I volunteered at Marshall last year and found a school community that took pride in their school and invited the greater community to be a part of it. I worked on a research project for the state last year and saw that the academies at Marshall are producing better test results for their population than any school in Portland. I went to City Council on Wednesday and asked Commissioner Leonard, the mayor, and the rest of council to take some leadership here and protect the Marshall community from the turf wars that define Portland Public Schools. Marshall would be a perfect candidate to become a public charter school and I would be proud to lead the effort. Unfortunately, PPS’ process for charters takes 2 years to complete and the leadership of the union and the district seems to be stacked against doing that with Marshall. I think the Marshall community should go straight to the state school board and ask to form their own school district in order to preserve all the great things going on there. I am a veteran of school closure. My high school, Sunset High in Hayward, CA, closed after we fought for 5 years to keep it open. Since the closure, 20 years ago, the neighborhood has deteriorated into a murderous land full of dropouts and people who no longer connect to the community. Hayward has been one of the poorest and most violent cities in the Bay Area since the closure of Sunset. Sunset became Hayward’s Afghanistan. I would hate to see Portland make the same mistake with its most promising school and its most under-represented students and community members. Commissioner Leonard, this is your neighborhood. Step up and be a leader and save this school and community- and help make it a model for the rest of the city to follow.