The end of PPS Equity and The beginning of......?

In late 2008 I began to get involved with the redesign of Portland Public Schools High Schools. It was 3am and a school board meeting was being rebroadcast on TV and for some reason I stopped there to watch. I was reminded of what my mentors in disability advocacy had told me about getting involved in issues that impact the entire community and to build a coalition while including disability rights.
I noticed while watching the school board meeting that they were taking public comment on the redesign of high schools. I immediately went to the website and noticed that the draft criteria of the plan made no mention of special education nor a commitment to update facilities to meet ADA standards. I went to the next board meeting and waited until almost 10pm to give my 3 minute testimony on including ADA accessibility in the plan criteria as well as limiting the frequent movement of students with disabilities. Alisa Wood-Walters from the Oregon PTA approached me after I spoke and told me I should apply for a PPS committee looking at enrollment and transfer issues. I applied and was accepted and was introduced to the big big world of inequities in PPS for many more students than just those with disabilities. I met some incredible leaders on that committee and one of those people was Steve Rawley who was the editor of a blog called PPS Equity. I lost more sleep than usual devouring the information on this blog and then researching the differing opinions to put together my thoughts on the issues. I was already a neighborhood schools advocate before I knew just what a hot button issue it really was in Portland. I did choose to "flee" my neighborhood school of Chief Joseph for Ockley Green because I had heard from other parents in special education that kids were pushed out of Chief Joseph if they had IEP's. Ockley Green was only a few blocks away and reminded me of my beloved King School in Illinois and so we opted for Ockley because being close to home was still important to me.
Discovering PPS Equity has been a really important part of my advocacy. It was so wonderful to go back to my friends who have kids with disabilities and say, "They want to hear our stories, they value our kids being included." I really did think that the community at large did not want kids with disabilities in their school and it was so exciting to have this forum to share my perspective and realize that I was in fact wrong and people just didn't know the extent of the law-breaking and discrimination. Since my first post I have only made more connections such as GRG - Grandparents raising Grandkids and the Parent Union. I get more and more emails from people that want to be a part of making sure special education is included in the larger mission of equity in PPS.
I really believe this stuff deep in my soul and practice what I preach in action not just on the Internet. When people respond to what I write in the public forum it gives me an opportunity to go deep into an issue. I never speak off the cuff if I can help it and will research something before I would dare put it in the public but it is still my (informed) opinion at the end of the day. I have realized lately how much time I am wasting going tit for tat with folks on the Internets. I learn a lot from debate, don't get me wrong, but the energy drain this has had on me is much more noticeable in my day to day life. Steve Rawley really summed up how I have been feeling in this statement:

There is no doubt that injustices exist, and there is no doubt that we have tried to negotiate. It’s time for self-purification — the purging of angry and violent thoughts — and direct action. It’s time to get off the blogs and take to the streets.

I pretty much know how I feel, what is important, and what I need to do to accomplish it. At this point all I can do is set an example and move forward. With PPS Equity gone I may actually update my own blog more but my actual presence in gathering the stories of people experiencing inequity is much more powerful. Teaching people what I have learned and putting my energy into Ockley Green and bringing the ELL and SpEd community together is where I need to prioritize. Oh Lord help me because the P word is so hard for me.....

P R I O R I T I Z E!!!

I tell my husband who puts up with my self-righteous do-gooderness that it just, "....all seems so important." It's the beginning of something I can't yet predict.

Thank you Steve Rawley for teaching me so much and providing me with a voice on your blog that has helped me connect with so many wonderful people ready to take it to the streets now.