Fri, Feb 27 4:46pm
With the legislative session coming to an end on March 9, we are hearing that legislators are refusing to use any reserves to support schools and students in a time when we are seeing cuts in districts across the state.
Join us in calling on the legislature to release 100 million dollars from the Education Stability Fund (state reserves) to schools in the state to stabilize services for our students.
Contact your Senator and Representative today by email or phone or use this form on our website.
https://www.oregonpta.org/advocacy/take-action?vvsrc=%2fCampaigns%2f134726%2fRespond
Tell lawmakers to use state reserves to prevent teacher cuts!
https://www.oregonpta.org/advocacy/take-action?vvsrc=%2fCampaigns%2f134726%2fRespond
Tell lawmakers to use state reserves to prevent teacher cuts!
Oregon already has some of the highest teacher-student ratios nationwide and, as inflation drives up costs that are difficult to control for schools, many districts are facing dire budget situations and potentially teacher lay-offs.
Mississippi, which has made great gains in student achievement, has 8% more teachers than Oregon despite having 25% fewer students. In order to achieve the same student-teacher ratio as Mississippi, Oregon would have to hire 11,025 additional teachers. If school districts have to lay off teachers, we’ll only widen the gap between our students and those in higher-performing states such as Mississippi.
We are asking lawmakers to make no cuts to education in the current session and instead allocate an additional $100 million dollars in emergency funding from the state's Education Stability Fund (ESF) to help stabilize school budgets for this and the coming school year, to keep teachers in classrooms and children safe and learning.
The modest ask of $100 million dollars is less than 10% of the current Education Stability Fund balance and, since the fund is projected to receive $221.2 million dollars from the State lottery in this biennium, the overall ESF balance would still increase for future use. The legislature authorized transfers from the ESF in 2003, in 2005, in 2009, in 2010, in 2011, in 2012, in 2013 and in the 2019-21 biennium to protect schools in times of need and should do so again now.
Even though $100M won't be enough to reverse all planned budget reductions, it would give schools some breathing room to avoid the harshest cuts for our most vulnerable students.