About the Open Books Project
Oregonians often have questions about how school dollars are spent. In a 2004 survey conducted by Chalkboard, 65 percent said they would have greater confidence in K-12 schools if they could easily find standardized budget information to compare and contrast. People want to know where their money is going and they want the information in a straightforward, easy-to- understand manner.
The Open Books Project aims to provide ordinary Oregonians with an open, simple, and transparent look at where K-12 dollars really go. Chalkboard, in collaboration with the following partners created Open Books to help make it simple to find this information:
- Confederation of Oregon School Administrators (COSA)
- Oregon Parental Information and Resource Center (PIRC), a program of the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory (NWREL)
- Oregon Association of School Business Officials (OASBO)
- Oregon Department of Education (ODE)
- Oregon Education Association (OEA)
- Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA)
But it’s not just about money.
Parents, community members, and educators want easy to find information about how well their schools are meeting the needs of students. Information = Smart decisions. Open Books relies on data collected by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) in cooperation with Oregon’s 197 school districts, and made available through public files on the agency’s website. As ODE adapts new measures and approaches to track student outcomes and success, Chalkboard will continue to adapt Open Books to reflect the data that are available.
For more information about the annual school and district report card data produced yearly by the Oregon Department of Education visit the agency’s website.
