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House District 26 Candidate Responses on Racial Gaps in Wilsonville’s Schools and Neighborhoods
At the state level, Oregon Democrats are searching for a supermajority to pass historic climate change legislation. Wilsonville House District 26 is a key swing district that will draw statewide attention.
I’m truly thankful that candidate Courtney Neron took the time to answer these important questions! Candidate Peggy Stevens was contacted multiple times but did not respond. If I receive her responses, I will update this website. Additionally, contact information for Libertarian candidate Tim Nelson could not be located through the Secretary of State website or anywhere else online.
Education gap
Research shows that factors outside of the school building play a major role in student achievement. For example, as of last spring, there were 44 students in West Linn-Wilsonville School District experiencing homelessness and only 8 beds to immediately serve people -- of any age -- in all of Clackamas County (none of which exist in Wilsonville).
1. What will you do at the state to address the factors that lead to the K-12 education achievement gap by race in West Linn-Wilsonville School District?
Courtney Neron
During my years teaching high school French and Spanish, I saw firsthand how societal factors that lead to the achievement gap have daily impacts on our students and their learning outcomes. Life outside the school building certainly plays a major role in student achievement. If a student doesn’t have stable shelter, basic safety, trust in caregivers, experiences food insecurity, is unable to sleep, or has mental or behavioral health conditions that are unaddressed, they will not be able to learn effectively. Healthy, safe, loved students with access to resources make for students able to learn.
In order for us to close achievement gaps we need to equitably address societal factors contributing to stress and insecurity for all students. Wraparound services such as school based health centers, early literacy supports, and meal programs) not only meet the needs of families in our community, they also improve learning outcomes and can change the trajectory of an individual’s life.
In addition to what’s going on outside our schools, we must support our classrooms in crisis directly, as well. I was proud to vote for the historic Student Success Act (SSA), which includes up to $15 million for WLWV Schools and requires targeted investments in historically underserved student populations to reduce academic disparities. The SSA gives our school districts local control to create plans that match our specific West Linn Wilsonville SD needs. I will continue to back initiatives aimed at: (a) reduction of class sizes, (b) equitable broadband access during distance learning and beyond, (c) recruitment and retention of diverse teachers and staff of color, (d) reducing disproportionate exclusionary discipline for our students of color, (e) updating quality curriculum, (f) providing universal preschool and early literacy programs, (g) and increasing learning time
I am a strong supporter of anti-bullying and anti-racism efforts including the CROWN (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act HB 4107. Statewide, I support investments in our communities of color, who suffer disproportionate impacts of natural disasters and economic crises. I am chairing a work group in the House Education Committee that will be overlaying an equity, racial justice and social justice lens as we look at the gaps in our mental health care relative to students and prepare appropriate legislation for the 2021 session, likely with an emphasis on culturally competent care for our students.
I will continue to support the good work of our West Linn-Wilsonville teachers, staff, parents, school board, administration and students who are fighting for anti-racist curriculum, following new state standards for social studies and taking the district’s equity plan seriously, as outlined in this article. The school district board recently added the phrase “disrupt systems of racism” to their equity and academic goals. I also share this goal and will be working at the state level to encourage all of my colleagues in the legislature to do the same. We must disrupt systems of racism and continue to analyze even well-meaning systems for areas of improvement and growth.
With regard to your introduction and mention of the increase in houseless individuals in Wilsonville, including many students, I want to acknowledge how serious the issue is. Across the state we have over 6,000 Oregonians who sleep outside each night. This is unacceptable. The bipartisan homeless shelter siting bill HB 4001 that would have likely passed in February, but was blocked by the walkout, would allow for more flexibility in communities where a shelter is needed. I fully intend to support this measure again when we try to bring it back in the 2021 session. Especially in light of COVID and the potential for an even more catastrophic statewide housing crisis, the legislature extended the governor’s eviction and foreclosure moratorium in statute, but we must continue to look for solutions to address stability, affordability, and supply challenges as we rebuild our economy and ongoing.
The pandemic has exacerbated our devastating systemic inequities and yet in it we have an opportunity to examine what we can learn from this time period. My hope is that we emerge from this crisis with a better understanding of how to respond to the intense needs of our community members. I look forward to partnering with districts, housing experts, community organizations, and state leaders as we seek solutions to rebuild better systems going forward.
Peggy Stevens
No response provided.
Wealth gap
Combine the fact that only 9% of Wilsonville is middle income, with housing prices rising 40% in the last four years, and homeownership is a fleeting dream. Because homeownership is central to American culture, a complex system of government and private market factors make it the key to wealth building. Not surprisingly, household wealth in America has a historic and systemic 12:1 gap between white and Black families.
2. What will you do at the state to end the household income gap by race in Wilsonville?
courtney neron
I am greatly concerned by the disparities in household income by race AND gender. Oregon has taken great strides in passing landmark pay equity legislation, but we know that there is still so much more to be done to address the income gap and tear down barriers to homeownership that have historically denied opportunity to women and people of color, leaving them falling further behind over generations.
Thankfully, many of my colleagues and I in the legislature are committed to addressing systemic inequities and we support the leadership of the BIPOC Caucus. As a legislature we approved the Oregon CARES Fund for Black relief and resiliency. As we rebuild our economy and our community post Covid-19 pandemic, we must ensure that no one is left behind. That means taking a deep look into policies that have perpetuated racism, and leading with a lens of justice and equity. With regards to housing, it means we must work to repair the historic disadvantages and barriers to building wealth through property ownership that people of color have faced in Oregon since its inception.
So, in addition to the income gap, we also need to look at the overwhelming racial wealth gap, which has been driven, in part, by generations of inequitable housing policies. We need to investigate state level solutions to make it easier for first-time home buyers to buy homes and invest in more affordable housing solutions. I look to experts like Rep Mark Meek, a realtor and a member of our BIPOC Caucus. He is a mentor to me as I continue to learn about the inequities within the housing market and to support proposed solutions.
Additionally, State Treasurer Tobias Read and I have advocated for financial literacy programs for Oregonians to learn money management. Ideally, this would be widely available in many languages and with a focus on populations and individuals who may not have a family history of wealth management skills. As we remove barriers, we must also build financial literacy for long term success.
One of the greatest factors in the increasing wealth inequalities is the racism and sexism built into our systems. We must continue to identify these inequities and address them appropriately. Systematic barriers to homeownership, such as redlining and exclusionary zoning, have barred Black, Indigenous and People of Color from homeownership for centuries. In constructing HB 2001, we looked at how exclusionary zoning has played a role in racial and socioeconomic segregation of neighborhoods.
In my role as Vice Chair of the House Education committee, I think about investments relative to outcomes. As such, I am advocating for not only early learning investments, but also investments in higher education and apprenticeship programs. With the Student Success Act we laid the foundation and built the walls with PreK-12 investments, but we must continue to address the rising cost of degree programs leading to successful careers. The lack of affordable higher education is the missing “roof on the house” and the final touch needed to bridge the gap to living wage jobs, and therefore greater household income. Education is one investment we can make in all of our communities, but especially in our communities of color. We can unlock economic opportunity with skills and training, and I am interested in increasing educational and vocational opportunities for all people.
Unfortunately, the global wealth gap is widening and it follows that the inequality tends to benefit the wealthiest. We must not trade health and wellbeing for disproportionate corporate profit, or we risk increased health inequities and community unrest. In my legislative role, I intend to support policies that will strengthen a diverse middle class and invest in stabilizing government roles of education and healthcare. For far too many, “the system” feels broken, while for others it is working exactly as it should.
peggy stevens
No response provided.
Integration
The 2019 Housing Needs Analysis conducted for Clackamas County highlighted the unequal distribution of affordable housing in the region. At 449 subsidized homes, Wilsonville is between Oregon City (610) and Milwaukie (322). West Linn’s offering of 10 subsidized homes stands out as a low point.
3. What will you do at the state to combat segregation and ensure that neighborhoods and schools are racially and economically integrated?
courtney neron
All too often, history books teach high schoolers that racism was something that happened long ago and far away in the south, unfortunately however, racial segregation has been perpetuated over time and we must deal with it today, as well. As a state, we must increase access to affordable housing and investigate solutions to make it easier for first-time home buyers of color to buy homes, as well as address the missing middle in our housing stock.
I live in a master planned community with many different types of housing intermixed (it ranges from dependent care for someone experiencing mental illness to estate homes, with townhomes, patio homes, cottage clusters, condos, studios, and apartments intermixed) and I see the incredible richness of our community. I encourage others to embrace the removal of exclusionary zoning as we did in HB 2001. We must allow for economically diverse neighborhoods that have a mix of low, middle and high income housing.
Oregon may have outlawed slavery upon statehood, but it also outlawed the presence of Black people in its founding documents. With embedded racism like this expressly in the state constitution upon statehood, we are an example of the lasting impacts of structural racism. Oregon has more reckoning to do, as evidenced by the fact that we are still one of the whitest states in the Union. We must commit to dismantling institutional racism and truly make our state’s policies and investments welcoming to all people of color. The work may not be completed in my lifetime, but I am committed to doing my part to advocate for social and racial justice. I pledge to learning how to be a better ally, amplifying voices of color and ensuring that there is proper representation and consideration wherever decisions are being made.
I look forward to supporting Wilsonville as it pursues equitable housing solutions that serve the needs of our residents. I remember meeting an individual at his apartment door in the Town Center area and he said his rent had just been raised, due to his cerebral palsy he needed to be on a ground floor near a bus line and he had already been priced out to the edge of urban growth. On a fixed income, he worried he would have nowhere to go. I know Wilsonville has been part of the solution in trying to provide many types of housing and I hope it continues to be a partner in this work. We need all of our communities across Oregon to commit to providing affordable and deeply affordable housing units as we go forward.
peggy stevens
No response provided.