The Fund for Portland Public Schools Looks Forward

The Fund for Portland Public Schools, now the district’s primary fundraiser, reported frustrating news in late September. It raised just $593,324 in the 2024–25 academic year, a far cry from the $3 million to $4 million a year typically raked in by the district’s previous model for fundraising—local school foundations in which parents largely collected donations to add staff at their own kids’ schools.

There’s been plenty of discussion about what the low number says about the School Board’s May 2024 decision to effectively eliminate LSFs by preventing foundations from spending on staff (“Sharing Is Caring,” WW , Oct. 1). But leaders at The Fund for PPS and advocates for the new model say dwelling on the past is the wrong strategy.

“I still really am excited about the opportunity that [