How about a "Round Up" Fundraising Campaign?

Kari Reimers Parsons of Eugene writes, "What if you were having dinner at Humble Beagle (for example) and the server asked you if you wanted to round up your bill to support a top notch education for Eugene's children? Like at the Yard House – a chain of  breweries that raised $250K in one year with its Round It Up, America campaign – a local "round up" campaign could be really successful with minimal cost to the business. It is something we can do in the short-run while we work (and hope!) for more long-term and stable funding for our schools. Or, it could be a regular annual campaign.  The businesses could be local or national chains with local outlets. I am now seeking some folks who want to help investigate doing this for our schools. Anyone want to help do a little brainstorming and sleuthing to see if this is a workable idea for Eugene?"

If you like Kari's idea, please fill out the Working Groups survey indicating your interest in creative fundraising and mention you'd like to work on the Round Up Campaign. 

Mayor Piercy to Lead School Funding Forum

Please join Mayor Kitty Piercy at City Hall on Tuesday, December 14, from 7-9 pm, to discuss the current 4J School budget crisis. 

Topics to include:

• How did we get here?
• What does it mean for our schools and our community?
• What options exist for our city?

Bring your questions, concerns and ideas.  We'll provide additional information soon.

Blog mentioned in the Guard

The "We Support Eugene Schools" blog and Facebook page were mentioned in the "Education Extra" section of the Register Guard on Nov. 22! Not sure who submitted it, but I appreciate the mention.

One small correction: I was named an Edison parent.  I love that school, but my kids have long since moved on. More importantly, I think it'd be more appropriate to be named a 4J parent – at this point, we're all in it together.

Let Us Know You Can Help

I'm in the process of adding forms to this blog so you can easily submit your ideas and contact information.  Your contact information will only be shared with the leaders of the working groups or organizations you indicate.  It will not be posted publicly or shared in any other way without your prior consent.

So far, we have sign-up forms for Scrip/eScrip and Local Funding, plus another more 'generic' sign-up.  There are lots of people who want to help.  Now's the time to step up and join the effort!

RSA Animate Video: 21st century enlightenment

Good food for thought:

Do You Get It? How to make a difference

As I participated in the board meetings on November 16 and 17, I realized lots of people want change, or want our leaders to do things differently. There's so much energy out there, it'd be great if we could focus it on making a difference. Here's how:

1. Get informed
   Learn what the issues are and seek out accurate information on the issues you care about. Visit the 4J web site, Stand for Children, Project VoteSmart, Chalkboard Project, the Open Books Project, the Eugene Mayor and City Council web page, and so on. Read the paper. Listen to the radio, or to audio recordings of past 4J board meetings. 
2. Get Inspired
   Spend some time with kids of all ages. Talk with our teachers about their hopes and dreams. Learn about exemplary schools, 21st century learning, and innovative educational approaches.
3. Get Smart
   Watch old television re-runs (whoops, couldn't resist...) I mean, make your efforts count.  Let's focus on solutions within our grasp. Let's avoid reinventing the wheel - if someone else is already working on something that interests you, join them. Let's set both long- and short-term goals. Let's ask our leaders to remain accountable. Be specific in what you ask for – don't just ask for more money or less cuts – and offer your ideas as possible solutions.
4. Get Involved
   Communicate with our school, civic and state leaders.  Write letters and emails, and when you do, ask for specifics, not just for more money. Attend 4J Board meetings, budget committee meetings, etc.  Call or visit our school, city and state leaders. Our leaders are also our representatives. Let them know how you'd like them to take the lead... 
5. Get Together
   Spread the word on the issues you care about. Join online groups like this blog or our Facebook page. Participate in parent meetings at your school (or if you don't have kids, at the school in your neighborhood). If you agree with their positions, join Stand for Children. Talk to your neighbors. Lead a working group.
6. Get Committed
   Make a commitment to stay involved.  Lots of us are stirred up now and attendance at recent board meetings has been high. Let's not let that energy fade. Let's stick around long enough to really stabilize our schools and further their excellence, and stick around some more to ensure they stay that way.

What are your thoughts on how to make a difference for our schools?

Opinion: We need a bigger pie...

photo by K. Haugen

I've been thinking about this 'sustainable' budget issue a lot. I've been talking about it with so many smart, engaged people, a lot! I've poured over the numbers, a lot. I've heard from a lot of people who are rightly upset and concerned about their school or their child.  For me, it's coming very clearly down to one thing: 

We need a bigger pie.

The pie we've got isn't big enough to sustain our schools or our community. We're all going to come up short.
...and we're not going to get a bigger pie by waiting for the district or board to come up with 'hidden' money. We're not going to get a bigger pie by arguing over which schools stay open and which close, by reconfiguring or anything else.

We need a bigger pie.

I think we need to all get together and start making one – a pie that hopefully includes emergency bridging funds for next year, as well as some long-term plans for stable funding. I hope someone will toss in some great fundraisers. Maybe someone else can add a city-wide eScrip campaign, or how about building stronger partnerships between 4J schools and others, such as our neighboring districts, the City of Eugene, the University of Oregon, and local businesses and employers. I'd love to hear what others would add.

Who wants to make some pie?

New 4J Web Survey – Nov. 16-28

4J has announced they will be posting a second web survey to invite parents, staff, students and community members to share their input on the preliminary recommendations.  The survey also will be available in Spanish and on paper for those without internet access.  Visit the 4J web site between November 16 and 28 to find a link to the survey.

If only we could get everyone to use eScrip...

We can all use eScrip to support our schools in 2 ways:

1. Register your bank, credit and loyalty cards and some stores will automatically give a percentage to the school(s) of your choice at no cost to you.
   Example: my family spent about $350 at Market of Choice in September, and our schools earned nearly $10. 

2. Start your online shopping at eScrip.com, and major online retailers (including Amazon, Office Depot, REI, and hundreds more) will give anywhere from 1% to 6% to your selected school(s).

   Even easier: Windows users can download "AutoEarn" so that their online purchases are automatically logged with eScrip!
   

   Example: you plan to buy a $1,000 computer. You go to the eScrip Online Mall and from there to Apple or Dell. Your $1,000 purchase earns $12 for your chosen school(s).

You can choose to support one or more particular schools, or you can support the Eugene Education Fund (EEF) in general. EEF's eScrip group ID is 500022255.

Please remember to do this, especially if you plan to do any gift shopping, entertaining or travel in the coming months! 

Imagine what we could do if we had city-wide participation... not to mention friends and relatives in other towns. Anyone, anywhere, can sign up for eScrip, including friends and relatives in other states, and they can still designate one or more of our schools.

How you can help:

1. Sign up for eScrip.

2. Share this note with family and friends.

3. Start a holiday eScrip campaign at your school, your workplace or...

4. Anyone interested in spear-heading a city-wide eScrip campaign for 4J? 

4J School Board Meeting & Public Hearing, 11/17 at 7 pm

4J School Board Meeting & Sustainable Budget Public Hearing
Wednesday, November 17, beginning at 7 p.m.
Location to be determined
To speak at the public hearing, fill out a sign-up card at the door. Speakers will be limited to 3 minutes each.
4J school board meetings are broadcast live on KRVM 1280-AM.

4J Public Input Session: 6 pm on 11/16

Public Input Session
Tuesday, November 16, 6–9:15 p.m.
at Wheeler Pavillion, Lane County Fair Grounds

"This interactive public input session will feature mix, mingle and talk time and a chance to speak with board members. This evening will be more interactive and informal than the public hearing that follows on Nov. 17."

Learn more...

Directions – Wheeler Pavilion is the round building at the Lane County Fairgrounds; if driving, enter on East 13th Ave, between Tyler and Van Buren
LTD buses 41 or 76.

Working at the State Level

Many people seem interested in working to secure better funding at the state level.  There are many avenues to do this. You can contact your representatives – find them at usa.gov or votesmart.org.  You can also team up with Stand for Children, which is an advocacy organization already very active both locally and in Salem. Stand and VoteSmart both provide a great deal of information about elected officials, candidates and legislation.
(I am hoping to include more information soon here about how to write effective letters to your representatives.)
The State Funding Working Group needs a point person.  Please let me know if that's you!

Working Groups

We've just created a Working Groups page. Our ultimate goal is to connect like-minded individuals, groups and organizations so they can pool their efforts to support 4J.  In the meantime, please look over our proposed groups and send us your input and suggestions!

Relevant Links

Check out our growing collection of links!  We're collecting relevant links as we find them to help you connect with information, resources and organizations in our community.

If you have a link to suggest, please add it as a comment below.

Goals of "We Support Eugene Schools"

Our Goals:

1. Focus concern about the budget in positive ways that build community and enable our schools to thrive  in the face of extreme economic challenges.
2. Create 'working groups' of individuals and organizations so that those with like-minded skills and interests can focus their efforts. Groups may include those interested in state funding, local funding, emergency response (funding 2010-2011), community awareness, volunteering, etc.
3. Help individuals who want to make a difference connect up with groups who could use their help.

About Us

We are a group of concerned citizens in Eugene, OR, who would like to see our schools supported at a level where our kids – and our community – can thrive.

If you have ideas or are looking for a way to do something about the current budget crisis in 4J, then join us!

Please note: we do not represent the school district, unions or any other formal organization or institution. The views expressed herein are those of each individual who posts and not necessarily of this group. Please keep it positive!

Please read About Us for more information...