Open Book$ Web site shines light on school spending
Contact:
Chalkboard Project
(503) 542-4325
info@chalkboardproject.org
Craig Hawkins, COSA (503) 581-3141
New online tool launched to provide more facts about how districts spend money
PORTLAND – June 6, 2006 – Oregonians now have an innovative way to learn how their tax dollars to support K-12 public schools are used. A new first-of-its-kind Web site allows citizens to easily see how their local school district spends money, and compare spending to other districts and the state average – all without having to decipher complicated spreadsheets.
Called Open Book$, the site (www.openbooksproject.org) tracks the spending of each of Oregon’s 198 school districts in five categories, and shows that spending in simple charts. Visitors also can compare their local district to others of similar size, access achievement data, and learn about any circumstances that make their local district spending patterns unique.
A demonstration of Open Book$ will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. today in Room A on the B1 level at Standard Insurance Plaza in downtown Portland (1100 SW Sixth Ave.). Several Standard employees and other citizens will go online to use this new tool for the first time and provide immediate feedback.
The Web site, now in its public demonstration phase, was created by the Chalkboard Project, in partnership with the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators, Citizens for Oregon’s Future, Oregon School Boards Association, Oregon Department of Education and Oregon Education Association.
Open Book$ grew out of repeated requests from Oregonians to more clearly understand how school districts spend their money.
“Over the course of the past two years we’ve connected with more than 50,000 Oregonians. Again and again, we heard how hard it is for average citizens to track school spending, and really understand where their tax dollars are going,” said Sue Hildick, president of the Chalkboard Project. “We’re very pleased to be able to introduce this new tool in its final public demonstration phase that provides more facts about school district spending to the owners of our schools – all Oregonians.”
“We want Oregonians to know the facts about school spending, because we think the facts clearly show that schools do a good job of prioritizing and maximizing resources. A really high percentage of our dollars are spent on teaching, learning and services for kids," said Kent Hunsaker, COSA executive director.
Open Book$ tracks spending from the 2004-05 school year – the most recent data available – in five categories: teaching and student resources; buses, buildings and food; business services and technology; principal’s office; and central administration. All expenditures are coded in the same way for each district. The data were submitted by each district to the Oregon Department of Education, which audited the numbers for accuracy.
COSA and its school superintendents group, the Oregon Association of School Executives, began working with ODE two years ago to analyze and compare school district spending. The goal was to make school spending easier to understand, in part by gaining greater consistency in how spending is reported from district to district – a goal fulfilled by the Open Book$ site.
Open Book$ is one of several Chalkboard projects currently underway to enhance K-12 education in Oregon. Other efforts are in progress to help parents and businesses get more involved in schools, and Chalkboard is soliciting public input on 13 specific proposals to improve school quality, increase accountability and stabilize funding. For more information and to take Chalkboard’s online citizen survey, visit www.chalkboardproject.org.
About Chalkboard Project
Launched in early 2004, Chalkboard Project exists to inspire Oregonians to do what it takes to make the state’s K-12 public schools among the nation’s best, while strengthening our school system’s financial accountability to taxpayers. Chalkboard aims to help create a more informed and engaged public who understand and address the tough choices and trade-offs required to build strong schools, and to enable statewide programs that can be applied at the local level to improve school quality, accountability, and funding. To date, Chalkboard has connected with about 100,000 Oregonians, asking for their best ideas to strengthen the state’s K-12 public schools. It also has partnered with other education organizations to create the Open Book$ Web site www.openbooksproject.org to track school district spending.
Chalkboard – an initiative of Foundations For A Better Oregon – is sponsored by a growing list of independent foundations. The founding five foundations are: The Collins Foundation, The Ford Family Foundation, Jeld-Wen Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, and The Oregon Community Foundation. For more information about Chalkboard and to learn how to get involved, call (877) YOUR-K12 or visit www.chalkboardproject.org.
About the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators
COSA serves and represents more than 2,000 school administrators, managers and executives. COSA was founded in 1974 to give Oregon's education leaders a united voice in helping to shape public policy, advocate for schools and speak on behalf of students. COSA's perspective has earned the respect of educators, the Legislature, the Department of Education and other statewide agencies because the organization and its members consistently put the interests of schools and students ahead of self-interest. In addition to advocacy, COSA supports and develops educational leaders with unmatched training opportunities—including statewide conferences, and regional seminars and workshops. For more information about COSA, visit www.cosa.k12.or.us.
