Open Champions

Oregon’s education system isn’t working. Open Champions brings families, educators, and business leaders to one table to read the honest data and follow the problems from the Capitol to the classroom.

What We’re Building

The Data Book: Oregon Education by the Numbers, one statewide set of facts (bar chart icon)

The Data Book

Oregon Education by the Numbers: one statewide set of facts for families, educators, legislators, and business leaders.

Three Steering Committees: Families, Educators and Business (icon of three overlapping circles)

Steering Committees

Three committees of families, educators, and business leaders naming what quality education means and building the power to demand it.

Advisory Council: cross-sector leaders guiding the work (icon of three people)

Advisory Council

Cross-sector leaders who don’t usually share a room, keeping the work coherent and community voice at the center.

Six-Month Coalition: monthly sessions in person and online (calendar icon)

A Six-Month Coalition

Monthly sessions in person and online. We cover transportation, childcare, food, and interpretation.

  • “Oregon has chosen adult comfort over students’ right to an education.”

    Angela Uherbelau
    Oregon Kids Read

  • “A dozen plus states are passing us by and they can’t all be explained away.”

    John Tapogna
    Oregon Business Council

  • “What I found was an inclusive, action-oriented coalition of families, educators, and community leaders asking hard questions and having honest conversations about what needs to change.”

    Daniel Carr
    Third-grade teacher
    Grants Pass

Open Champions in the news

31 other states spent less on education than Oregon in 2024, yet its fourth-grade reading results were far below average. OPB, reported Oct. 13, 2026.

Our kids deserve a school system that shows up better for them. OPB’s latest reporting found that Oregon spent more than 31 other states in 2024, yet its 4th-grade reading results were far below average.

Open Champions brings families, educators, and business leaders to the same table to build the state’s education priorities and an objective data book for lawmakers.

Source: OPB, Oct. 13, 2026

Read the OPB Story

Open Champions is Guided by Oregon and National Leaders

We are honored to be supported and joined by representatives from:

  • Portland Public Schools
  • Providence
  • Oregon Business Council
  • Oregon Kids Read
  • Columbia Corridor Association
  • National Parents Union
  • Port of Portland
  • Lark + Fir Realty
  • Center for Black Excellence
  • Xenium
  • ORABSE
  • Educators for Excellence
  • Open School

Join Our Coalition

Oregon made a promise to educate every student, regardless of zip code. Give us six months: meet with families, educators, and business leaders, dig into Oregon’s own data, and learn from the states that got this right.

We’re looking for parents and caregivers, teachers and educators, and business and community leaders. We cover transportation, childcare, food, and interpretation.

Apply Today