Meet The Chalkboard Project: Foundations for Stronger Schools
August 19, 2004 Outlook and Review (66k )

There’s a new kid on the block – the public education block, that is.

The Chalkboard Project is funded by five private, Oregon-based foundations whose goals are to help Oregon schools be among the best in the nation – schools that Oregonians will want to support with adequate, stable funding.

The project is requesting ideas and opinions from citizens across the state. To participate in its online survey and learn more about the project visit The Chalkboard Project Website.

The project’s objective: ensuring a quality K-12 public education system by strengthening accountability and providing an adequate and predictable funding source.

The foundations: Meyer Memorial Trust, Oregon Community Foundation, Ford Family Foundation, Collins Foundation and Jeld-Wen Foundation. The project has a strong commitment to engage Oregonians in a new level of informed civic discussion on K-12 education.

The project has the support of OSBA, along with the governor and the state school superintendent.

“The five major foundations behind the effort provide a neutral, credible force to guide Oregonians through the process of creating a vision to strengthen our schools,” says OSBA Executive Director Kevin McCann. He adds that the project will “be a catalyst in helping Oregonians understand the state’s ongoing challenge to provide quality education using a state funding system that puts children at the mercy of an unstable tax structure.”