Portland, Ore. Feb. 29, 2008- In 2007, Rep. Chip Shields and Sen. Margaret Carter succeeded in their top priority -- a significant reinvestment in K-12 education-- through their work on the Joint Ways & Means budget committee. They helped increase higher education and community colleges funding by 18% and helped pass the Shared Responsibility Model to make college more affordable (see www.getcolleg e funds.org). They were proud to help invest $96 million to expand Head Start at places like Albina Head Start.

With these strong first steps, they are inviting the community to come together to plan for the next steps in strengthening Oregon's education system.

"Last session, Senator Margaret Carter and I made major improvements for education on all levels for N/NE Portlanders, but there's much more work to do," said Rep. Chip Shields of House District 43, which includes much of North and Northeast Portland, Irvington and the Lloyd District.

The Town Hall will be Saturday, March 8th from 10:30am to 12:00 p.m. at the Portland Community College-Cascade Campus Student Center, 705 N. Killingsworth St. in Portland.

Special guests will include James Sager, Senior Policy Advisor on Education for Governor Kulongoski; Dana Hepper, Statewide Advocacy Coordinator for Stand For Children, and Algae Gatewood, President of Portland Community College Cascade Campus.

This is the third in a series of Town Halls Rep. Shields and Sen. Carter have hosted. A previous town hall was held on healthcare on February 8th, while another was held on living-wage jobs on Jan 6th.

For more information, call Rep. Shields office at 503- 231-2564 or go to his website at www.leg.state.or.us/shieldsc. High quality head shot photo available in news section of website.