October 17, 2006
RE: Portland High School, Social Justice and Responses to the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence’s Report
Dear Portland School Committee:
As registered voters and long-time education advocates in Portland, many of whom are Portland High School (PHS) alumni, we are writing to express our concerns regarding the Portland High School: Report Summarizing Student Focus Groups on Bias and Harassment conducted by the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence. We agree with the report’s author that allowing the focus groups and dialogue on bias and harassment was an “example of leadership” by PHS. Today, we write to express our commitment to seeing that this leadership continues and that the response and dialogue deepens to address the systemic consequences of racial, class, gender, religious and sexual orientation discrimination in Portland High School. Doing this will require a collaborative, participatory process. It must include the perspectives and insight of parents and alumni of color, as well as of school committee members and professionals in educational reform. For all of us concerned with social justice in education, this report is an important opportunity for action and change.
We find the racist, sexist, elitist, and homophobic acts documented in the report disgusting but not shocking. Many of us lived through the racist verbal and physical assaults that took place in the 1990s at PHS, and we all continue to hear about incidents from current students. Unfortunately, discrimination, bias, and harassment are nothing new at Portland High School. Students and administrators have come and gone, but a culture tolerant of discrimination remains, which cannot be blamed on one administration. The impact of this culture can be seen in serious inequalities among students. We now see lower graduation and promotion rates, higher dropout rates, and more severe disciplinary action for students of color and low-income students. We also see Black, Brown and Asian students under-represented in honors and AP classes.
As students, and now as advocates, we have attempted to combat these inequalities on individual, community, and systemic levels. When we were students, many of us worked successfully for ESOL reforms, which took effect at PHS in the late 1990s. As advocates, we have worked closely with students trying to navigate their way through the school system. We have also assisted parents in accessing resources and advocating for their children, at times accompanying them to meetings with guidance counselors and assistant principals. We have raised our concerns about inequalities with past and current administrators at Portland High but have not seen effective responses; the conditions have persisted.
While encouraged that PHS was willing to allow the report, we are discouraged with the way this valuable information has so far been utilized. PHS hosted a community night on Wednesday, September 28, only two days after the report was released and on the same night as a school committee meeting. Further, announcements were not translated for parents. The meetings had a low turnout, as many parents, notified late or not at all, were unable to attend and voice their concerns. With Deering High School’s report and responses last year to build on, we believe that Portland High School’s response should be even more participatory and lead to more reform. We fear, however, that this may not happen without the intervention of the community and the Committee. This is why we are appealing to the School Committee for your help in deepening the dialogue, initiating reforms, and ensuring accountability for eliminating bias, harassment, discrimination, and inequality. To encourage this process, we recommend the following actions in response to the report:
We want to fully understand what we are up against. We want up-to-date promotion, graduation, and drop-out rates, as well as detention, suspension and expulsion information, broken down by race and ethnicity. We want the same information for students who qualify for free or reduced lunch.
We would like this information, along with the report’s findings, presented to the public in a clear manner. It should be translated and shared with the community, especially parents, at convenient times and locations, with opportunities for dialogue, feedback, and planning of appropriate action. These community sessions should be highly inclusive and facilitated by non-staff at Portland High School, although staff should certainly participate in the process. We can help to organize these sessions when the requested information is produced.
We would like PHS’s curricula evaluated by multicultural educational reform experts who can recommend ways of improving the curricula to foster meaningful learning experiences and an environment that values, challenges, and prepares all its students.
We believe that these actions will begin the process of reform by addressing the root causes of inequality. This requires committing now to doing the difficult work of change in the school’s curriculum, policies, and culture. Portland’s schools and communities have the people and resources needed to make this transition. But the school needs to welcome the larger community’s help by keeping its doors and its processes open and by being accountable to real reform. We supported the Committee’s initial action to banish the biased weighted grading system; this was a necessary step forward, taken with the big picture in mind. Our suggested responses are further steps toward social justice in education in Portland. We believe that, with the participation and support of the school committee, parents, alumni, and the community, Portland High School can become an international model of multicultural education. We thank you for your kind attention to our concerns and recommendations and welcome further discussion.
Signed,
Ms. Ayan Ali, Ms. Ismahan Ali, Ms. Josephine Carlo, Ms. Genet Gebrewahd
Ms. Selam Gerzher-Alemayo, Ms. Khadija Guled, Mr. Abraham Haile,
Mr. Long Hang, Ms. Rebecca Hershey, Ms. Kadija Hirsi, Ms. My Yen Le,
Ms. Yirgalem Madie, Mr. Faysal Mohamed,
Mr. Okeny Pa’eli, Mr. Jonathan Roberts, Mr. Sandy Wright
