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The Mid-county MEMO is your newspaper. We want to hear from you. Discuss an important issue or address a concern you want to call to the community’s attention. We prefer e-mailed letters to the editor e-mailed to Darlene Vinson at: editor@midcountymemo.com. Please put ‘letter to the editor’ in the subject line. You may also mail your letter to 3510 N.E. 134th Ave., Portland, OR 97230 or fax it to 503-249-7672. Deadline for the December issue is Tuesday, Nov. 15.
School superintendent cheers accomplishments
To the editor:
In last month’s Memo as part of your 20th anniversary “Look Back” (“July 1998 was a hot month - in more ways than one,” page 20) you chose to look at community events of July 1998 and highlighted the difficulties and disputes taking place in Parkrose School District schools. As I read the article, I thought again that it is time to leave the past behind and move forward. What is important now is what we are doing today. In contrast, your article on Parkrose’s Sacramento Elementary School (“Getting through to kids in Parkrose,” front page) described a current program, and that is what is important for today.
The Parkrose story of today is very different than that of five years ago. The Oregon Department of Education recently published report cards for every school in the state. In Parkrose, two schools received the top rating of “Exceptional,” two were rated “Strong” and two were rated “Satisfactory.” This means one-third of our schools are “Exceptional,” two-thirds are “Above Average” and all are “Satisfactorily” meeting state standards. Five of our six schools improved their ratings over last year. State report cards are based upon multiple elements including student performance, attendance, improvement and test participation. It requires continuous improvement and good performance to get high ratings or move schools up the rating scale. Parkrose is doing that in a significant way.
In addition to state report cards the nationally legislated “No Child Left Behind Act” provides for an annual report known as Adequate Yearly Progress. Each school is rated and is required to meet standards in 60 areas. For the district’s six schools, there are over 360 points of evaluation to meet. Last year we met 77 percent of those standards and this year we met 84 percent. These are rigid standards and measurements that, when taken together, demonstrate the degree to which schools are meeting the needs of the students. Every year the state does statewide assessments in two to four subject areas at each of four benchmark grade levels. In the five years since this article was originally posted, our student achievement scores have steadily increased. Last year we made gains in 11 of 14 academic assessments and since 2000 we have made significant gains in nine student achievement areas with more than 10 percent increases in the number of students meeting high state standards.
In the last five years, we have brought fiscal prudence and financial stability to the district. In 1999 we laid off staff and reduced programs due to financial shortfalls and accounting errors. Today, with the help of the Multnomah County Income Tax, we have program stability and the district is fiscally sound. This allows staff to focus on students and plan for the future. We have done this on fewer resources and with a student population that many other schools or districts would consider an excuse for not achieving. We have approximately 3,600 students. Twenty-one percent of them are learning in a second and sometimes a third language. Thirty-four percent of them are mobile, which means they will not stay in our schools for the entire year. Fifty-eight percent of our students are eligible for free and reduced lunch, representing the poverty of the families we serve. Forty-nine percent of our students come from ethnic origins other than Caucasian. These achievement gains are accomplishments that Parkrose students, staff, parents and community are and should be very proud of. These are the numbers, these are the realities, that we need to be aware of today. We need to move beyond the past and appreciate what is happening for children in our schools today. Parkrose students are getting a quality education and the Parkrose community is getting the most for these limited educational dollars.
Michael L. Taylor
Superintendent
Parkrose School District
michael_taylor@parkrose.k12.or.us
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