Oregon Reads: Left to Chance and Outsiders
by Joanne Yatvin
When wealthy individuals or foundations give grants to groups espousing new ideas in the public sector, no harm is done. Even if those ideas fail miserably, the givers have plenty of money left to try again, and at least somebody got a job out of the venture. But when a working person gambles his paycheck away, there’s nothing left to buy food for his family. Such is the case with Governor Kitzhaber’s Oregon Educational Investment Board (OEIB) bent on spending the money badly needed by Oregon’s schools on new bureaucracies, risky projects, and outside organizations.
The latest iteration of this gambling obsession is the Oregon Reads proposal to offer grants to organizations and individuals to promote children’s reading. No one claims that the goal is not worthy; it’s the means that are in