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Show Your Math · The Schmidt Show PDX

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: A quick word from our show sponsor,
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• 0:13
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• 0:35
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• 0:39
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• 0:40
  [music]
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Mike Schmidt, former Multnomah DA, voting enthusiast and part-time podcaster.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Two weeks ago, Portland Public Schools put a list on the table.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: 14 schools could close.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: Maplewood, Buckman, Irvington, Saban.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: James John, Peninsula, and more.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Parents packed the board meeting so tightly that people were pushing through
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: the doors just to get in.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Some families say they might leave the city.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: Behind that list is a district that has cut about $170 million in recent years.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: And is staring at a $65 million budget hole and has lost thousands of students
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: and is sitting on roughly a billion dollars in buildings that need repair.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: My guest today has to vote on all of it.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: Rochelle Chase Miller grew up in PPS,
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: sends her two sons there,
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: and now serves as the vice chair of the school board, representing North Portland.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Two of the schools on that list are in her own zone,
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: and she has written that when she first read the plan, she cried.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: But now she's kind of making the case for it.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: The superintendent's final recommendation comes November 17th and the board votes in December.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: So today we're asking, what is PPS actually trying to fix?
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: Who pays the price?
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: And can this go any differently?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: But before we get into today's conversation with our guests,
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: we turn once again to Eleanor Jones to hear what is in the news.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Eleanor, what's in the news this week?
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for asking, Mike.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: A lot is happening.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: So definitely the most important story of the past few weeks or possibly
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: of this year or possibly of my life.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's one that some people may be sick of hearing about,
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: but I haven't had a chance to say my piece yet.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: So it doesn't matter if anyone else is sick about it or sick of hearing about it.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to go ahead and summarize it because it has come to my attention
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_02: that not everyone is on gay Twitter and is paying very,
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: very close attention to what's happening here.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: So allow me to briefly summarize.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson made headlines last week after she attempted
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: to buy an animatronic I literally have not heard of this.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's like so insane to me because I've been spending at least four hours
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: a day reading about this.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_02: So all told,
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: nobody made really great decisions,
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: which means that as far as I'm concerned,
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: everybody made perfect decisions because this is exactly the kind of hot mess
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: that has given me life.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: And in fact,
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: if I were an animatronic toy bird,
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: this would be a true Pinocchio situation where it has given me so much life
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: that I have become a literal bird.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: Every single publication has some sort of think piece on this story,
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: including even Architectural Digest,
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: which has said that bird art is having a moment.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: So, of course,
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: being from Portland and living through Portlandia and the whole put a bird on
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: a movement, I think that the bird presence is actually great for our democracy.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: So...
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: Hear me out.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: The skit originally aired in January of 2011,
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: which is just during Obama's first term when Republicans had major victories
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: in Congress and we moved to a divided government for the first time
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: of Obama's presidency.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: So now going into the midterms when we have a Republican in the White House,
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: odds are looking very good that the bird indicator shows we are moving towards
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: a divided government again.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: This is like our canary thing.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: This is so similar to a canary in a coal mine, except it's a bird in Brooklyn.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I feel you.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: So take note, Nate Silver.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: Speaking of the midterms,
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: in local news, the Oregon governor's race between Tina Kotek and Christine...
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: Drazen?
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: Drazen?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: I honestly never listened to how it says.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's fine.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, whatever.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: Has gotten a ton of attention, even nationally.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: And who has waded into the conversation but iconic actress and advocate Jane Fonda,
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: who donated $5,000,
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: or one third of a bird,
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: to Kotec's campaign in recognition of Kotec's focus on the environment.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I realized Jane Fonda has been a little bit of a lightning rod historically
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: when it comes to political issues.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: But in hindsight, she has a good sense of right and wrong.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: She's right about Vietnam.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: She was right about the importance of aerobic exercise.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: So we think she's going to be pretty right about the governor's race, too.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this one I did hear about.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm not completely in the dark.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: OK, so you still have some.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: I still follow Jane Fonda.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: That's good to know.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: OK, now, finally, going back to the robots.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: Famed Oregon robot and icon Johnny Five from the movie Short Circuit,
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: or movies,
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: the Short Circuit movies,
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: which were filmed in Portland and Astoria in the 80s,
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: has been returned to Oregon and is now on display at the Clatsop County Museum
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: in Astoria.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know if this repatriation is globally as important as something like
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: the British Museum giving the Parthenon back to Egypt,
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: or excuse me, back to Greece, but Oregon has never had a Parthenon.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: So as far as I'm concerned, this is the exact same.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: The difference,
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: of course,
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: is that Johnny Five was never stolen from Oregon,
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: but rather was just taken back to a movie studio in California.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: And then Sony donated it back to us.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: To be clear, this robot was donated.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_02: It was never for sale and is not currently for sale.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: So Clatsop County Museum in Astoria,
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: if Kelly Clarkson ever tries to put you on blast for not selling her robot,
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: you've got a solid defense.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: And they've learned.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: They have learned.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: No price tag means no sale.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: Kelly.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: Kelly.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Eleanor Jones, thank you so much.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Where can people find you to read more?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: I am on the Portland Mercury Trash Report, or you can find me on Instagram at Eleanor Joneser.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Eleanor.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Mike.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: And now to our guest, Rachelle Chase Miller.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the show.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_03: Happy to be here.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Rochelle,
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to have you on the show because there's a lot going on
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: with Portland Public Schools.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously,
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: as a board member,
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: you're a little bit at the epicenter of a lot of issues these days.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I wanted to bring you on to learn more about what's going on.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: But before we get into that, I want people to learn just a little bit more about you.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I know that you've been a board member for about a year now because I remember endorsing you.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: I was very excited to see you elected and put into this really challenging position.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: So you're welcome.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: But before that, who were you?
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: What were you doing before then?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: And why is this personal to you?
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_03: So I grew up in Portland on my dad's side of the family.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_03: His family immigrated here in 1905 and has pretty much lived in North
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: or Northeast Portland ever since.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_03: And my mom was from Boston.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_03: Her mother was an educator.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_03: She's an educator.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: And I grew up here and I attended Portland Public Schools.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: Today, my kids attend Portland Public Schools.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: I grew up in Northeast Portland in the zone that I represent today.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_03: And like my mom and my grandmother, I grew up to be an educator.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_03: So I was an early childhood educator for many, many years.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_03: And I taught our youngest learners and then kind of transitioned out of
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: the classroom into different educational administrative roles.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: So this is a profession that has really captured your entire lineage.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_03: My mom, when she was growing up in Boston,
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_03: she was in the first group of students to desegregate Boston's public schools.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_03: And so that experience and everything that happened in her education afterwards was really...
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: It was kind of a generational moment for people her age in terms of the doors
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_03: that were opened for so many Black kids through integration.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_03: But also, you know, we know that integration...
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_03: And so that's something else that we have to be really vigilant about.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_03: Fighting for and ensuring for all kids.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: And when I was a student in PPS, I went to a school outside of my neighborhood.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_03: The school in the neighborhood that I grew up in was considered not as good.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_03: So I went to better schools, supposedly, and I got a really good education there.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_03: But I Also got a really good education in race and class and how that shows up
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_03: in education in Portland, Oregon.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_03: And it was hard.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: And I didn't want that for my kids.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: And then my kids had some other things going on.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_03: My oldest child has a physical disability.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_03: As I entered into the PPS system as a parent,
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_03: navigating the IEP process and finding schools that were accessible for him having
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_03: a physical disability and also for my kids being kids of color
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_03: and knowing what my experience was growing up.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_03: There was just a lot to navigate,
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_03: and it's more complex to navigate the education system when you come from
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: a historically underserved community.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: So that was really what led me to run for the sport.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Are you a person, I've only read a few things, but epigenetics, right?
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: Of like, you know, we pass down our experiences to the next generation and it's in our genetics.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like,
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: just hearing a little bit about your mom's experience and being one of
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: the first students to integrate schools,
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: like I can kind of see that being passed down in you.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, definitely.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I think there is absolutely,
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_03: the epigenetic component and the way that trauma and those kinds
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_03: of experiences can kind of be coded into our DNA.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_03: But then also, you know, just the historical memory also that is passed along.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: I was thinking of the bravery.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I see.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, to be a student who is on the front lines,
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: being one of the ones who integrate schools like that is a.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah,
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: I thought about this a lot during COVID and the way that different people respond
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: to challenging moments.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: And, um,
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, for me and my family- You're like, I
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: want to be in there.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_03: There's an obstacle.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_03: So how do we take that down?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_03: We're not running away from the hard things.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: We're going towards them.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me a story of your time throughout your career,
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: either as a teacher, could be as a parent, navigating these things.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: But tell me a story that really- You think about as you do this work
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: that you've carried with you and kind of keeps you on the North Star.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_03: Gosh, I think about this a lot.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_03: I remember being in third grade and...
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_03: I did a count the other day.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_03: I think like probably in my grade at Alamitos where I went to school,
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_03: there were probably 12 or 13 black kids total in my grade.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_03: And there was one kid.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_03: And kind of the narrative around him was that he was a bad kid.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_03: But I knew him from community and from my neighborhood.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_03: And he was always nice to me.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't experience him as a bad kid.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_03: But he got in trouble a lot and he had that reputation and he was in
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_03: the third grade class across the hall from mine.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_03: And I remember,
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: leaving the classroom to go to the bathroom and he'd always be sitting on
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_03: the floor outside of his classroom where he was sent by his teacher and
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: where he was denied his education.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_03: And even as a child,
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_03: as a third and fourth grader,
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_03: I could see what was happening to him very clearly, and I knew what it was.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know,
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_03: ultimately,
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_03: he ended up getting involved in, you know, not great stuff, going to prison.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: And then he died really young.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, it's like a classic example of the school-to-prison pipeline.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_03: As an early childhood educator,
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_03: I was really aware of the preschool to prison pipeline because these things start
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_03: when our kids are actual literal babies.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_03: And I just always think about him when I think about him.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_03: The inequities in PPS and the education that some kids get
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_03: that other kids are denied and what the consequences are of that.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, who he was as a human being is not how the system saw him or treated him.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_03: And what happened to him was predictable and also avoidable.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: I taught a little bit in New Orleans.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: I taught for two years in middle school and talked about IEPs with your son.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously,
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: as a teacher,
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: it was my job to understand the IEPs of the students that came into my classroom so
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: that I could make the accommodations so that they could learn.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember I had one student that...
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he was,
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: he had different needs than other students and he was kind of mercilessly picked on
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: by some of the other children.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: And of course,
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: as a teacher,
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: You can protect things in your classroom and students,
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: but there's hallways and they're moving from classroom to classroom
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: and it followed him.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I just remember at some point he reached a point where,
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: he had had enough of that and he lashed out and it ended up being him being the one
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: who was punished and arrested.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: And and, you know, I just never it's always stayed with me how.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like we, we saw it, we knew what was happening.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: And even when we tried to do stuff, it, it just wasn't a good enough intervention.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: And ultimately, you know, it, it, it went the wrong way for that student.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know where he ended up today.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: I hope he's doing great and I hope he's okay, but very challenging.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you for that because I think it's so important.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: You have a tough role.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: You're currently the vice president of the school board for Portland Public Schools.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Congratulations.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: And the PPS has been in the news quite a bit lately as the plans
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: for school closures have come out.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: So you are in a very unenviable position.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder,
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: since you've only been on the board for a year,
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: did you see this coming when you were running?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Did you know that this was the burning building you were jumping into?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Or is this kind of like some of it you knew, but some of it you didn't?
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I knew there would be some really hard things, some really big things.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_03: I knew when Trump was elected again, at first I was like, I'm not going to run for school board.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going to protect my peace.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_03: And then I just realized that I had to because my kids are the kids that are on
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_03: the front line of You know,
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_03: the harm and the damage that he's directing towards our schools.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, kids like mine needed representation.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_03: So I knew that there would be hard things.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: I did not know that we would be talking about closures and consolidations.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I heard it come up kind of in the months leading up to my run.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_03: I was adamant at the time that I would never support closures or consolidations.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: And being on the school board is sort of like...
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_03: And then,
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_03: reality hits and you get on the school board and you start learning
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_03: about what is happening and why and where we are and how we got here.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, then you've got those hard choices to make and it's real.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, let me ask you this,
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: because it feels a little bit like I mean,
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: the number being talked about, 14 school closures, is a large number.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: And it feels like, how did we get to this seeming cliff?
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: And we can talk about demographics, and I want to have you explain that to the folks listening.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: But is this something that maybe should have been happening all along?
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Because it seems like we went from zero to 14.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: That seems like a big deal.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: So what's your perspective on that?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Should this conversation have been happening over the last decade?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, I have been on the board a little over a year now.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_03: So the entire time I've been on the board, Dr. Armstrong has been our superintendent.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_03: But from what I understand,
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_03: previous boards and the previous superintendent had Um,
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_03: had the opportunity to tackle this work,
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_03: and the previous superintendent was not interested in that.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_03: Because it's a career killer for superintendents.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_03: Like, it's a good way to lose your job.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_03: And that's kind of a known thing.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he wasn't interested in that happening.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_03: We did do or the previous previous iteration of the board did the Southeast Guiding Coalition.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_03: So that was an attempt to do some of this work in Southeast.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_03: And just as in previous times when other boards have looked at,
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_03: you know, boundary balancing or closures and consolidations.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_03: Often what happens is the more affluent communities put a lot of pressure on staff
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_03: and the board.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_03: And so we saw that happen in SEGC and those schools were largely left out
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_03: of being impacted by that process, which means that it wasn't done comprehensively.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_03: And now those schools are,
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_03: we're looking at them again in this process because that work wasn't done properly.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: So this can has been kicked down the road in a couple of different ways.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: I hear you saying one in the ways that it was looked at in the past,
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: but also in the fact that we haven't been doing this right along.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Talk to folks a little bit about the demographic changes that
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: the school system's facing that is leading to this having to be a conversation.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_03: So at the most basic level,
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: we're having this conversation because people aren't having as many babies.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_03: The birth rate is down.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_03: PPS has lost since 2019.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_03: We have lost 6,000 students.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_03: And by 2032, we're projected to lose another 6,000.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_03: And for context, coming out of the pandemic, we were at 44,000 students.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_03: So
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_03: When you have fewer students,
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_03: but the same number of school buildings open,
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_03: and not a few fewer students,
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_03: like thousands and thousands fewer students,
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_03: but the same number of buildings open,
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_03: your resources just don't go as far because we fund schools per student.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: And so to have a school be fully funded, it has to be fully enrolled.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_03: And if it is not fully enrolled, then it's not fully funded.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: So fully enrolled.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk a little bit about that because part of what you are,
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: what the school system PPS is trying to address with this,
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: the superintendent and the board is to get our schools fully enrolled.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_03: And that's kind of where the term rightsizing comes from.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_03: There are thresholds for elementary,
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_03: middle and high school where you want to have at least X number of students
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_03: in your school to have rightsizing.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so right-sizing the schools means that the school can be fully resourced.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: There are two proposals in front of you all or?
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_03: Three.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Three proposals.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: So take us through the three scenarios.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_03: So scenario A would have PPS closing 14 schools.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_03: I will not remember all of them off the top of my head,
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_03: but they are distributed across the city.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: I think some of the key points are that the DLI programs would be shifting into kind
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: of DLI hubs.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: What's DLI?
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, thank you.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: Dual language immersion.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_03: Got it.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_03: So we have a variety of those programs,
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_03: Mandarin,
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: Japanese,
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: Spanish,
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_03: Russian across the city, and they're located in schools all across the city.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so what scenario A does is kind of Has each language like having like
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_03: a school that's its home base in the elementary and middle schools.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_03: So instead of having like lots of different DLI schools,
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_03: you know, North Portland has one that is like a Spanish speaking school.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and you know, Southeast has one that is like a Vietnamese speaking school.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so all of the resources are concentrated there.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that has a lot of advantages.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but then there are also some, some cons to it.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but that's one of the big changes that we see,
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_03: uh, actually, I think in both scenarios, um, scenario B closes 11 schools.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_03: So, um,
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_03: A little bit smaller, but not much.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_03: It's still a lot of schools.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_03: And there are just some small changes where a couple of schools are taken off
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_03: the table in that scenario.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_03: And then scenario C is really status quo and not making any changes
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_03: and leaving things as they are today.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: So one of the things you said when we started this interview was as you were running
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: for this position, you would have been like, hell no, we're not closing any schools.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: But now you've been on the school board for over a year and your position has changed.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: What did you learn in this role?
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think a lot of people are struggling with this, right?
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: And for very legitimate reasons.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I understand why tensions are high.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: This is a very important conversation.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: It means a lot to families and communities.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: What have you learned that has changed the way you look at this?
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_03: I remember arguing about this online with somebody before I was elected and saying...
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_03: Why would we close schools?
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_03: That doesn't even save any money.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's the first thing is we're not doing this to solve our budget deficit.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_03: We're not doing this to realize cost savings.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_03: Closing and consolidating schools doesn't save meaningful money.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_03: It might save a bit,
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_03: but That is quickly kind of swallowed up by the fact that,
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_03: you know, you have to keep maintaining those buildings.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_03: You have to keep, you know, the electricity and the water on.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_03: You can't let them become urban blight.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_03: And then also those schools that close funds that would have been directed toward
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_03: that school,
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_03: we want those to follow the students into their new school and support
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_03: that transition.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_03: So it's really not about saving money.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_03: But what I have learned in my time on the board is that it's really about...
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_03: And what I mean by that is,
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_03: if you think about,
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_03: think about a school building,
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_03: every school has certain things that have to be the same, right?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_03: Like every school is going to have a water bill, an electric bill.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_03: Every school is going to have a principal.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_03: Every school is going to have a custodian.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_03: Every school is going to have office staff, right?
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_03: And that is true whether you have 10 kids in your school or 100 kids in your school.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_03: But because in Oregon we fund per student,
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_03: That means that in order for our schools to be fully funded,
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_03: they have to be fully enrolled.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_03: And if your school is not fully enrolled,
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_03: if you're half enrolled,
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_03: you have half the funding that maybe the school a couple of miles away has.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_03: And so that means your ability to fully staff your school becomes compromised.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_03: And that's when we see things like really large class sizes.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_03: If you think about it,
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_03: if you have a cohort of 60 kindergarten age kids in your school,
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_03: If your overall enrollment means that you can only afford two kindergarten teachers,
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_03: you're looking at two classes of 30,
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_03: and that's a lot of kindergartners in one class.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_03: But if your school is more fully enrolled and you can support more staffing,
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_03: then you might have three classes of 20.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: And that's an ideal size for a kindergarten.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_03: And so I hear a lot of people saying like, like this is going to explode classrooms.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_03: And how does a larger or fuller school lead to smaller class sizes?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_03: But it's really just a matter of division and kind of,
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_03: you know, The ability to deal with your remainders.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_03: You have more sections to put kids in, so those core classes stay smaller.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's counterintuitive.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: I understand why a parent or a person who's not into the details would think, well,
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: if you're going to collapse the schools and condense and consolidate,
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: then my class sizes are going to get bigger.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: That makes sense to me.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: But what I hear you saying is exactly the opposite.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: A fully staffed school that is fully enrolled actually has the resources it needs
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: to meet the class sizes at the levels that they ought to be.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, additionally, you know, it gives us the ability to support other roles.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_03: So my day job,
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_03: I'm the program director at Smart Reading and I'm in schools across Oregon and
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_03: across Portland.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, wait, wait, your day job.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: You must be so rich.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: You get paid.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: How much is seriously asking?
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: How much does a school board member make?
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_03: We receive a stipend of about $500 a month.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: About $500 a month.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: I want people to understand that because you are doing this because you care,
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: because obviously we've established that you have a pedigree of working in schools
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: and running into challenging situations.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: You're doing this as a concerned person.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: You're not doing it to get rich is what I hear you saying.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_03: No, no, I'm not.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I hope that when people hear this and they work with you,
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: that they understand you as the human being doing this for all the right reasons,
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: not for the Cadillac
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: you're driving around.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: I interrupted you.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's an important point
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: that you all school board members are doing this really as a completely extra job
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: that requires a lot of really hard decisions for very little in return.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it is a volunteer service for the most part, and it's really intense.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really intense.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: Let's take a quick break there for a word from our sponsor.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: A quick word from our show sponsor,
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: Dr. Adam Moret at Corbett Hill Wellness Center, people I know and trust.
• 30:51
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• 30:54
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• 30:55
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• 30:57
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• 30:59
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• 31:01
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• 31:03
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• 31:08
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• 31:10
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• 31:13
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• 31:18
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• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get a little bit into the intense part because at the school board,
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: the most recent school board meeting where the scenarios were laid out,
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: I saw some online footage of what could be kind of scary.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I saw people, large crowds pushing and pushing into doors of a already full room.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: What was that like for you?
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_03: That was really scary for me, actually.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_03: And some of my colleagues on the board afterwards were like, oh, that wasn't scary.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_03: That was fine.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_03: But for me as a Black person,
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_03: you know, an angry mob of mostly white people, that's not my favorite.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_03: That's intimidating.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, it's just, it's hard.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_03: Since I've been on the board,
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_03: I've come to recognize that there are so many people that are a part
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_03: of this school district that have all sorts of jobs that they're doing
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_03: to keep this running on behalf of our kids.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_03: And I know that some of our staff were hurt in that.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know,
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_03: a board meeting is a board meeting that is open to the public,
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_03: but it's really a business meeting.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_03: And this is serious.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_03: We've got work to do.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_03: The irony is that,
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_03: before I was on the board member,
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_03: when I was a parent and a community member,
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_03: I like to say my kids have grown up protesting at the profit center.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I get it and I support it.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_03: And also, you know, we are one community here.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_03: We are neighbors here.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, those of us who are on the board, we are volunteers.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_03: But the people who work at the Profit Center also are our neighbors.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_03: And we have to do better by each other than that.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's a little bit of like, hey, same team.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, like, for what?
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_03: What does...
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_03: What does it get us?
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_03: How does it further the conversation?
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_03: How does it help us trust each other more?
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_03: It was disheartening for sure.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you said that this is a business meeting where serious business has to be discussed.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_01: I want to bring up a prior board meeting because I saw another thing being discussed
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: that I'm hoping you can maybe talk to us about,
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: which is the superintendent's salary.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: I saw some debate on the superintendent's salary.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: I saw some testimony that I thought was pretty pointed.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I've seen some things online afterwards of people comparing the superintendent's salary.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: You voted to support the package of the superintendent's salary.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_01: Tell folks a little bit about that.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: Why did you support that?
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: And what's your thinking around that?
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_03: Well, at the most fundamental level,
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_03: the contract that I voted to pass was not the contract that gave her
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_03: a salary increase.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_03: The salary increase was a part of the contract that the superintendent signed and
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_03: the board signed when she was hired three years ago that guaranteed her a 3% cost
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_03: of living adjustment every year.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_03: For the duration of that contract.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_03: So that was the salary increase that she got.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_03: It was part of her contract that had already been signed.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_03: For the board to try and pull that back,
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_03: we would have been in breach of her contract,
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_03: which would not have been good for our school district for a variety of reasons.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_03: The contract we voted on actually ties her COLA to what the teachers are getting.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_03: And for last year, that was 1%.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_03: And she...
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_03: We entered into renewing her contract earlier than we needed to.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_03: She tried to get us to move on that way before because she wanted that 1%
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_03: to be what she was given.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_03: And we didn't have our act together and we didn't vote on it in time.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_03: So the board, in my opinion, is at fault for that.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_03: But our superintendent, her salary is extremely low.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_03: Mid for a superintendent.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that was one of the things that I thought.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, you know, I heard the number.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's around $345,000,
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: which of course,
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: that's a great salary and there's an affordability crisis and times are challenging
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: for a lot of people.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I understand that it's a large number,
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_01: but I thought to myself,
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Well,
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think when you compare that to other superintendent's salary,
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: that's not outrageous, is it?
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you don't need to know where she ranks, but how does that compare?
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_03: Our superintendent...
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_03: Is responsible for the largest district in Oregon, the most complex and arguably the spiciest.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_03: And she does not even have the highest salary of superintendents in the metro area.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_01: Not even in our region.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_03: Not even in our region.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_03: The new guy over in Beaverton, I think, holds that honor.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_03: And so, I mean, not only is her salary...
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_03: Just kind of middle of the pack.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_03: And her benefits are standard to what other superintendents get.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_03: But for me,
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_03: I take exception to the conversation around her salary because we know that there is
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_03: a wage gap that exists for Black women.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_03: For Black women specifically, it's a race and gender gap.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_03: And we see that playing out in the salary that we're paying our superintendent.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_03: So frankly, it frustrates me that we are not paying her more, actually.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, this is not the moment.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_03: We've been looking at cuts after cuts after cuts.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_03: I think that we're extremely lucky that she knows that she could make more
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_03: in another district,
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_03: but she chooses to be here because she cares about PPS and she cares about the work.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_01: It struck me a little bit as,
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: and maybe this isn't a perfect analogy,
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: but at least in my brain,
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: I was like,
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: this would be like me complaining about how much we pay Damian Lillard
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_01: and being like, he makes so much more than me, but I don't play in the NBA.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so the market that Damian Lillard is in...
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: It makes sense how much he's paid.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so a superintendent,
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_01: when you compare it to that market,
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_01: that league, she's in the mix, in the band of what you would expect.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: And like you said, could absolutely go somewhere.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then I thought to myself,
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was like,
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: imagine if she did leave,
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: then we'd be doing a recruitment and we'd be spending tens of thousands of dollars
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: on a recruitment, hundreds of thousands of dollars on a national recruitment.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then we'd be hiring someone probably at a higher rate.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so it struck me as,
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know,
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't particularly thrilled with seeing the controversy around something
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_01: that I didn't feel like should actually be controversial.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_03: You know,
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_03: it's frustrating when as a school district we have so many real problems and
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_03: then this is the stuff that we focus on.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, there are unintended consequences.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_03: If we're out here in public meetings,
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_03: debating whether or not we should be lowballing our superintendent,
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_03: people pay attention to that stuff.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_03: And at some point she will leave and it's going to be hard for us to attract people.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_03: Excellent candidates.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_03: If we have a reputation as a school district of not wanting
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_03: to pay superintendents what they're worth.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: Do you hear that?
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: Tom Dundon, new owner of the Blazers.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: If you start paying the head coach minimum salaries,
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: it's going to be hard to get future head coaches.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_03: And it'll be hard for her when she goes to get another job
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_03: because other districts will be like,
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_03: why didn't your board want to pay you a competitive salary?
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_03: It implies that she doesn't deserve it.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_03: And she absolutely does.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_03: She's a great superintendent.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_03: We're fortunate to have her.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you for helping me work through that small controversy.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_01: I want to get back to the closures.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I really appreciate that you started off by saying you were against closures.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: You've learned things.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_01: Some of what I'm learning through this conversation,
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: and I remember, again,
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_01: back to my experience being a teacher,
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_01: it was very important that In my school to be part of that school community.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't have to go school to school to school and split my time
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: between different classrooms and schools and things.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I got to really know my students in the hallways and be a part of their lives.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: Be there for the I was a basketball coach after school.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: I got to be part of the whole community.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_01: What I hear you saying in these schools that aren't fully staffed or fully resourced
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: or whatever is that really those schools were having to do that.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_01: 0.5 FTE of this teacher would be here for these days and this for those days.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: So the consolidation really kind of solves for that problem.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_01: What else should people know as you are considering scenarios A,
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_01: B, and C for What do you wish that people could see or understand better?
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, for me,
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_03: what is most compelling about this work is that under scenario A,
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_03: for example,
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_03: if let's say we adopt scenario A,
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_03: in that case,
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_03: in five years from now,
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_03: 80% of our historically underserved students,
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_03: so our kids of color,
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_03: kids with disabilities,
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_03: kids in poverty, will be at schools that are fully resourced.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_03: Right now that number is 24%.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_03: And if we do nothing,
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_03: that number will continue to decrease as the birth rate continues
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_03: to impact enrollment.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_03: So for me,
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_03: the idea that there is a scenario that can get 80%
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_03: of our historically underserved kids or kids who need the most support
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_03: into fully resourced schools, that's incredible.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_03: That is incredible.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_03: And, um, um,
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_03: I think we owe it to those children at a minimum to look seriously at this and see
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_03: if it's feasible.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_03: And to achieve such a feat takes a lot of sacrifice from the broader community.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_03: And some parts of this community have not been asked in PPS to make these sacrifices before.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know,
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_03: I think for me with my backgrounds,
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_03: it's just intrinsic in me that,
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_03: you know, education, public education, it isn't free, right?
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_03: And it isn't guaranteed.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_03: And we have to fight for it.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_03: And we have to fight for it for those who are furthest from access and opportunity.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_03: And we have an opportunity right now to do that for so many kids in PPS.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_03: And those are the kids who are struggling.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_03: In PPS, our test scores are up.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_03: We are back to pre-pandemic levels.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_03: On paper, PPS is outperforming the state and our black kids are still struggling.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_03: Our native kids are still struggling.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_03: Our kids with disabilities are still struggling.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_01: So you see this as a pathway to getting meaningful improvements for those kids.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's really important.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things that you've said, and you're educating me, so I really appreciate it.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_01: You're always an educator, so I appreciate that.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what we're trying to do is we're trying to have a conversation
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: that can educate people.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things you said was, this isn't going to solve our budget problems.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_01: So that,
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: you know, to me,
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: I thought,
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_01: and again,
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not as deep into the details like, okay,
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_01: we're closing schools because of course we face a $65 million budget gap
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_01: and we've already cut So that's where this is coming from.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_03: The budget situation is kind of this difficult
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_03: result of a number of things.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_03: For years,
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_03: PPS was using one-time funding,
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_03: like the COVID funding,
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_03: to pay for positions and programs that we wanted to be permanent.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_03: And everybody kind of knew that was a bad idea.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_03: And also, I mean, I wasn't on the board then, but...
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_03: We don't want to cut stuff from kids.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_03: We want to make resources available for kids as long as we can.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_03: So we used one-time funds to pay for things that were permanent, and we spent down our reserves.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_03: And just the act of kicking that can down the road,
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_03: we got to a place where there were no more one-time funds,
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_03: and there were no more reserves.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_03: And so, I mean,
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_03: last year,
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_03: when you're in a position like that,
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_03: and then you get a few major federal lawsuits and some major building catastrophes
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_03: and some really large unexpected financial hits,
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_03: then you end up with a mid-year budget gap like we had last year, which isn't...
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_03: Isn't unusual in and of itself,
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_03: but typically a school district will have reserves to cover something like that.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_03: And we didn't.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_03: So we are in this position now where we have one more year of big cuts,
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_03: the biggest yet ahead of us.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_03: We're looking at sixty five million dollars from next year's budget.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_03: And our CFO tells us that after that, We should have resolved our structural deficit.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_03: So what that means is that kind of those backfills and those holes that were left
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_03: from those one-time funds going away and things like that,
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_03: we've budgeted all that stuff out and we have a steady financial baseline.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_03: We won't be a wealthy school district, but we will be a stable school district.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_03: And if we can accomplish that,
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_03: And we can accomplish,
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_03: balancing our schools so that as many of our kids as possible are going to schools
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_03: that are well resourced.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_03: We have a real shot of turning the school district around and improving outcomes
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_03: and being stable for the first time in years.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_03: And so a lot of hard things,
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_03: a lot of really challenging things, but there's light at the end of the tunnel.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_01: So these hard decisions will put us in a position not only for our schools
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_01: to be fully filled so that the services are being delivered efficiently
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_01: to our students, but also budget structurally.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_01: We're tackling that at the exact same time.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_01: I have a question.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_01: In either scenario,
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_01: A or B, where we're closing 14 or 11 schools, what do you do with the buildings?
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_03: That's such a great question.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think there are a lot of things we can do with the buildings and we can learn
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_03: from other districts that have gone into this work before us.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_03: I know in Austin,
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_03: they are doing social housing on some of the properties of school buildings
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_03: that they've closed,
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_03: which I think is an amazing idea by entering into a long-term lease with a A builder
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_03: and operator,
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_03: we could generate revenue through the leasing of our property
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_03: while also growing our own enrollment if we are building family-sized housing,
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_03: which is a win-win for the district.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_03: I also think it's really interesting that,
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_03: as the birth rate is declining,
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_03: Our population is aging and so many of these schools are just tucked
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_03: into our neighborhoods and it would be really lovely to build housing for seniors
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_03: in those neighborhoods and bring,
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_03: you know, bring our elders kind of into the heart of our communities.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_03: I've also talked with folks who work for nonprofits about their interest
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_03: in affordable leases for those spaces.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_03: So I think there are a lot of possibilities.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_01: I was envisioning like 14 more McMinimans.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_03: Well, then there's that.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_01: I love the Kennedy School and Edgefield.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I appreciate it.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_01: But OK, probably not the best idea.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we're a little oversaturated.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it sounds like maybe there's some better uses for some of these.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_01: But that's interesting that, I mean...
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_01: Because you would want them, they are such a vital part of our communities.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_01: And that's one of the things that I hear and I feel from parents and kids talking
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_01: about if their school closes,
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_01: things like their commute getting extended in some situations much longer.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like I saw a social media post about a little who does the bike bus and was talking
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_01: about how that would be a much longer commute.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so there are,
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_01: they are If they can't be schools, they still are integral hubs of our community.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean,
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_03: right now,
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_03: like the school that is closest to my house,
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_03: actually both elementary schools closest to my house, closed a long time ago.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_03: And they closed before, you know, my kids were school age and I lived in the neighborhood.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_03: Our neighborhood school is all that we know is a neighborhood school,
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_03: and we still feel very much a part of that neighborhood.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_03: But the elementary school that's actually closest to us has housed
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_03: a preschool program at different times.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_03: Right now, I think that they have programming for kids with disabilities in that building.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_03: But it still serves kids.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_03: There's still yellow school buses going in and out.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_03: So I think in some cases we, you know, we'll see some things like that.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_03: I think there are a lot of ways that we can still use those properties as beneficial
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_03: to the community.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, it's just a different orientation, you know.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_01: One of the goals that I have and for having you on is
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_01: to help people understand things a little bit better.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_01: And as we kind of wind down this conversation,
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_01: is there anything else that as you are having
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_01: to make some pretty challenging decisions on behalf of our community
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_01: for five hundred dollars a month in stipends, which,
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_01: barely covers the pizza that you have to buy for your kids when you're out at
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_01: a school board meeting.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_01: What else do you think that you hope,
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_01: and these are hard conversations,
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_01: nobody wants,
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_01: we would all love, of course, to have as many amenities in schools as we can.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_01: These are tough conversations, and I understand that.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_01: What else do you hope people would understand as they approach this and try
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_01: to understand what's going on?
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_03: I think, you know, Closing schools is not something that anyone takes lightly.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_03: And it's not something we would be looking at if there were better alternatives on the table.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_03: So that's one thing.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_03: I know we've been getting letters that are saying,
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_03: well, just put preschool for all in all of the buildings.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_03: Sell district headquarters to somebody and move everybody into schools.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_03: Well,
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_03: we're already in a deal with Albina Vision Trust to sell them the profit center
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_03: and they're going to find us new office space.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_03: We already have preschool for all in a lot of our buildings and also a lot of our buildings.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_03: Teachers were on strike for the rats and the cold and the hot and the mold.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_03: Out of order on that.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_03: But, you know...
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_03: Not necessarily the best spaces to be bringing more young children into from
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_03: a health and safety perspective.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, this is kind of, this is where we are, you know?
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I think,
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_03: people are talking about the disruption to their kids and their families and,
• 52:35
  SPEAKER_03: you know, evoking COVID and how much our kids have been through already.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_03: And they're right.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_03: But, I mean, look around.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_03: We are in a moment nationally, globally.
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um, where things are shifting in big ways and,
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_03: um, as much as we want to inoculate our kids from that, um.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_03: We can't.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_03: We're all here in this world navigating these changes together.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_03: So although we can't necessarily protect our kids from the fact that things change
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_03: and that can be hard,
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_03: we can help them through it and we can do these things in ways
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_03: that help support our kids in developing resilience and, you know...
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_03: Navigating this as just another change in life, but not like a major catastrophe.
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_03: I think the other thing that is really important for people to know is that we have
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_03: a lot of problems in how we fund education in Oregon
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_03: that exacerbates what we're dealing with at the local level.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_03: So from fully funding education to revising our distribution formulas,
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_03: We have a really weird approach to public education in Oregon,
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_03: and it doesn't set us up for success.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_03: So at the district level,
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_03: we're doing what we can to stabilize things,
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_03: but we really need our legislators to take education and revenue reform
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_03: in Oregon seriously.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_03: Those things go together.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_03: And speaking of kicking cans down the road,
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_03: this is not something we can continue to defer action on.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I want to give you an opportunity to brag on PPS a little bit.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_01: You talked a little bit about the test scores and how those are doing.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_01: I had a guest on a few shows ago, as you know, Pencil, who ran for governor.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_01: I voted for pencil.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, very good.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I learned a lot about our literacy rates in the state of Oregon
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_01: and how nationally we aren't doing great as a state.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_01: Talk to us a little bit about what's happening in PPS around those things.
• 54:55
  SPEAKER_01: I heard you say that we are testing higher than the rest of the state.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_01: So what's going well for us at Portland Public Schools?
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, I mean...
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_03: As an educator,
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_03: hanging our hat on test scores isn't the way I want to be measuring things,
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_03: but it's what we have.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm going to brag on that a little bit.
• 55:14
  SPEAKER_03: In PPS, we are surpassing the rest of the state in terms of test scores and COVID recovery.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_03: We're back at pre-pandemic levels with Which is awesome for some students,
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_03: but not for all of our students.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_03: So my brag is going to turn into a sad pretty quickly
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_03: because PPS is still underserving our kids of color,
• 55:38
  SPEAKER_03: our kids with disabilities and our students who are immigrants.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know,
• 55:44
  SPEAKER_03: while like big picture,
• 55:46
  SPEAKER_03: high level stats, things are improving in Portland and we know we can do it.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_03: Now we have to figure out how to do it for our focal students and our kids who need
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_03: the most support right now.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well,
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_01: if if somebody was listening to this and in this these decisions that you're going
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_01: to help make as our vice president.
• 56:07
  SPEAKER_01: Are going to impact them.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_01: What should they do?
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_01: I like to always give people an action step.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_01: How should they learn more so that they can be better prepared to understand
• 56:19
  SPEAKER_01: the decisions being made,
• 56:21
  SPEAKER_01: advocate in a respectful way that is productive, productive advocacy?
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_01: What would you say to somebody listening?
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_01: How should they get involved?
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_03: I think...
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_03: You know,
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_03: if there's something that folks want the school board to know about their school,
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_03: about their community,
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_03: things they want us to be considering in this process, absolutely write to us.
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_03: We can't respond to all the emails.
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_03: There are thousands.
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_03: But we read them.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_03: And the ones that I find most compelling are...
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_03: Not the form letters.
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_03: I know those are really convenient for busy folks,
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_03: but are the ones where people are coming with solutions and are saying,
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_03: I understand that you're trying to solve this set of problems.
• 57:09
  SPEAKER_03: Have you considered this?
• 57:11
  SPEAKER_03: Or what about this?
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_03: I want people to know that the community engagement is real.
• 57:18
  SPEAKER_03: And while there are three scenarios on the table,
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_03: what the superintendent recommends could very well be Some hybrid of,
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_03: you know, scenario A with some changes or B with some changes or whatever.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_03: But we are listening.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_03: We're internalizing.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_03: We're thinking.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_03: We're asking questions.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_03: And so it does matter.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_03: The engagement really does have the ability to make a difference.
• 57:43
  SPEAKER_03: But, yeah, it helps when people are nice.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_03: And it helps when people are specific and not just, like, don't close any schools.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_03: We could not close any schools,
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_03: but I feel like we would be doing a serious disservice to our kids
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_03: who are not getting what they need.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know,
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_03: let's work together as a community to figure out how we can best serve our kids
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_03: and really approach this more from a community-oriented perspective.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_03: We're hearing a lot from people who are like, my school, my community.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I understand that instinct, but we are all part of the same community.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_03: Larger community.
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_01: Your job as a school board, you're looking at holistically the system.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know,
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_03: I was elected to represent North Portland,
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_03: but I do not vote just for North Portland.
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_03: I do not care just about North Portland schools.
• 58:35
  SPEAKER_03: We are all looking at the big picture and we have to figure out how
• 58:39
  SPEAKER_03: the puzzle pieces click together.
• 58:41
  SPEAKER_03: And that's really our challenge,
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_03: I think,
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_03: as a community, sharing space and trying to figure out our civic engagement, right?
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_03: How do we So let's look at this kind of holistically.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_01: You've mentioned Austin,
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_01: Texas as a system that's had to go through some of these changes and closures.
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_01: Are there other school systems out there that you're looking to for inspiration
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_01: about this or other things just that you're like,
• 59:35
  SPEAKER_01: oh, wow, I really like what they're doing there.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_01: And specifically what I would like is for people who are listening,
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_01: maybe they'd be encouraged to look up some other resources and think
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_01: about some things.
• 59:47
  SPEAKER_01: Is there things you're looking at?
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 59:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 59:50
  SPEAKER_03: Well, in terms of the right sizing,
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_03: I'm really looking at other districts in terms of what not to do.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_03: I think we can learn a lot from the mistakes that other districts make.
• 1:00:01
  SPEAKER_03: And when you have to make a really hard decision...
• 1:00:05
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you can't you can't shy away from it because it is hard or because there are risks.
• 1:00:11
  SPEAKER_03: You have to figure out how to mitigate the risks or how to do it better.
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_03: So that's kind of what I'm thinking of in terms of the right sizing.
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_03: But outside of the right sizing.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_03: I would love for folks to learn more about community schools and how we can, I mean,
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_03: in this conversation about closures,
• 1:00:31
  SPEAKER_03: we have been hearing a lot about how our schools are the hubs of our neighborhood
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_03: and so important in terms of resource distribution.
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_03: But we could do even more with our schools in terms of having closures.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_03: Community partners co-located and have families being able to come to school
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_03: to get their food support or access the clothing closet
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_03: or get mental health supports in the context of our school neighborhoods.
• 1:00:59
  SPEAKER_03: And that's something that I would love to see PPS be able to move towards once we're stable.
• 1:01:05
  SPEAKER_03: So I'd love for community members to learn more about that.
• 1:01:09
  SPEAKER_03: And always, always,
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_03: always I would love for people to really lean into learning
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_03: about how education is funded in Oregon and always be contacting their legislators.
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_03: And especially now with the long session coming up, there are some relatively
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_03: There's some low-hanging fruit that we can gather that would make a real impact,
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_03: eliminating the SPED cap.
• 1:01:39
  SPEAKER_03: So school districts are only reimbursed for 11% of SPED services.
• 1:01:43
  SPEAKER_03: Most of...
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_03: Most of our districts have around 18 percent of students receiving SPED services.
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_03: So things like that are ways that we could impact funding and the quality
• 1:01:56
  SPEAKER_03: of education for our kids with disabilities in Oregon without tapping
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_03: into educational stability, without revising the QEM.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_03: Not saying we don't need to do those things,
• 1:02:06
  SPEAKER_03: but like there's some easy stuff that we could do right now.
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Rochelle, Chase Miller, thank you so much for coming on the show.
• 1:02:13
  SPEAKER_01: I hope people will engage productively, kindly.
• 1:02:17
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for the work that you're doing on behalf of our community
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_01: and most importantly, our children.
• 1:02:22
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_03: It was so fun to be here.
• 1:02:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's our show.
• 1:02:27
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks to Rochelle Chase Miller for coming in during what has to be one of
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_01: the hardest stretches of her time on the board.
• 1:02:32
  SPEAKER_01: If you have a stake in this, and if you live in Portland, you do, now is the time to speak up.
• 1:02:37
  SPEAKER_01: The superintendent's final recommendations land November 17th, and the board votes in December.
• 1:02:43
  SPEAKER_01: Go to a meeting, send testimony, or call your board member.
• 1:02:46
  SPEAKER_01: This season of Schmidt Show PDX is supported by Corbett Hill Wellness.
• 1:02:50
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for making this show possible.
• 1:02:52
  SPEAKER_01: If your organization wants to help keep civic conversation like this one going, reach out.
• 1:02:56
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• 1:03:01
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• 1:03:03
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• 1:03:07
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• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_01: Until next week, go vote.
• 1:03:10
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see you right back here on the Schmidt Show PDX.
• 1:03:13
  SPEAKER_01: A quick word from our show sponsor,
• 1:03:15
  SPEAKER_01: Dr. Adam Moret at Corbett Hill Wellness Center, people I know and trust.
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