History & Background
The Stark Education Partnership, Inc., a 501(c)-3 non-profit education reform support organization, was formed on Thursday July 13, 1989 by the Deuble, Hoover, Stark Community and Timken Foundations with a $3M endowment. A 1988 study of the Canton City Schools, and subsequently all of Stark County, led the foundation leadership to the conclusion that our districts were doing an outstanding job but needed additional community support to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Community support was to come from the Stark Education Partnership (then known as The Education Enhancement Partnership).
The Stark Education Partnership involves Stark County districts, higher education institutions and the community, representing more than 100,000 students, in studying issues and making changes.
Often the Stark Education Partnership helps broker the resources and create the collaborations necessary to build the capacity to institute change that will make Stark County institutions the finest in the nation. To date, the Partnership has secured, brokered, or collaborated in nearly $70M in federal, state, and local funds to achieve this goal.
Frequently, the Stark Education Partnership serves as a catalyst. This role is illustrated by the formation of the first P-16 Compact in the state of Ohio in 2002. The Compact, whose current focus is to increase high school graduation and college-going rates and decrease college remediation, enhances communication between the six area college presidents, school superintendents, community, business and civic leaders as the community works in unison towards the goal of becoming the most educated county in the United States.
View a timeline of significant events in the Partnership's history.
