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Since 1983, the Classroom Law Project has used fun, innovative programs to teach Oregon students about civics, including the Constitution, state and federal courts, political issues and the inner workings of the U.S. government.

But the U.S. government dealt the CLP a staggering blow when it cut earmarks during last spring鈥檚 effort to craft a budget for 2011. The cuts included the CLP’s “We the People” program, a national competition that tests high school students on their knowledge of the Constitution congressional-hearing style. Oregon teams have won the national title three times, and have won awards every year since the program was established more than two decades ago.

鈥淭his is a program that had been funded for 24 years by Congress, and every congressional district in the country was getting a piece of the funding,鈥� said Marilyn Cover, CLP鈥檚 executive director. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 fit the traditional image of an earmark, but unfortunately it was. And it was a tidy way for people to find a $16 million lump sum they could cut.鈥�

The cuts also targeted Teaching American History grants, service-learning grants and other educational programs with a proven record of success. Cover noted there was no discussion of the programs鈥� merits before Congress made the cuts.

As a result, CLP lost $179,000 鈥� nearly a third of its total budget. The loss comes as youths鈥� knowledge and interest in politics and the government is declining. A 2006 Oregon Civics Survey found that just 25 percent of high school students could name Oregon鈥檚 two U.S. senators; 23 percent named then-Gov. Ted Kulongoski as one of them.

CLP has reached 12,000 students and 400 teachers in Oregon during its nearly 30-year history. But there are more than 550,000 students enrolled in the state鈥檚 198 school districts.

While a grant from the Oregon Community Foundation has helped offset the loss, CLP is among scores of nonprofit organizations seeking other sources of funding as government resources shrink.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 compete with groups that feed children or provide core education services, and we don鈥檛 want to compete with them,鈥� Cover said. 鈥淥ur hope is that local businesses and individuals who are doing better financially will step up to help out.鈥�

CLP will host its annual fundraising dinner April 24. For more information, visit the