Summary:
ZIP code 97232 in Portland, Oregon contains just two public high schools — Benson Polytechnic High School and Alliance High School — both serving grades 9–12 within Portland School District 1J, which ranks in the 91st percentile of Oregon districts with 5 stars.
The two schools could hardly be more different. Benson, with 896 students, ranks at the 51st percentile statewide (134th of 271, 3 stars) and graduates 86.9% of its students — above both the district (82.5%) and the state (83.0%). Alliance, with only 197 students, ranks at the 6th percentile (254th of 271, 0 stars) and has a 38.8% graduation rate, roughly 44 points below district and state. Alliance's chronic absenteeism is 93.8%, meaning nearly every student is chronically absent, compared with 41.3% at Benson and about a third district- and statewide. On the OSAS tests, Benson's 11th graders reach 42.1% proficiency in English language arts, 25.8% in math and 27.1% in science; Alliance reports 19.0%, 9.1% and 18.2%. Notably, Benson's 11th-grade math rate beats the state's 22.9% even while sitting below the district's 36.5%.
Money and class size do not track with results here: Alliance spends $35,283 per student versus Benson's $30,828 and has a student-to-teacher ratio of 9.1 versus 15.3, yet posts lower outcomes on every reported measure — a pattern likely reflecting different student populations and higher costs where need is greatest. Trajectories also diverge: Benson rose from the 37th percentile in 2023-24 to 51st in 2025-26, while Alliance fell from 32nd to 6th. Note that Alliance's free/reduced-lunch figure is not reported and cannot be treated as a poverty measure, and its small enrollment makes year-to-year percentages volatile.
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