From the Executive Director
Vol. 1, No. 1
Dear Friend,
This is an eventful time in American education, both nationally and in Idaho. It is an equally important time for Lee Pesky Learning Center as we strive to do as much as much as we can to help youth overcome obstacles to educational success. In fact, the national and the local agendas are closely connected. Our two most recent presidents (Bush and Obama) have pledged to improve our schools, test scores, and the nation's competitiveness, and these initiatives have local impact.
I have begun this letter to communicate in a timely and regular way about (1) local and national educational issues and (2) the work of the Center and its partners to address critical needs and problems in Idaho. I welcome your reactions, ideas, and questions.
We are all bombarded by information and by a plethora of media sources, and I do not want to compound the problem. If at any time you wish to curtail receiving this letter, please let me know. The opt-out option below works automatically.
Nonprofits to the Rescue
The economic crisis has put Idaho education and other states in an emergency situation. Further funding cuts are on the horizon. The political debates focus on what programs to save, not what creative things can be done to address the authentic educational challenges we face. It is time to do business in a different way...in a way that does not assume major new funding from government.
The history of Lee Pesky Learning Center suggests an answer: public-private partnerships. More specifically, I am talking about partnerships between schools and nonprofit organizations such as ours.
The Center has a history of partnering with schools to address literacy gaps, especially gaps fostered by poverty and learning disabilities. The Center's work with Boise's Taft Elementary School, for example, was crucial in helping at-risk children make tremendous academic strides. Today, similar partnerships are blossoming in Caldwell, Blaine County and other parts of Idaho that address early literacy gaps, deficiencies in reading among elementary school children, training needs of teachers, and lack of college aspirations and readiness.
Here is what nonprofits, such as the Center, bring to the table:
(1) specialized expertise that reinforces and enhances what schools do,
(2) the ability to fill gaps in services, (3) operational agility and the capacity to find innovative solutions, and (4) the ability to raise funds from individual donors, foundations, and other sources. Outside expertise and dollars can make a huge difference.
Idaho is a large, predominantly rural state with many barriers to meeting the educational needs of the 21st century. Vanishing funds make things worse. Public-private partnerships offer a strategy for changing the old equation. Toward this end, the Center and its school partners are leading the way.
Books to the Rescue
Reading is a key to unlocking the potential for every young person. Unfortunately, all too many families, especially those in poverty, lack a home environment that encourages reading. In fact, statistics show that, whereas a middle class family has about 13 books for every child, there is one book for every 300 families in poverty. The lack of books and a language-rich environment is a strong predictor that a child will not be ready to read at entry to kindergarten. This situation predicts educational failure for millions of children across the nation.
Although Blaine County encompasses the affluent enclaves of Sun Valley and Ketchum, the demographics of the county are similar to other communities across Idaho and the West. About 25% of District children qualify for free or reduced lunch, a measure of poverty. Also, immigration has brought many second-language learners to the community. Most of these families are in a low-income circumstance.
Thanks to our close relationship with the Idaho Reading Foundation, the Center recently presented a gift of 13,768 books, valued at $75,175, to the Blaine County School District. The goal of this gift is to assure that the local schools have sufficient books to assure equal access for all students, regardless of family circumstance. We are working with Superintendent Lonnie Barber and parents to encourage all students to take books home, read them, and use them to unlock the future.
I hope you find this and future letters to be interesting and informative.
All best wishes,
David
