Dear reader,
Maybe you read Chalkbeat before you head to school in the morning. Or you scroll through Rise & Shine while waiting in line for coffee. Or maybe you swap Chalkbeat stories with colleagues and friends who care just as much as you do about education. Whatever the setting, there’s a word for what you do; you Chalkbeat.
To Chalkbeat ˈchȯk-ˈbēt verb: The act of contributing to, creating, reading, sharing, discussing, and/or acting on high-quality local stories about educational equity — all as part of a community of like-minded people.This year, we are calling on our readers to make Chalkbeat’s work possible by:
- Sharing #WhyIChalkbeat on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram
- Making a monthly donation by clicking here
Personally, I Chalkbeat because education is a vital issue that concerns us all. Amid what can seem like a torrent of information these days, we take seriously our responsibility to explain and enlighten. In 2015, we’ve told the stories of budding student activists, and we’ve dug deeper than anyone else into issues surrounding teacher turnover and standardized testing.
I Chalkbeat because for every story about staggering achievement gaps that we have documented and for every question about the Jeffco school board recall that we have answered, there are hundreds more. There are more than 1,800 public schools in Colorado, each filled with untold stories and unanswered questions. If we don’t write about them, who will?
While Chalkbeat is largely funded by the generosity of philanthropy and sponsors, your participation is vital to sustaining our work and independence. We believe that strong community journalism requires strong community support. Above all, we are accountable to you, our readers. To make sure we stay that way, we need your support.
Together, we can work toward a better informed Colorado.
Eric Gorski,
Chalkbeat Colorado bureau chief