Plan Could Add 5,000 Teachers to Oregon Classrooms

Imagine a plan that could put 5,000 additional teachers into Oregon classrooms.  Senator Bruce Starr (R-Hillsboro) says we can do this without adverse effects to other state programs and without raising taxes.  His plan would dedicate 65% of total education spending to the classroom.  Simply put, he believes more of our education dollars should directly benefit our children.

“This is about putting more money into our classrooms,” stated Starr.  “It is about giving students more opportunity to succeed.”

Currently, Oregon sends about 59 cents of every education dollar to the classroom.  By increasing that number to 65 cents students will get the benefit of over $240 million extra dollars.  These are resources that will directly affect their performance.  Studies show that dollars spent in the classroom are 5 times more effective at increasing test scores that those spent elsewhere in the system.

“We can put $240 million into classrooms all over the state,” Starr said.  “This is money that will directly benefit our students.”

Under Starr’s plan classroom spending would include teacher salaries, classroom supplies, field trips, music, art and sports.  Schools would not be expected to meet these goals overnight.  Districts only need to show a 2% improvement over the previous year or petition for a waiver from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Nationally 61.5% of education dollars reach the c lassroom and only four states reach the 65% threshold.  Historically, K-12 education spending has increased four times faster than the rate of inflation while the percentage of those dollars reaching the classroom has fallen.

While Starr’s plan did not receive a hearing in the Senate this past year, he has vowed to continue working with education advocates to push the idea.   

Is Oregon education ready for 65 percent solution?
Some states dealing with question of mandated percentages for classrooms
Wendy Culverwell
Business Journal staff writer

Oregon has yet to draw the attention of First Class Education, a national movement devoted to the idea that 65 percent of funds collected by school districts should be spent on classroom instruction.

But at least one Oregon lawmaker is already thinking along the same lines.

Sen. Chuck Starr, R-Hillsboro, introduced a bill during the 2005 session that would have required schools to keep 65 cents of every education dollar in the classroom. The bill died without having received a hearing. Starr wasn't available to discuss if he will revisit the topic.

First Class Education, led by Patrick Byrne, the president and chairman of Overstock.com Inc., aims to pass laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia requiring public schools to spend at least 65 percent of their budgets for K-12 education on classroom instruction. It set a deadline of 2008. The movement originated in Washington , D.C. , and is active in more than a dozen states, including Washington and California .

It has not actively targeted Oregon -- yet. But given the state's easy ballot access, it's not impossible that the movement would arrive as a ballot measure, or that a legislator such as Starr could come forward as an advocate for the movement locally.

Ed Dennis, chief of staff for the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, said he wasn't aware that anyone is championing the cause here, at least, not yet. In Arizona , the Republican Party championed the idea, but local Oregon Republicans say it would be up to lawmakers to take the lead.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics , Oregon spends an average of 59.4 percent of operating dollars on instruction. The national average is 61.8 percent.

That doesn't mean the remaining 40 percent goes to administration. The instruction figures don't include such things as transporting children to school or paying school nurses and librarians. Figures vary, too, by region.

Rural districts, for instance, spend more for transportation because they travel greater distances and move fewer students. Their administrative expenses also tend to seem high because they serve fewer students.

But a 65 percent campaign could jump-start an important discussion about school spending here.

The average Oregonian thinks schools spend almost that amount on administration, according to a poll commissioned earlier this year by Citizens for Oregon 's Future, which educates the public about how tax dollars are spent.

The survey, conducted in early May, indicated voters estimate that schools spend 34 percent of their budgets on administration. In reality, district-level administration expenses accounted for 1.4 percent of the average school district budget in Oregon , according to a 2002 education spending audit by the secretary of state. School-level administration averaged 6.4 percent.

Steve Novick, director, said a 65 percent campaign could be valuable if it stimulates a statewide discussion on how schools spend money. But he worries that it could oversimplify a complex topic.

"I'm kind of happy to see it discussed as a way to explain how schools spend money," he said.

Ed Edwards, government relations director for the Oregon School Employees Association , believes a 65 percent campaign would be bad for schools.

"It's a great sound bite: 65 percent to direct classroom activity. But it's ignoring this whole other segment of what it takes to make the classroom work," he said. The association represents 20,000 school employees in 130 districts statewide, most of them custodians, secretaries, food service workers, education assistants and technology support staff. Those are the employee groups most likely to be cut if schools had to shift resources to the classroom.

"Today, teachers teach because secretaries are answering the phone," he said.

wculverwell@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3415