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As head of the Benson Development Committee in the late '90s, I and others went to PPS administrators to enlist their help in strengthening Benson. A once-proud school had been deprived of the resources that made its educational program work for both students who were destined for the trades and those who aspired to engineering degrees and other advanced education. It became clear then that the school was already a low priority for those at the head office. Neighborhood interest groups had their ear. With imaginative leadership, Benson could have raised money from private industry at a time when school funds were scarce. It could have developed more collaborative programs like the one it already had with Wacker. It could have attracted students from the west side and become Portland's version of the Bronx High School of Science. The foundation for the latest news about Benson's fate was in the works more than a decade ago. I'd like to think this new plan can resurrect its past glory, but I'm not hopeful. 

posted 3 years ago
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