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A PRIL 25, 2012
P ORTLAND , O REGON
V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 17
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
Tubman
School
Closed
INGRAM LEGACY
Families struggle in
vain against fast-
tracked process
By Lisa Loving
Of The Skanner News
PHOT BY HELEN SIVIS
T
he Portland Public Schools Board
voted Monday night to close one of
the district’s only schools focusing on
science, math and engineering – and the
only all-girls public school in the state.
http://www.theskanner.com/article/Tub-
man-Humboldt-Families-Fighting-for-Their
-Schools-2012-04-13
The panel also voted to close Humboldt
Elementary – after years of proposing to
shutter it — and send its students to Boise-
Eliot.
Facing $27.5 million in state cuts, com-
bined with federal budget cuts and a tax
base crippled by the economic downturn,
district officials said the Harriet Tubman
Young Women’s Leadership Academy did-
n’t have enough students to warrant keeping
the doors open.
Parents countered that the five-year-old
school never had a chance to grow beyond
its 224 students because the district had
threatened to close it so many times.
Board members Matt Morton and Martin
Gonzales voted against the Tubman closure.
“It was really sad and it confirmed the
concerns that the whole thing was a done
deal,” said prospective Tubman parent
Sonya Gregg. “When you only have 20 days
to make it happen there’s only so much you
can do.”
Gregg confirmed that her daughter will
now attend George Middle School, their
neighborhood school in St. Johns.
“We have our local middle school and
we’ll make the best of it,” she said. “This
sounded too good to be true.”
District officials fast-tracked the Tubman
closure vote, pulling it out of the general
budget package, which will be voted on
May 14.
The district said it sped up the closure to
help girls’ families find new schools more
quickly, but Tubman families say it was to
About 200 teens attended the Rob Ingram Youth Summit Against Violence Saturday April 21. Ingram’s mother, Milele
Hobbs, welcomed youth to the summit, which was organized by Multnomah Youth Commission. The young people
developed a range of policy recommendations and presented them to city and county politicians, school leaders
and decision makers.
Grassroots Foreclosure Forum
Church groups, Occupy spinoff collaborate with Rep. Lew Frederick
By Bruce Poinsette
Special To The Skanner
News
I
nstead of enjoying a sunny
Sunday afternoon, members
of Occupy North East
(ONE) - “The Black Working
Group,” We Are Oregon and
Ainsworth United Church of
Christ (UCC) came together to
discuss foreclosure and how
churches can get involved.
“Our position is that the strug-
gle has to emanate from the
ground up,” says Ahjamu Umi,
See TUBMAN on page 3
INDEX
News ...........2,3,6,7,16
Opinion ..................4,5
A & E .................8,9,13
Housing ...................11
Heath .................12,14
Bids/Classifieds ...14,15
of ONE. “It can’t happen any
other way and everyone needs
to be involved.”
Umi’s words were reflected
by the racially diverse group
gathered in Ainsworth UCC’s
Cambric Parlor. Ainsworth con-
siders itself a “multi-cultural,
multi-racial, open & affirming,
Just Peace and accessible
church”.
Following introductions, par-
ticipants shared their personal
foreclosure stories.
One woman told the group her
foreclosure was more painful
than a divorce she was going
through around the same time.
Another couldn’t help but curse
when she relived her experi-
ence.
While big banks were the
main target of the testimonies,
ONE’s Alicia Jackson expressed
a broader sense of distrust. She
says her home was marked for
foreclosure in 2008 and she self
evicted out of fear. When she
went to a nonprofit organization
for counseling, she says she was
charged $25 for a credit check.
Jackson later found out she
could get the service for free. In
addition, she said she was
receiving letters from various
groups, but didn’t know who to
trust.
Ultimately, Jackson says she
found reliable help in ONE and
We Are Oregon. Jackson refuses
to be embarrassed by the experi-
ence.
“Why
should
we
be
ashamed,” she says. “The banks
should be ashamed. They are
committing the crimes.”
Umi stressed the need to re-
See FORUM on page 3
Signature Event for Small Businesses
54 Hours + Your New Business Plan = Portland Startup Weekend
By Bruce Poinsette
Special To The Skanner News
W
hen Jeff Martens came to Portland
Startup Weekend (PDXSW) two
years ago, he had left his last
employer and was looking for a fresh start.
“I was going to look for a job but then I
thought it would be great if I could start my
own business instead of getting a job with
someone else,” he says. “Fast forward a
year and a half later and we’ve raised ven-
ture capital.”
PDXSW is a competition where aspiring
entrepreneurs try to bring their business
ideas to life over the course of 54 hours.
Martens is the co-founder and CEO of
CPUsage, a PDXSW success story. He says
when he came to the event that he didn’t
know anyone. However, when he pitched
his idea for a business on Friday night, it
became popular.
By Sunday, he had the foundation and
confidence to go forward with his business.
CPUsage has since raised venture capital
from Silicon Valley investors and now
Martens helps run PDXSW, along with lead
organizer Shashi Jain, to show his apprecia-
See BUSINESS on page 3