CAPE Turns 10 Years Old on December 4

PART III Accomplishments

In the 10 years, CAPE’s mission has been “Educate the public about public education” because we understand that it is the community’s right - and responsibility - to determine how our public schools function. Putting it another way, CAPE has worked to “Keep the public in public education” by advocating for dialogue, discussion, and debate over policies and practices that impact the schooling of our next generation. 

Over a decade as a non-profit education advocacy organization, our guiding approach is to “oppose and propose”:  Not only do we name what is not working, we offer concrete alternative methods, thus providing an different vision to the decades-old model. We believe in the wisdom and dedication of the educators in our community - the teachers, the principals, the educational assistants, all our school personnel - to be restored the influence and inclusion in the decision-making that impacts the students they were hired to educate. We propose defending the front-line educators as we oppose the top-down management that brought us the failed system we struggle with.

To accomplish this change in direction, we have employed many different strategies over the years, including:

         • 13 public speaker / panel presentations featuring local, state, and national participants

         • writing letter and editorial to local newspapers and radio stations; paid newspaper ads 

         • monthly column in Eugene Weekly alternative paper

         • work, as individual members, on local school board elections

         • attend local school board meeting attendance and comments 

         • meet with school board members in Eugene 4j, Bethel and Springfield School  Districts

         • presentation in classroom at local high schools and in UO education classes

         • lobby with state legislators on education bills

         • affiliate with the Oregon Public Education Network (OPEN), the Network for Public Education (NPE), and Parents Across America

         • maintain a Web site and Facebook page

• and many more

 Read on to

PART IV Victories