From the Good Cities blog:
"When a team from Wieden + Kennedy confronted its challenge to engage the community in public schoolsfor GOOD Ideas for Cities Portland, a surprising statistic came to the forefront: 85% of people in central Portland have no children of school age. With so few residents with a natural link to education, Portland’s public schools are struggling to develop community support."
Just in case you missed it--85% percent of the City of Portland residents have no children in school! Wonder what it is for other large cities?
Community involvement is a key to successful education projects. I see it all over the world and not just in OLPC projects. Community involvement reduces violence amongst children, fosters a sense of collaboration for problem solving and encourages adult literacy and learning..as well as child learning.