January 12, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cascade Policy Institute
4850 SW Scholls Ferry Rd., Ste 103
Portland, OR 97225
Media Contact:
Naomi Inman
naomi@cascadepolicy.org
Portland, Oregon – John Charles, President and CEO of Cascade Policy Institute, sent an email on Monday to the Portland Public School Board, calling them out on proposed Resolution 7237, “To Name the Buildings at the One North Property.” The Resolution is published in the Portland Public School Board agenda for January 13, at 6:00 pm.
“This resolution proposes to re-name the Center for Black Student Excellence (CBSE) in a way that removes any mention of race or Black students. After more than five years in which virtually every document published by PPS emphasized that the sole purpose of the CBSE was to improve Black student achievement, this change is stunning,” he wrote.
Click here to read a PDF of John Charles’ email to Portland Public Schools board members.
For a full text of the email in this Media Release continue below.
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Delivered via email
Dear PPS Directors:
I am writing to comment on Resolution 7237.
This resolution proposes to re-name the Center for Black Student Excellence (CBSE) in a way that removes any mention of race or Black students. After more than five years in which virtually every document published by PPS emphasized that the sole purpose of the CBSE was to improve Black student achievement, this change is stunning.
Obviously, the Superintendent is concerned that a race-focused program would face legal scrutiny as a violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Title VI of the 1964 U.S. Civil Rights Law, and the District’s own non-discrimination policy. This concern is certainly justified, but it’s five years too late. The CBSE has always had an explicit focus on Black student achievement, and changing the name will not erase legislative history.
The first public mention of the CBSE concept occurred on June 25, 2020, at a PPS sponsored Town Hall regarding the planned bond measure for the November ballot. The initial presentation by PPS made no mention of the Center, but several breakout sessions followed.
In one of these sessions, Albina Vision Trust board chair Rukaiyah Adams presented a slide show for a “Center for Black Excellence.” She described the Center as a “distributed” set of buildings and services throughout the Albina Neighborhood:
[W]e’d like to create a Center for Black Excellence with a distributed model based on schools that are in lower Albina. At a high level we want you to imagine that Black and brown boys in particular are not criminalized from infancy but encouraged to be excellent.
That we displace the school to prison pipeline with an intentional early pre-K through college pipeline toward excellence. . . . [E]nvision a Center for Black Excellence that would be anchored by Jefferson High School, KairosPDX at Humboldt Elementary School, Harriet Tubman Middle School, and connect with those schools the community based organizations that provide the wraparound services to the youth and their families to enable success . …
The point of the Center would be to create an intentional and comprehensive learning infrastructure in Albina anchored at Jefferson, in order to unify and elevate Black learning from pre-K through higher education.
On July 28, 2020, the PPS Board included the CBSE concept in the 2020 Bond by adopting Resolution 6150. The resolution stated in part:
The modernization of Jefferson High School and the community-inspired Center for Black Student Excellence, as a physically built environment, and as a designated hub for culturally responsive education, immediate and long-term plans, and culturally specific partnerships to advance Black student achievement in PPS.
Together, the Center for Black Student Excellence and the Jefferson High School modernization will rally students, families, and community stakeholders to develop a coherent set of strategies that will positively impact student achievement and outcomes while affirming Black student identity, and will include promoting and supporting culturally responsive/sustaining teaching and learning, from cradle to career.
The bond measure was put before District voters and approved in November 2020, with a $60 million appropriation for capital construction.
Every presentation made to the Board regarding the CBSE since 2020 has emphasized Black excellence. The CBSE website currently states the following:
The Center for Black Student Excellence comprises a constellation of academic programs, strategies, supports, and experiences reinforced by physical infrastructure. Each of these elements work in coordination to create a transformational Approach to Black student learning.
Mission:
- Advance a culture of Black excellence while meaningfully integrating joy and healing;
- Unify and elevate the Black educational experience; and
- Improve outcomes for Black students.
The mechanism:
The Center for Black Student Excellence
The resolution in front of you does not mention the CBSE, or race. Instead, it shifts the focus to two prominent individuals in the hope that the good will generated by those individuals will redound to PPS and distract voters from the deception. This is a cynical ploy and will prove embarrassing for all concerned when the CBSE inevitably fails in multiple ways.
In fact, it has already failed, because after five years of discussions involving thousands of person-hours from advocates, no one can explain who the CBSE will serve, what the programming will be, how much it will cost to operate, or how success will be measured. The “coherent set of strategies” promised in 2020 never emerged.
If this was a viable educational concept it would have been replicated with a Center for Native Student Excellence in the 2025 bond, as advocated by then-director Julia Brim-Edwards. But the Board rejected that recommendation by a 5-2 vote.
Dr. Adair and Mr. Grice deserve better. They should be honored by associating them with PPS academic programs that are a proven success.
PPS Resolution 6150 promised voters a Center for Black Student Excellence. That is what the One North building should be called.
Sincerely,
John A. Charles, Jr.
President & CEO
Cascade Policy Institute
