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Last week’s cover story on the fraught future of Jefferson High School made note of several ironies (“Choosy Moms Choose Jeff,” WW, Dec. 10). But one we resisted highlighting, at least until now: The school to which white liberal parents balk at sending their children has a mascot. And that mascot is: the Democrats. Anyway, the plan by Portland Public Schools to compel families in North and Northeast Portland to attend Jefferson has drawn significant pushback, and some observers think this pushback smacks of racism, while others maintain that leveling that charge is a pretty effective way to stop the conversation about school outcomes, and still others say that nobody minded the outcomes until white people had to experience them. The Democrats! Here’s what our readers had to say:
Tao Bleeke, via Facebook: “The magnet schools of the time seemed a good idea and I certainly benefited from the performing arts program.
“It’s led us here, though.
“Time to strictly enforce attendance boundaries and populate schools from the neighborhood.”
BeBetterPDX, via wweek.com: “At the risk of touching the ‘race’ rail, can it be that we are doing Jefferson a disservice by continually identifying it as a ‘historically Black school’? It is not a HBCU, but a school that serves its nearby community. Of course Jefferson has been historically Black, but with changing demographics and housing affordability, the area is more diverse now. It seems the tension is between trying to restore it to what it was rather than reenvisioning what it could be. This is leading to committing to a half-billion-dollar remodel that is intended to create parity among other remodels, but is creating an enrollment crisis and overbuilding of capacity that soaks taxpayers.”
Todd Johnson, via Bluesky: “This makes me insane. Obviously no one *said out loud* ‘yeah, I’m a big ol’ racist.’ Everyone has to cross MLK! We’re talking about young adults. You don’t hear Faubion parents complaining about this. It’s transparent nonsense made up to cover for a fear of attending a historically disenfranchised school. Which, in her defense, Joanna Hou gets into next. But just to dignify this ‘safety’ thing in this way is nuts to me.”
Lisa Lowry-Pierce, via Facebook: “The obvious solution is to build Jefferson as a grade 6–12 and move Tubman to the new state-of-the-art campus. They collected $140 million on the last bond to relocate Harriet Tubman and have done absolutely nothing to source a new location. The campus could be right-sized to accommodate Tubman and allow for up to 1,000 high school students. This solves the problem of underenrolling three other high schools and gutting their curriculum. As a 6–12, Jefferson teachers could have part of their assignment in grades 6, 7 and/or 8 as well as a portion in grades 9–12. This arrangement enables a school district to minimize the number of full-time equivalent positions while offering a huge amount of course offerings.”
Craig Goldensoph, via Facebook: “Don’t allow kids to go to schools not in their district. It’s simple. If they don’t like it, homeschooling or private is their option.”
HOLDING BACK THE KEY FACT
Way to bury the lede, Oregon Journalism Project [“Schooled by Mississippi,” Dec. 10]! Mississippi fourth grade reading scores are best in the nation because any student not reading at a fourth grade reading level is held back for another year of third grade! (As mentioned in paragraph 24.) If all states did that, wouldn’t we all score 100%? And their eighth grade reading scores aren’t so hot. How do their eighth grade scores compare with ours?
Nothing wrong with phonics. And, by the way, what system, or systems, of reading instruction do Oregon schools use? If we’re going to praise and shame, let’s take a statistics class and compare like to like, not apples to rhinoceroses.
Janice Archer
Northwest Portland
KEEP TAXING BIRTH LOTTERY WINNERS
I admire WW and OJP for their investigative journalism. Mr. Duin’s poorly argued opinion piece on the estate tax [“Oregon: No Place to Die,” wweek.com, Dec. 13] falls short of that standard.
Inheritance is a windfall for those fortunate enough to win the birth lottery. Earning $1 million in after-tax funds through work takes most people decades. It is entirely equitable to require 10%–16% above that from inheritors to support the society that otherwise honors and protects that wealth.
While the level of tax is always open to refinement, the main problem is not that Oregon’s estate tax is wildly high, but rather that other states’ are so low.
Will Clark-Shim
Southwest Portland
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