The Quest for Excellence in Public Education

The towering brick façade of Newburyport High School stands proudly on a hill on High Street. For the better part of the last century, it has stood as a symbol of classical strength and beauty, and represents Newburyport’s long-standing commitment to providing its youth with a quality education.

Like our buildings, a challenging public educational program requires investment in continual improvement. Delivering that program is increasingly difficult to fund, however, due to unfunded government mandates, rapidly expanding technology, escalating special education costs, and inadequate state aid. Without help, the public schools cannot fully fund the initiatives needed to meet today’s growing educational challenges.

What is the Newburyport Education Foundation?

The Mission of the Newburyport Education Foundation is to bring philanthropy into the Newburyport Public Schools and generate financial resources that will enhance the quality of public education.

Formed to enhance educational opportunities for the city’s public school children, the goal of the Newburyport Education Foundation is to supplement funding for programs which are already supported by public financing at a basic level, but which can be substantially improved by additional private sector financing, and to finance programs that might not receive funding from traditional sources such as the district budget or state aid.

The Foundation will be governed by a Board of Directors made up of members of the community working in concert with, but independent of, the Newburyport Public Schools. The Board of Directors will be accountable for designating how the funds are to be used.

Why a Private Foundation for Public Education?

Communities across the nation are coming to the realization that they must find alternative funding vehicles to support public education if they wish to remain progressive and competitive. (Funding for public education in Massachusetts is further constrained by the limits imposed by Proposition 2 1/2.)

Most private secondary schools routinely and effectively seek charitable support. While private schools have long understood that tuition is not sufficient to cover all educational costs, public schools are now realizing that tax allotments—the public school equivalent of tuition—are not sufficient to fund the needs of our public schools. When one takes into account the fact that the per capita student tuition expenditure in the private schools is three to four times greater than the per capita student expenditure in the public schools, the case for bringing philanthropy to the public schools is underscored. Although school leaders will continue to work for additional state funding for our schools, it is unlikely that state aid—geared to the "average" school and mandated at the minimum level—will ever fund our schools to achieve excellence.

If there is to be equality in America, there must be equality in education. All children should have the opportunity for the same quality of education�regardless of income or means. The Newburyport Education Foundation seeks to develop charitable support which will supplement the publicly funded school budget to achieve this equality of opportunity.

How Private Funds Can Benefit Public Education

A first-class education program might include the following items that are not funded, or not fully funded, in the current budget.

• Enrichment programs at all grade levels that encourage students to achieve to their fullest potential.
  

• Permanent funding to maintain state-of-the-art school libraries that work with our public library to provide more access to students (and the community) during and after school hours.

• A science program that integrates the full range of instrumentation and technology needed to engage students in the investigation of scientific phenomena.

• Endowments of distance learning offerings to take full advantage of the new distance learning facility.

• Permanent funding to maintain our athletic fields and performing arts venues, such as the classic World War Memorial Stadium, Fuller Field, and our middle school auditorium, that are enjoyed by students. community groups alike.

• Challenging new courses of study, such as broadcasting, marine science, and computer programming and repair, that offer students an opportunity to work toward a career interest.

• Evening and alternative programs that offer choices for students and others who wish to take courses that their current school day schedule cannot accommodate.

• Development funding for tools that support greater collaboration between parents and teachers around children�s academic goals.

• Additional time and resources to research, develop, and pilot programs that move our system forward toward excellence.

Your Opportunity to Invest in Public Education

Gifts to the Newburyport Education Fund will help meet the needs of the public schools in the years ahead. There will be opportunities to contribute on many levels, including an annual giving campaign, capital campaign, and planned giving. Income from permanent endowed gift funds can be designated for a particular need or left unrestricted to be invested by The Board of Directors. Naming opportunities also exist to name a room or area in the new high school, such as the high school library, in memory of loved ones or events.

Education requires experiences that can help students to look beyond the years they spend in school to the roles they can play in the future. They are becoming the citizens who will lead, perform, build and create the world ahead of us. We seek, with help from others, to make them the best-educated and most conscientious members of society that we have ever known. The Newburyport Education Foundation offers donors meaningful, lasting opportunities to support excellence in public education in our city.