Will The Real School Budget Please Stand Up?

I thought that after five special sessions last year that I had heard all the ways to pretend to pay for basic programs without actually doing it. I was wrong.

On Friday, I voted "No" on HB 5077; a Republican-sponsored school budget which the daily newspapers have said contains $5.05 billion dollars for schools. Or, is it $5.3 billion? Or is it $4.9 billion as Republican Representatives admitted on the floor of the House?

WISHFUL THINKING VERSUS THE REALITY

The real dollar amount this bill would provide is $4.916 billion. The confusion in the press comes from budget gimmicks like "triggers" and contingencies which could (but will probably not) release additional money for Oregon's schools.

The only way any additional money will be triggered is if a tremendous economic recovery occurs in Oregon, which no one expects anytime soon. Our own state economist told us in May that we can expect Oregon's recession to continue. Therefore, we can't count on the "triggers" to occur.

As Representative Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) said on the floor Friday, the school budget that passed provides "$4.9 billion plus prayers, wishful thinking and wild optimism," but it doesn't provide our kids with a decent education.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOUR DISTRICT?

The result of a $4.9 billion budget for the school districts in my legislative district varies. Generally speaking, however, it's not good

WHAT DOES IT MEAN IN EUGENE?

The Eugene School District can only break even with the very bad year that just ended with a state school fund of $5.1 billion. That is true even with their huge advantage over the other districts because they will receive local option money and funds from the city levy.

At $4.9 billion, the Eugene School District will have large class sizes, a shorter school year, fewer schools, or a collection of all three.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN IN PLEASANT HILL?

Pleasant Hill superintendent Jerry Fritts has told me that a $4.9 billion dollar budget will mean the Pleasant Hill School District will:

• Not replace 3 teachers who have retired
• Not adopt the most recent version of Science and Health Textbooks
• Reduce 1 and a third full time positions
• Lay off a custodian
• Add 2 unpaid school days
• Eliminate a secretary
• Lay off 2 full-time educational assistants
• Lay off of a half-time counselor

WHAT DOES IT MEAN IN CRESWELL?

The Creswell school district informed me that if the state appropriates $4.9 billion the district will need to cut 3-4 staff. As it is next year, the district will have:

• No music instructors
• One librarian for three libraries
• No elementary PE teacher
• Over 30 students in every elementary classroom
• Almost no electives in Middle School
• A High School Program that the Superintendent has informed me may not be able to provide enough credits to meet graduation requirements

At $4.9 billion, the supplies budget will also undoubtedly be reduced, so that teachers will buy basic teaching supplies from their own pockets or have their students do without.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN IN THE LEBANON SCHOOL DISTRICT?

The Lebanon school district informed me in an e-mail that they would need an additional $3.12 million over their current projection to maintain the same levels of operation they had before they were forced to make cuts this year.

They informed me that under a state appropriation of $4.8 billion for schools statewide, Lebanon has already had to make dramatic cuts. They have already:

• Lost all of their elementary specialists
• Cut High School Staff from 60 to 47
• Increased class size to over 30 kids in most areas. (There are no classes anywhere in the district that have fewer than 25 kids; even in kindergarten)

With a $4.9 billion school budget, Lebanon will not be much better off, and not much closer to restoring prior levels of operation.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN IN THE CENTRAL LINN SCHOOL DISTRICT?

The April 2003 State and Local Funding Reduction Impact Forecast for Linn County states that after the failure of Measure 28, that the Central Linn School District was forced to:

• Cut an additional 5 days of school
• Lay off 1.5 High School Agriculture Teachers
• Lay off A Business Teacher
• Lay off ½ a Full-Time Art Teacher
• Lay off a ½ Time Bus Mechanic
• Cut 20% of Custodial hours
• Not purchase any new supplies
• Increase pay-for-play athletic fees.

What Does this mean in Springfield?

If the state gives only $4.9 billion to schools, I have been informed that Springfield will have to be unable to rehire 20 teaching positions that were eliminated. This means that class sizes will increase, and program offerings will decrease.

At $4.9 billion, the supplies budget will also undoubtedly be reduced, so that teachers will buy basic teaching supplies from their own pockets or have their students do without.

A BUDGET ROOTED IN MISCONCEPTIONS

The school budget the House passed on Friday continues the myth that we have been increasing funding for schools over the last 10 years. In reality, as I pointed out in a floor speech, overall funding and programs have been cut since 1990. Adjusted for inflation, there's less for most of Oregon's students than there was in 1993.

The continued failure of Republican legislators to consider the entire needs for a full and adequate school year, including adequately small class sizes, and adequate quality of programs, seems to doom our kids to a continued downward spiral of educational opportunities.

GIMMICKS AND TRICKS

Instead of using tricky, complicated budget devices like "triggers" and contingencies, the Legislature should simply approve an adequate budget of real dollars.

Oregon's students and parents should be able to rely on dedicated, stable funding for their schools. We should be giving schools the money they need, not gimmicks and hollow promises.

$5.3 billion will not restore cuts made last year, but will avoid any further cuts. Allocating any less is inexcusable. Period.