I’ve long said that I’m better positioned to represent my clients’ best interests because of the knowledge and information that Charlottesville Tomorrow shares.

Now they’re asking for the community’s help to Kickstart their foray into covering the education side of the news.

Charlottesville Tomorrow has provided something extremely valuable – consistent reporting for many years. Here’s hoping they’re able to replicate this success in the school reporting arena.

Keep in mind – “Distance from Schools” and “Quality of Schools” are the two least-likely-to-compromise criteria for home buyers.

* Disclosure: I donated $50.

From the Kickstarter page:

Charlottesville Tomorrow will take its successful approach to in-depth community news and start covering K-12 public education in Charlottesville-Albemarle.

During June 2013 to May 2014, we will produce 2-5 education news stories a week, build a community calendar for education-related events, and create a new weekly email news service focused on education. Think of all the things Charlottesville Tomorrow does today, applied to local public education.

Our focus on the classroom will include a “Meet your Educator” series, we’ll explore our specialty centers (STEM, performing arts, etc.), we’ll have data-driven stories on student achievement and in-depth stories comparing our two school divisions. At the school board level, we’ll keep you informed about the candidates running for office and their choices on school policy, budget, curriculum, and staffing.

Our community has not had a dedicated education reporter since 2005. Local schools are a major quality of life issue and the biggest portion of local government budgets. We all want to ensure those tax dollars are being invested wisely and getting results.

Successfully preparing our children for their future requires a public engaged in the local education agenda. Economic vitality and successful local businesses require strong public schools. UVa needs strong public schools to recruit faculty.

A December 2009 study by the Brookings Institution makes the business case.

“[T]here is no substitute for day-to-day reporting on the schools. Reporters who parachute in to cover a particular school crisis are no substitute for journalists who immerse themselves both in the broader issues surrounding educational improvement and in the on-the-ground experiences of particular teachers and students and schools. We believe that partnerships between not-for-profit organizations and profit-making newspapers should be encouraged.”

Shortly before this study was issued by Brookings, Charlottesville Tomorrow launched just such a news partnership with The Daily Progress. Today 60 percent of the daily newspaper’s content on growth and development matters is written by Charlottesville Tomorrow.

With your support of this campaign, we can expand those media partnerships and the coverage of local education. We are pleased to announce that both our community’s weekly newspapers, C-Ville and The Hook, plan to publish the education news created by this project. It’s an exciting development that will ensure Charlottesville Tomorrow’s trusted reporting gets even greater exposure in our community.