Christa Payne brings energy and enthusiasm to newly-established position.

The Public Education Foundation has named Christa S. Payne as Director of Development and External Relations.  Ms. Payne will direct the Foundation's fundraising efforts, including the creation of a long-range development plan.

Voices in Urban Eduation, Annenberg Institute for School Reform
In this article, Debra Vaughan (PEF's Director of Data and Research) and Kirk Kelly (HCDE's Director of Accountability and Testing) discuss how the school district and the Foundation are working together to promote the use of quality data in decision-making.

Thanks to the Annenberg Institute for School Reform for granting permission to reprint Deb's article on this web site.

Through its Excelerator program, AT&T is partnering with PEF to support electronic collaboration for teachers in Hamilton County.

Chattanoogan.com
The Hamilton County Schools reported straight A's in student academic progress, and the high school graduation rate is up.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
PEF President Dan Challener joined Governor Phil Bredesen at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for a Competitive Workforce.

Chattanooga Times
The Foundation is recognized as a partner for strong schools.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Superintendent Jim Scales and PEF President Dan Challener comment on the progress made possible by the partnership between the school district and the Foundation.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
85% of Hamilton County Schools make adequate yearly progress and are in good standing under No Child Left Behind guidelines.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
375 teachers attend PEF's literacy institute

Diana Green
PEF’s Diana Green offers advice on encouraging children to read over the summer

Parade Magazine Cover Story
Parade magazine highlights the role of local education funds in school success

Chattanooga Times Free Press
By Beverly A. Carroll Staff Writer Nine out of 10 Hamilton County residents who responded to a Washington, D.C., telephone poll said high school reform requires the support of the entire community, survey results show. Four out of five people said failing high schools cannot get better by themselves. "That really does signal a change in attitude and awareness," said Connie Warren, senior program director for Carnegie Corp. of New York, a group funding high school reform throughout the country, including Hamilton County. "People are starting to understand that education is a community institution that requires multiple partners in the business and civic communities and from grass-roots parents groups," she said.

Anniston Star
“What we have learned in 20 years is that it isn’t all about the money. It is about how you use the money to bring about transformative change.”

Chattanooga Times Free Press
If anything should disprove the criticism heaped so relentlessly, recklessly and unjustifiably on the county school system by County Commissioners Curtis Adams and Fred Skillern, it is the steady, dramatic improvement of the system’s students across the board in the state’s TCAP achievement scores.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
With Hamilton County schoolchildren, their teachers, administrators, parents, a variety of supporting foundations and others making prodigious efforts to improve local educational opportunities and student achievement, there is great new proof that their efforts are succeeding.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Hamilton County’s suburban schools, already performing above other school groups, continued to make improvements in math and reading/language arts, according to 2005 test data.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Student achievement improved for all Hamilton County students for the third straight year, and the performance gap between poor and more affluent students narrowed, according to 2005 test data released Thursday.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Free Press Editoral: Downtown Rotary hears about school improvements and challenges from PEF President Dan Challenter.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
UTC finds fewer local public school graduates require remediation courses

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Scores show progress, help find weaknesses. Eight Hamilton County schools earn top marks in state tests.

Chattanoogan.com
State testing results show Hamilton County Schools out performed Davidson, Knox and Memphis while equaling the scores of Shelby County on the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS).

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Hamilton County elementary and middle school students are learning more than the state standard in reading and math, and high school students rank at the top in writing, according to tests that measure how much students learn from year to year.

A letter from PEF President Dan Challener
Hamilton County students have made significant achievement gains at all levels.

Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial
Test scores improved across the board from 2003 to 2004 scores in all categories and among all ethnic groups and all special education groups in the K-8 grades tested.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
The percentage of Hamilton County students scoring proficient or advanced on state reading/language and math tests increased from 2003 to 2004.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
More of Hamilton County's public schools met all student achievement standards of the federal No Child Left Behind Act this year.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Teachers are surrounded by people all day, but they often are alone when they might wish to share ideas and tips with other professionals on how to do their jobs better. To help teachers bridge that gap, the Public Education Foundation of Chattanooga trains educators in how to create Critical Friends Groups at their schools.

Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial
Community residents understandably rank public education as the top issue currently confronting Hamilton County. They're also willing to support a tax increase to underwrite improvements in public schools — if the increase were specifically directed toward improvements in the education system here.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
A countywide poll released Tuesday showed most Hamilton County residents support a tax increase to improve education.

Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial
The Public Education Foundation and the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga are working together to provide a forum in which residents of all ages and interests can help create a blueprint for improved teacher quality in Hamilton County Schools.

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Area public school officials say funds are needed to attract and retain the best instructors

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Public meetings begin Monday on recruiting, retaining best in county

Press Release
The PEF and the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga are hosting a series of public forums to gain community ideas on teacher quality.