December 22, 2002
'Whose Schools? Our Schools!'
Speaking of education: In the face of the budget crisis, hundreds of Portland students staged a walkout this past Thursday in protest:
Between 10 a.m. and noon, students at Franklin, Lincoln, Marshall, Reynolds and Wilson high schools left classes and rallied outside their respective schools under the watch of administrators. Lincoln students later left the Southwest Portland campus and were joined by students from Reynolds, Wilson and the alternative Metropolitan Learning Center for a march through downtown Portland.
While some school staffers heard of the planned walkout and "were supportive but kept their distance" some students, teachers, and others weren't quite so keen on the idea:
But the walkout in essence subtracts one more day of instruction for Portland district students who already might lose an additional 15 days of instruction this year, Bell said. "It makes the students look very, very bad when it comes to citizen and community support," he said.
School board Chairwoman Karla Wenzel agreed. "There are other ways of expressing displeasure," she said, including writing letters or otherwise lobbying the next Legislature during non-school time.
More to the point for some, perhaps, is the fear of having the depth of their passion for students and education called into question by an actively -- and publicly -- mobilized student body. In the end, who is more embarassed by this walkout: The students, who literally walked their talk, or the policy makers who don't ever seem to be able to properly fund public education?
Not to mention, of course, reports from the downtown march which indicate that the public -- at least those represented by drivers whose cars had to wait out the passing crowd -- felt compelled to honk their horns and give thumbs-up in support of the students.
Meanwhile, there are also frontline reports filed at the Portland Indymedia Center here, and here.