Chalking up good ideas.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Oregonians have a lot of experience with education reform efforts - so much that when a new initiative like the Chalkboard Project comes along, it's easily mistaken for something familiar.

Some see another empty exercise in pulse-taking and plan-writing. Others expect it to march on Salem and demand more money for schools. But other groups are already doing those things. The Chalkboard Project has a different approach, one that could prove pro- ductive.

The Chalkboard Project began last year as an effort to get Oregonians to do what they say they want to do - make their schools among the nation's best. It's led by five of Oregon's biggest charitable foundations. The foundations' involvement helps ensure that the project's credibility won't be compromised by government control or special-interest influence, while providing sufficient resources - $2.7 million so far - to finance a broad information-gath- ering effort.

The project began by collecting the ideas of 50,000 Oregonians though surveys, meetings and focus groups. All this information was distilled into three underlying concerns about education: quality, accountability and funding. This month, the Chalkboard Project came up with a set of 15 recommendations for addressing those concerns.

It's refreshing to find that many of the recommendations don't have to wait until Oregon finds a better way to finance its schools. Indeed, some of them - using block grants to improve the efficiency of school transportation systems, creating a centralized online purchasing system and making better use of federal funding for special education programs - promise to relieve the financial pressure on schools.

Other recommendations arise from an understanding that money isn't all that's needed to bring schools into line with Oregonians' high expectations. School districts can reduce dropout rates, for instance, by taking attendance seriously - kids can't learn if they're not in school. Getting parents more involved in their children's education was identified as a vital step toward improved performance and closing the achievement gap. Among the recommendations is a call for easier-to-understand school budgets, which would help resolve disputes over how much education costs and where the money goes.

Pursuing some of the recommendations would cost money - for instance, reducing class sizes in kindergarten and first grade. Even so, by focusing on the earliest grades the Chalkboard Project attempts to set a realistic goal while putting scarce resources where they'll have the greatest effect.

Other recommendations, such as ensuring that early readers receive one-on-one instruction, could cost money. But they might also be implemented by an increased reliance on such volunteer programs as Start Making a Reader Today.

The Chalkboard Project recognizes that Oregon's existing school finance system has failed to deliver stable, adequate funding. A task force will examine the funding problem over the next six months. A second task force will study ways of retaining the best teachers and administrators while ensuring greater accountability.

The Chalkboard Project hasn't ducked the tough issues - not yet, at least - by assigning them to panels of experts. New thinking is required on these issues, and it will take time to come up with a plan of action that promises to win public acceptance.

If Oregonians really want first-rate schools, they'll have to be willing to pay for them. Yet improvements won't come as long as the discussion remains locked between those who demand more money and those who refuse to give it until schools become more efficient and accountable.

The Chalkboard Project is an attempt to break out of this stalemate, and to find solutions that build credibility, enjoy public support and deliver results. It could sputter out, as so many reform initiatives have done before. But the attempt is worth making, because the stakes are so high.