Greetings!Governor signs Chalkboard-backed mentor bill
New teachers and principals to begin receiving high-quality support
Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed House Bill 2574 into law this month, phasing in a statewide program to give all new teachers, principals and superintendents two years’ worth of quality mentoring. The Chalkboard Project and Stand for Children were leading advocates of this legislation, due to strong research showing that high-quality mentoring strengthens teaching and school leadership and reduces attrition.
The mentoring program will begin in the 2008-09 school year. In its first year, it will provide assistance to roughly one-third of eligible teachers and administrators.
Learn more about the need for mentoring and HB2574
Open Book$: Phase II
Learn more about school spending with this great online tool
New data and a new look are featured on the Open Book$ Web site, created by Chalkboard and many other Oregon education groups to make it easier for citizens to understand school district spending.
Open Book$ tracks spending in five major categories, and allows you to compare Oregon districts in those categories. Spending information now includes data from the 2005-06 school year (the latest data available), and we’ve added the following new features to the site:
- Student demographics
- Staffing information
- Per-student spending
- Average class sizes
We’ve also given the site a new, fresh look that makes it easier to use.
Check out Open Book$ and let us know what you think
People behind Chalkboard: Meyer Memorial Trust
Second in a series of five profiles on Chalkboard’s foundersMeyer Memorial Trust was created by the late Fred G. Meyer, who built the chain of retail stores bearing his name throughout the Pacific Northwest. Mr. Meyer’s will established the trust, which began operating in 1982 as a private, independent foundation with a goal to inspire, innovate, partner and lead in ways that improve the quality of life in Oregon and southwest Washington.
For the past 25 years, the trust has awarded grants in arts and humanities, education, health, social welfare, community development, and environmental conservation and restoration throughout Oregon and Clark County, Washington. While the trust will continue its general purpose grants program, this fall it will restructure its giving program to focus more extensively on three strategic initiatives: to improve retention and graduation rates, close the achievement gap and lift student achievement in K-12 public education; increase access to affordable housing; and engage in restoration of the Willamette River Basin. Meyer Memorial Trust also is a leader in making “mission-related” investments that complement its grantmaking activities.
“We’re pleased to be a part of the Chalkboard Project because of its approach to addressing K-12 education issues in a collaborative, comprehensive way,” said Orcilia Zuniga Forbes, a trustee for the Meyer Memorial Trust and member of the Chalkboard Project board of directors. “Chalkboard has a multi-faceted strategy to solve our education challenges. It’s delivering world-class research, engaging citizens all over the state and developing model reform programs that will lead the way in bringing positive changes to our schools. This is exactly the kind of proactive approach we at the trust want to support.”
Learn more about Meyer Memorial Trust
