When Politics at PPS Trumps Responsibility
TAKE ACTION: Below Mark's Op-Ed piece, you will find three quick and easy steps that you can take to show your support of the Native American Youth and Family Center's Generations project.
In My Opinion
By Mark Holloway, Executive Director, Social Venture Partners Portland
“When Politics at PPS Trumps Responsibility”
Do you sometimes have the feeling that you want to disrespect our democratic process and just yell, “BOOOO” at someone’s position? I attended the Portland Public School Board meeting tonight and couldn’t believe the hypocrisy, ill preparedness and lack of responsibility of two Board members, Bobbie Regan and Tom Koehler. To be clear, they opposed the resolution I was there to support. It was, however, their pandering, weak logic and bad faith in partnering that really left me chapped.
The resolution in question regarded the disposition of the former Foster Elementary site in the Lents neighborhood that has been abandoned and left as a hole in the heart of a challenged neighborhood. For three years, PPS has worked with the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) and a dozen other public and private entities, my organization included, to secure the site for much needed multi-generational, supportive housing for Native foster families and elders, similar to the extraordinary Bridge Meadows in North Portland. In addition, the development includes an early learning center, which would house PPS kindergarten and Head Start classrooms and NAYA programs for children 0-3 years of age. Many financial partners are shouldering the cost of this project, called “Generations.” The $12 million Early Learning Center will require less than $5 million from PPS, even though PPS retains ownership of the building and property.
Mr. Koehler argued against the technical resolution to continue PPS’ good faith partnership with the dozen community partners stating that he always wants PPS to be “clear, transparent and fiscally responsible.” Fair enough. We all want that. What he couldn’t come up with, however, was one way in which the resolution was not clear, transparent or fiscally responsible. In fact, his alternative resolution removed the financial estimates that made it clear and transparent. He had no alternative numbers and only supposed they would arrive later in the process. In addition, his version of fiscal responsibility was to shift 10% of the design cost away from PPS to a donor-dependent nonprofit but still retain ownership of the property in question. When pressed about the financial impact of this shift, he again had no answer but Chair Ruth Adkins quickly crunched some numbers to come up with an estimate at $70,000.That Mr. Koehler (and Ms. Regan) took up valuable school district time to quibble over 0.01% of PPS’s budget is quite the opposite of fiscal responsibility. Instead they could have focused on the cost of a high school dropout since their district graduated only 47% of Native youth in 2014 (the lowest of all race/ethnicities in PPS). It’s fiscally irresponsible to pass up the $78,000 estimated benefit[1] lost per dropout. That upside economic benefit was $2.3 million for PPS Native youth if the Board focused on ensuring they graduate rather than drop out of school.Without even mentioning the legion statistics about the fiscal responsibility/value of investing in early education (a central component of this project), let us just focus further on the deal this offers PPS. Mr. Koehler seems to think that an arrangement that give PPS a new building with three kindergarten and Head Start classrooms surrounded by a supportive multigenerational community wasn’t sweet enough when they are paying less than $5 million of a $12 million deal and retaining ownership rights to the building. I would love to know where they are going to find a deal like this one where dozens of community partners are doing the work of developing the property and a respected community organization is working with their most underserved student population to solve their most inequitable student outcomes. All this while PPS pays just 38% of the cost (and much much less if you include the housing portion of the project).
Further, what responsibility does PPS hold for maintaining an abandoned property that we’re told is a dumping ground for used needles and garbage in a struggling Portland neighborhood? Lents Neighborhood Association is a partner in Generations because they recognize its benefit to economic and community development. By stalling and threatening the death of Generations, Mr. Koehler and Ms. Regan show no sense of responsibility for those ripples.While I have focused most of my disappointment on Mr. Koehler’s weak argument and lack of “clarity, transparency and fiscal responsibility” that he himself called for, we shouldn’t let Ms. Regan off the hook. In fact, I think she is the bigger disappointment. She pandered to the audience by reminding everyone of her longtime support for Generations but then opposed both resolutions and offered no alterative of her own. She said the “numbers didn’t make sense” to her though fellow Board member Greg Belisle shared in detail the cost comparisons of the Generations project to other PPS buildings and projects while other members pointed out clear cost estimates in the Board information packet. What’s clear, actually, is that Ms. Regan was spooked in her reelection bid by a recent article in Willamette Week questioning the Generations deal (which also took the luxury of offering no alterative to addressing the outcomes disparities for Native American youth). Her’s seems a more cowardly position, not a misdirected one.
So what’s at stake and why do I care? For one, I care about the promise that Generations offers our community and especially our Native youth and families. The project relies on the good faith of its partners. As the landowner, leaseholder and eventual contracting agency, PPS is a central partner and holds many of the cards on this deal. Others of us have invested significant assets and the multi-agency financial deal to make it work requires that partners deal in good faith and handle their end of the deal—even technical issues like tonight’s resolution–without the political posturing that yields unnecessary delays and kvetching. In today’s economic and social environment, ensuring the success of our schools and students demands partnering across sectors and agencies. Ms. Regan and Mr. Koehler’s actions make it difficult to trust that logic, good faith and a commitment to community partners (not even to mention its underserved students) will win out in PPS over politics. I know I, for one, will be spooked by the “BOO” that I had welling up inside of me tonight.
Consider giving a gift of any amount to Generations. By giving now, we help show the school board how much our community supports this project geared toward advancing equity and addressing deep disparities.
Email school board members and tell them you want to see action ASAP on the resolutions necessary to move Generations forward. There is talk about bringing something back to the board for a vote sooner rather than later. Our emails can make a difference.
Email Portland City Commissioners and tell them how disappointed you are with the school board's decision Tuesday night. Perhaps inquire as to how they can endorse the candidacy of a school board member who voted to derail three years of partnership development with the City of Portland and other cross-sector organizations, agencies and businesses, without offering an alternative for how we could move forward together. (All the City Commissioners have endorsed Bobbie Regan but rumor has it that at least one is considering revoking that endorsement because of this issue.)
[1] The Crisis & Economic Potential in America’s Educational System, www.all4ed.org, Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton MSA data