. Another, BRAVO for Beth Slovic. What would education reporting in Portland, Oregon be without her authentic voice?
Seriously, if PPS wants to solve this problem, they need either multiple-certified teachers, or they need to share teachers with the other "academies" in the building.
For that matter, allocating FTE to each "academy" separately is a stupid idea in the first place. If all the students are counted together, then they can share their common needs, including basic academics, PE and arts classes.
Oh wait--that would be a comprehensive high school, and PPS has determined that low-income children can't perform well in those!
The district doesn't want Jefferson to succeed. They want to close the school and sell the land to PCC to redevelop. And they're doing an excellent job of driving all the families away so they can justify closing the school.
Quote of the Year!
"...a class one eighth-grader called pure “craziness” because students throw markers and otherwise disrupt instruction nearly every day."
An "authentic" reporter would have taken the time and had the professionalism to observe this math-science teacher's class, in person, more than once, and reported on what she saw with her own eyes.
But, heck, sleazy is easy! Just ask Fox News.
I had high hopes for the YMA and if they were adequately staffed, the problems described in the article would have been more easily managed. My son was targeted by older kids who kicked him and called him names if a teacher had to step out of the classroom, and sometimes did it when the teacher was present. My son's description of the classroom paints it as general mayhem... not a learning environment. I feel for the teachers, they have a lot on their hands, but my son is not going back. YMA is a school that could make a huge positive impact on a needy community, but without more resources, the school will fail and take a group of young men down the drain with it.
Sid, does that mean you don't trust middle schoolers? Isn't that quite a statement coming from a middle-school teacher?
So you didn't make any personal observations? And you must not be a parent or a middle school teacher as well. One thing a good parent, teacher or administrator learns is that middle school kids think in group think and are in a complex state of mental being. It's really better to get first hand evidence if your life or CREDIBILITY is dependent on a middle schoolers point of view. This is just intelligent and wise.
This article definitely shows how light can be in the form of misinformation, partial information, slanted information. Our current media has dropped in quality for just this reason, creating "news" that really has some agenda, that is a tool of those trying to make some kind of a statement, letting partial truth and misinformation in the guise of "shedding light" and "reporting" give a false impression to the public. Disappointing. We know there is a lot that wasn't shared that changes the tone of the reporting. Is this another form of discrimination?
I feel the parents should file a lawsuit against the Portland Public School District and the State Board of Education in Federal Court. Enough is enough doing Jefferson High School wrong.
I feel for the students, families and struggling staff. I worked there for 20 years and also am a parent of a graduate. I (and others) know firsthand and love what Jefferson used to be and can identify what it would take to be "restored". The necessary resources, both financial and human, are simply not available, and even if they were, there are too many district needs to direct them all to just one school - true restoration CANNOT, CANNOT be done. The recent efforts are like restoring a classic car with parts from other makes and models of cars and calling it the same. It might run, but its classic history has become a burden rather than an asset.
The district needs to apologize to everyone for what it has both caused and allowed to happen to Jefferson in the last 10 to 15 years. Then it needs to honor all those, including students, who have been determined to succeed in spite of ongoing problems. Finally, straight talk needs to happen about the future - either close the school or lay out the "five loaves and 2 fish" on the table, see how far that has to go, come up with a clear, sustainable plan that will work for students and families within those limitations (not just avoid NCLB sanctions and community criticism by playing reorganizational dodge ball), and ask EVERY BOARD MEMBER and all district administrators directly involved to sign a personal commitment of action to make it happen. The district owes this to students, parents, taxpayers, and all those who have contributed years of extraordinary efforts. The first rule of education should be, as in First Aid, "First, do no harm." Sadly, that has not been the case at Jefferson in the last decade and I still don't see any rainbow on the horizon.
Thanks, Mary, for telling it like it is. I have often had similar thoughts. But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that apology.
I trust most middle schoolers, but they are still adolescents, Beth. You know that as a woman, right?
And, it was an anonymous "cheap shot" in an otherwise well-reported article.
I won awards at KGW-TV for following-up stories and never giving up.
The folo here is clear -- and I'll give it to you for free -- why does BESC force principals to leave their schools as much as two full days a week?
How is a principal supposed to run a school when they are being bored to death in Powerpoint meetings in sub-basement meeting rooms on Dixon?
That's your folo -- for free.
Thanks Ms.Slovic. Please, don't let-up on the PPS. I know it's not ALL there fault, there are things all of us can do. A good education, just shouldn't have to be this difficult.
Think out of the box. There are specialist in the building. Don't use dedicated FTE, move specialist into the academy for a period or let qualified students attend hs advanced math classes. Use value of one FTE to hire hourly employees. Several other options.
I think the problem is the students act terrible. Throwing marks at the teacher, kick the criminals out so the good students call learn. I have been watching for over fifteen years, its not the school district. They have brought in new this and new that and nothing changes. Its the same type of student that has stayed the same. Until that changes Jeff will stay at the bottom in test scores. Also, why aren't the parents cracking down on their children regarding the marks being thrown. I guess it is easier to blame someone else when their kids grow up and act bad.
How does this article help the situation Beth?
A reporter's job is to report, not to offer solutions. Keeping this situation in the light and in public is in itself helpful.
Teens lie. It's part of growing up. Deal with it. I do.
At this stage, Willamette Week has enough resources that it could loan out somebody on staff on a temporary, part-time basis to help with instruction at the Academy. Sometimes local businesses should get involved directly with public education instead of just reporting about what's wrong. I have reported and I have taught...teaching is harder but often more rewarding. Try mixing things up a bit.
Whether teens lie or not is not the point of this article. At issue is that Superintendent Phillips, Superintendent Smith, the school board and numerous PPS administrators lied and are continuing to lie. They lied to the parents of the Young Men's Academy, promising a focus on business, entrepreneurship, sports marketing, law etc. PPS lied, as they have lied and lied and lied to parents and students of the Jefferson cluster.
Now if PPS wants to set up partnerships to provide curriculum, as Jason suggested, that's great. What's important is that the parents and students be provided the academics they were promised.
Otherwise, every parent that wants to yank their young man out of that academy for a better education elsewhere is entitled, since the enrollment of their children was based upon false pretenses by PPS.
I agree, Ed.
The streets of North Portland are paved with decades of broken promises and outright lies... like "dream classes" at Jeff... whose bosses can't even support one math-science teacher.
I'm Greek. My people helped invent math, like 2,000 years ago, and BESC still doesn't know how to help a simple math teacher? 2,000 years later? How about 1-800-Aristotle? Hello, Ari?
Poor children wake up every day knowing they are the very last people in line, in The United States of Amnesia, so cue up Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and think about how we treat our poor children, here, there, and in Omaha, too.
And teens still fib, but it's much much worse when it's the adults who consistently mislead our poorest children with promises they can't, or have no intention, of keeping.
Do you hear us, Super Smith? Board? Anyone?
OMG!!! Teacher,,,,,are you a MS in social work....you regurgitate the most inane, insipid rhetoric Ive ever heard...Oh no that's not true..I heard it when my kids were in middle school and their friends had crack and heroin addicts for parents.....
PPS promises a lot and fails to deliver. What else is new?
Too bad Bill Gates isn't willing to allow his money to be used to restore a comprehensive program at Jeff. I know of nothing else that would bring families back to the school. Every new experiment that is tried drives more and more families away. Too bad there's no one at PPS who notices!