NONPROFIT CHALKBOARD PROJECT STRONGLY OPPOSES MEASURE 60
Submitted to the 2008 Oregon voters pamphlet:
The Chalkboard Project and its parent organization, Foundations for a Better Oregon, rarely take positions on ballot measures. But we oppose Measure 60 so strongly that we were among the first to speak out against it. We urge you to vote NO.
This measure undermines the significant efforts local districts are making to support their teachers with professional development, comprehensive performance evaluations and new career options. These pilot projects in Sherwood, Tillamook and Forest Grove come from the ground up. Local teachers are designing these projects with the aim of enhancing student performance.
Ballot Measure 60 takes just the opposite approach. It is a simplistic one-size-fits-all mandate from the state.
Our research shows the best way to raise student achievement is to make sure there is an excellent teacher in every classroom. Yet one of the biggest challenges facing schools is that Oregon loses more than a third of its new teachers within five years. Ballot Measure 60 does nothing to help. Our collective efforts need to focus on supporting these new teachers, fostering their creative energies and mentoring them into the best practices of their profession.
The Chalkboard Project is an independent nonprofit organization funded by 25 foundations. There is a broad diversity of political views among the citizens that make up our movement, with Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike. We are united in our goal to make Oregon schools among the best in the nation. We urge you to vote NO on Measure 60.
Click here to read the statement from the board of directors and the letter sent electronically to all Oregon superintendents on November 29, 2007...
