Hewlett-Packard in Corvallis showers local school districts with cash and equipment, which other districts can only envy.

Consider what the Corvallis, site of high-tech giant Hewlett-Packard, does for K-12 education in its area:

• Between 1,500 and 2,000 of its 6,000 employees are "actively involved in the schools ... from hosting job shadows to school boards and everything in between," according to Marcy Eastham, the site's community relations manager.
• In 1994, HP provided a grant of $90,000 for hands-on science in the elementary schools, plus numerous HP scientists to help support teachers. This grant led to additional money from the National Science Foundation.
• An ongoing HP matching grants program provided equipment to area schools valued at $250,000 last year. Employees pay 25 percent of the cost of HP equipment, with the company kicking in the other 75 percent.
• Another continuing program gave $114,000 in support to schools in Benton and Linn counties in 1997.

About 80 percent of them live in those two counties, Eastham says.