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House Bill 2632 – Lower property taxes & boost school funding?

May 22, 2013

There is a new idea in Salem in the form of House Bill 2632. Check out this short story from the Oregonian and if you are in support, contact your legislators and let them know today!

Oregon House will vote on bill to divert $4.5 million from PDC to schools

on May 22, 2013 at 12:11 PM

jules bailey

SALEM — Because of Oregon’s quirky property tax system, a bill heading to the floor of the Oregon House
could simultaneously lower property taxes in Portland and boost funding for schools.

That contradictory effect is the result of the interplay between the taxing authority of Portland’s urban  renewal agency, the Portland Development Commission and Portland Public Schools.

Currently, the PDC can divert funding from other property tax districts such as the city of Portland, Multnomah County and Portland Public Schools. And because the agency’s taxing authority predates 2001,     it can also divert money raised by local option levies.

House Bill 2632 would remove that authority. It would affect nearly 100 urban renewal agencies statewide,   but the vast majority of the monetary impact would be seen in Portland, where the PDC currently diverts    $7.5 million from Portland school levies.

If the bill passed, that $7.5 million would be sent back to schools. Along the way the tax would be subject to “compression” thanks to Oregon’s property tax limitations, resulting in $4.5 million in new revenue for Portland Public Schools and a $3 million tax cut for property owners.

“We think the voters want that money to go to education and we want to find a way to get that back,“ said David Williams, a lobbyist for Portland Public Schools.

There’s one glitch left to work out. Multnomah County thinks it could cost up to $300,000 to reprogram the county’s tax assessment system to handle the complex transaction.

The House Revenue Committee unanimously approved the bill Wednesday morning, acknowledging that the Senate may need to amend the law to make it phase-in over time, allowing for tax assessors to upgrade software.

That’s a small price to pay for a $4.5 million shot in the arm to schools, said Rep. Jules Bailey, D-Portland.

“We shouldn’t let a small one-time cost in administration get in the way of getting more money to schools and critical services,” Bailey said.

–Christian Gaston

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Your chance to speak out – Gov. Kitzhaber in Portland Monday Town Hall March 18th

March 15, 2013

This Monday, you’ve got an opportunity to speak out and make a difference for school funding.

Gov. Kitzhaber will be in Portland on Monday evening for a town hall

ImageProxyOregon has the third largest class sizes in the country, and one of the shortest school years.on education. It’s your chance to make your voice heard about the need to put more money into our classrooms  by reining in out of control tax breaks and using tax dollars   efficiently. Visit this link to let us know you’ll be there:http://ouroregon.org/townhall                       

 Kitzhaber Town Hall on Education Monday, March 18 6-7:30pm, Madison High School 2735 NE 82nd Avenue Portland, Oregon 97220 The questions for the town hall are being moderated by the Portland School Board—get your question in now by submitting them to the PPS Facebook page. Here are some facts to help you put your questions together:  

  • Over the next two years, Oregon is expected to give away more than $36 billion in tax breaks.
  • Since 2009, the amount of money Oregon gives away in tax breaks has grown by 29%, even while budgets for schools and critical services have been cut.
  • Oregon is now tied for the lowest business taxes in the nation.
  • Funding for K-12 schools is $3 billion below what experts believe we need in order to provide a quality education for every Oregon kid.

 

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A Better Way Forward Proposed by Our Oregon

March 4, 2013

Our Oregon has already responded to the new legislative budget proposal. Here is an excerpt from their blog today: Path Forward

There’s a path forward to protect our schools, health care, and the critical programs that keep our communities safe and healthy.

This morning, the chief budget writers of the Oregon legislature released their proposal for how to fund schools, health care, and public safety over the next two years.

While the co-chairs of the Joint Ways and Means Committee have recognized that it’s critical to put more money into the things that matter most—K-12 classrooms, senior care, and help for struggling families—there’s still much more to be done to make sure the budget isn’t balanced solely on the backs of the middle class.

There’s a way to stop cuts to things that matter most, protect retired seniors, and make sure large corporations and the wealthy are paying their fair share. Time is of the essence! If you want your voice heard in support of Our Oregon’s proposals, you need to contact your legislators by email or phone as soon as possible this week!

In order to protect the priorities that all Oregonians value, we’ve identified more than $700 million that can be used now to hire back teachers, lower class sizes, protect senior health care, and ensure that critical services are there for families when they need them.

Our proposals include $278 million in government savings, nearly $300 million by capping tax breaks for wealthy households, and using some reserve funds now.

See the entire blog with details on their proposed ways to stop cuts here on their Sockeye Blog.

You can find your legislators and TAKE ACTION TODAY to let them know that you support these cost savings proposed by Our Oregon.

Here is a handy graphic of the proposals they are making:

PathForwardProposals

 

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Understanding Oregon K-12 School Finance

February 17, 2013

capitol_salem_oregon_01

Came across this nice PowerPoint presentation from Michael Elliott,    State School Fund Coordinator, Oregon Department of Education.

If you would like a better understanding of how and why we are where we are at with Education Funding here in Oregon, this just may help.

https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2013R1/Downloads/CommitteeMeetingDocument/1966

And with President’s Day, please remember, comes another important way to advocate for better school funding. Write an e-mail to your state legislators … it is a quick and easy but important process … see details in this previous post:

email image

https://www.sesptsa.org/featured/oregon-pta-virtual-lobbying-day-presidents-day-february-18-2013/

—

Funding educationAlso a recent Letter to the Editor in the Oregonian that gets to the point:Ed funding image

Oregon chief education officer Rudy Crew wants to “fix” our schools by changing their “educational architecture” and buying a lot of new technology (“Call for new ‘educational architecture’ in Oregon,” Feb. 11).

Our present model doesn’t serve students well, he says, completely ignoring the effects of years of inadequate funding on the schools we have. Remember the state’s Quality Education Model? In every biennium, the gap between what the QEM has established as resources needed and actual funding has grown. That gap was $1.64 billion in 2007-9 and is projected to be $2.44 billion in 2013-15. This reminds me of G.K. Chesterton’s words: “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”

In Oregon, stable, adequate and equitable funding has been found difficult and not tried. Instead, our leaders continue to take resources out of classrooms, spending scarce education dollars on bureaucracy, consultants, testing and expensive technology. Let’s focus on the basics: students and teachers working together in schools that are supported with the wherewithal for learning.

Until we try appropriately funded schools, we won’t know how effective they can be.

WENDY SWANSON
Southwest Portland
Swanson is an education instructor at Portland State University and has 31 years of elementary teaching experience in Oregon.

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Oregon PTA Virtual Lobbying Day – President’s Day: February 18, 2013

February 11, 2013
They are asking you to send a simple email to your legislators – every Oregonian has a state senator and state representative who was elected to act on your behalf.

What should your email include?OPTAlogo

  • Introduce yourself. 
  • Briefly state why you are writing.The Oregon PTA wants your legislators to know that you are keeping track of what they are doing in Salem and that you care about every child in the state of Oregon, andsubsequently that Oregon PTA is watching as well.
  • Tell a personal story about how the cuts in education funding have affected you especially with increased class sizes and lost programs.
  • Thank the legislator for their concern and service. 
  • Offer to be available to the legislator if they should have questions or need further information. 
  • Provide your preferred contact information and respectfully sign off.
  • Please include OPTARegion2@gmail.com in the CC so we can keep track of people responding. We want to help build the connection with our legislators.

Where to send the message:

If you want to find your legislator, here is a link you can follow where you just put in your address and it will list all of your representatives, nationally and in Oregon.   www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/ , or go to the list below.

If that is too much of a hassle here are the legislators associated with each school address.  You can use the school which is nearest to your home and you will most likely be okay.

Schools:

Sunnyside

Senator:  Diane Rosenbaum     www.leg.state.or.us/rosenbaum

Representative:  Jules Kopel Bailey      www.leg.state.or.us/bailey

==========

Example Email:

“My name is Scott Overton and I am an advocate for children and education.  I am a member of the PTA at Grant HS and the father of two boys, Joe and Adam. I am interested in Oregon reinvesting in education and making sure that all children have access to a bright future.  So I am asking you to make sure that the percentage of the state budget dedicated to education does not further decline and even increases with the result of a no cut budget for schools throughout Oregon.  My children, Joe and Adam, are very different in how they learn.  Joe can independently learn most material and does quite well in every class situation.  But Adam is not so lucky.  He requires extra time to understand his work and in second year Algebra he has 35 other students in his class which means the teacher cannot spend much time with him.  Luckily the teacher has made herself available after hours to help students and Adam is taking advantage of this but I fear there are many in his class that are not able to come during lunch or after school because of responsibilities outside of school and they are not getting the time they need from the teacher to understand the concepts. The teacher should have fewer students so that she can attend to every student during the class period.  Thank you, Representative Dembrow, for listening to my concern and for your service to our community.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need further information.  I am available to help make education work in Oregon.

Sincerely, Scott Overton

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Just one more way to get involved in School Funding and Advocacy in Oregon! Let me know if you have questions and keep an eye out in the SES Messenger for a new section all about this blog and Public Education Advocacy opportunities each week.

 

 

 

 

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Oregon Legislature begins work

February 4, 2013

The Oregon Legislature is back in session, starting today, Monday, February 4, 2013. In case you haven’t yet heard,

Kitzhaber

 

…Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat, put out a recommended budget that included two mandates for the legislature:
…Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem… and House of Representatives Minority Leader Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte… McLane both said the economy would be a top priority, as well as education funding… Make changes to Oregon’s criminal justice system and Public Employees Retirement System. He tied the savings to education funding in his proposed budget and told legislators to cut $1 billion from the state budget if they don’t pass the reform packages…

For the full Salem Statement-Journal story from today’s edition, go online to: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20130204/NEWS/302040005/Oregon-Legislature-begins-work-earnest?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p.

And from today’s Oregonian:

EDUCATION

As usual, most of the attention will be on money. Kitzhaber has proposed $6.15 billion for K-12 schools in 2013-15, an 8 percent increase from the current two-year budget. School advocates want more. Kitzhaber says he can deliver what he has proposed only if the Legislature approves controversial changes to the Public Employee Retirement System. He and his chief education officer, Rudy Crew, also will ask lawmakers to earmark $10 million to $120 million for four key initiatives — early childhood reading; science, math and engineering; advising to nudge students toward college; and recruiting, training and mentoring of teachers.

In the higher ed arena, Kitzhaber wants the Legislature to recast the power structure to create a new postsecondary board over universities, community colleges and state financial aid. University champions also want to permit some universities to create their own boards, independent of systemwide control.

Watch list: Kitzhaber and his handpicked education lieutenants, Crew and schools chief Rob Saxton, will make the case for their spending and governance changes. The Oregon Education Association, which was unhappy with the education package the governor helped push through last session, should never be counted out.

Politics: School boards, superintendents and the teachers union all are expected to oppose parts of Kitzhaber’s plans, instead advocating higher spending on schools and less earmarking of how that money can be spent. Democrats are looking at alternative ways to pump more money into schools.

– Betsy Hammond

You may want to keep an eye on The Oregonian’s Oregon Education section in Politics: http://www.oregonlive.com/education/

I will be posting most likely more frequently in the days and weeks to come with action items for those who may want to get involved in trying to increase funding for Oregon Schools. A few groups to watch or to check out for more information on the history of education funding in Oregon include:

Oregon Education Association

http://www.oregoned.org/stay-informed/school-funding/k-12-funding

Oregon Save our Schools

http://www.oregonsaveourschools.blogspot.com/

Our Portland, Our Schools 

http://www.ourportlandourschools.com/

Invest in Oregon’s Kids

http://investinorkids.wordpress.com/

Chalkboard Project

http://chalkboardproject.org/what-we-do/

Please feel free to email me at s2adi@msn.com if you have questions, see groups or events you would like me to post about and/or have suggestions or ideas for me.

Best always,

Sue Lyon-Myrick

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