My Letter to Andrea Morgan, Interim TAG specialist, Oregon Department of Education concerning Portland's compliance with the Oregon TAG mandate, October 11, 2009
Dear Andrea:
As the Department is considering its options with respect to the Portland
compliance process by October 15, we would like to draw your attention to
documents prepared by the Portland Public Schools staff in preparation for a
High School redesign process.
These include the
presentation made to the Portland School
Board on Monday, and the staff
analysis of high school programs,
inequities and how they might be addressed.
[If these links don't come through, go to
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/high-school-system/797.htm
scroll down to the bottom of the page and they are the first two links on the
list: "Board Presentation" and "High School Design Program Analysis"]
These documents make it clear that Portland is not even close to providing
"Access for all TAG students to accelerated programs including programs that
may not be available in a student's own school" as required by the compliance
plan. Furthermore, it is not evident that the High School redesign will address
this problem as it may place additional limits on student transfers. Any
improvements resulting from the High School redesign are at least one to two
years away if they happen at all. Nor do these plans address similar inequities
for students below the level of High Schools.
It is also our view that dismembering of the central TAG office and sending the
TAG Teachers on Special Assignment out to regional offices has resulted in a
loss of information and access to services for families. Many outside
organizations that used to offer services through the central TAG office now
have to call every region or even every school. Families and teachers inside the
district are also confused. There is now no district-wide listserv for PPS
families, and many don't know where to go for information on programs and
services. For example:
--The last parent newsletter was sent out in October 2007.
http://www.tag.pps.k12.or.us/.docs/pg/10597
-- The High School newsletter hasn't
been updated since 2008-9 and all the staff contact information is out of date.
http://www.tag.pps.k12.or.us/.docs/pg/10609
--The TAG website
http://www.tag.pps.k12.or.us/.docs/pg/10402
hasn't been updated since last year
(including the Calendar) and many of the links are broken. The last Parent
meeting is listed as May 2009 although one has already taken place this fall.
--School websites don't include any TAG information for example:
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools-c/profiles/?id=230
--The Calendar of events at PPS under
"Calendar of TAG Events" leads to the PPS TAG website which has not been
updated.
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/news/events.php
Thus even though many schools are
holding parent TAG meetings this month, the information cannot be found on the
PPS website.
--The former Teachers on Special Assignment for TAG now have their titles and
job descriptions changed. They are now apparently being called "achievement
coordinators" and there is no requirement for special TAG training or experience
in their job descriptions.
--Both the ESL and Special Education departments have staff directories on their
pages but TAG does not.
--Even the names of the (half-time) TAG administrator does not appear on the TAG
Department home page or any of the pages included in the homepage directory.
This situation leaves families confused and disenfranchised and creates a sense
that TAG is a low priority for PPS.
We also believe that the very long time lags between nomination of a student for
TAG and actual testing amount to a denial of services. This situation has grown
steadily worse over the past five years. Parents who nominate their children
often have to wait until the following school year to receive services.
Because of all these changes, we request that the Department return to PPS and
carry out classroom observations and interviews with parents, students and
teachers before reaching any conclusions on whether the district as a whole is
in compliance with the Oregon TAG mandate or whether the compliance steps the
District reported have actually resulted in a real and lasting improvement in
services to children. We believe that this process is needed to ensure that the
district makes the necessary changes where they are needed, within the
classrooms themselves, not on paper.
Thank you,
Sincerely yours,
Margaret DeLacy
October 11, 2009