The Public Education Foundation Inc

It was 1991 when we began to ask: What if?

What if the community played a greater role in helping the school district improve our public schools in Southern Nevada?

What if a group of business and civic leaders collaborated with the school district to find the best ways to educate a rapidly growing and diversifying population?

What if an organization was created that took calculated risks in the pursuit of bold new thinking and creative approaches to public education?

Then we stopped asking and instead translated an idea into action. Ernest A. Becker Jr., Ann Lynch, Karen M. Galatz, former Governor Grant Sawyer, Dr. Lois Tarkanian and Judi Steele worked together with the support of Superintendent Dr. Brian Cram to establish the Clark County Public Education Foundation in 1991, now known as The Public Education Foundation, an independent nonprofit Nevada corporation.

It wasn’t long before our four-member board grew into a 31-member board.

We’ve made clear—as far back as 25 years ago—that major shifts in demographics, rapid changes in the job market, new technologies and a globalizing economy demand that our schools do a better job of educating our children.

Our graduates must not only be able to read and write, but to think and to understand. They must not only be able to learn, but also be able to lead.

That’s what we’ve been doing ever since ... and we’re just getting started.