By TIFFANY CAMHI/Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Oregon’s $11.36 billion K-12 budget bill is now headed to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s desk. But as a number of school districts throughout the state face grueling financial constraints, some lawmakers and education advocates say the budget is far from enough.
Senate Bill 5516, which passed easily on the House floor Monday afternoon, will increase the budget for Oregon’s State School Fund by more than 11% from the last biennium.
School districts throughout the state rely on money from the fund to pay for operational expenses covering everything from books and utility bills to the salaries of teachers, administrators and other staff.
“Senate Bill 5516 doesn’t solve every challenge, but it’s a clear statement of our values,” said Rep. Ricki Ruiz, D-Gresham, who carried the bill. Ruiz said the bill will also make investments in teacher retention, special education and dual language programs.
The funds allocated for the next two years in the K-12 budget bill represent what lawmakers and budget writers estimate districts need for schools to function as they are now. But some say the state’s so-called “current service level,” or CSL, calculation is already negatively impacting students.
Many school boards throughout the state have faced budget deficits and been forced to make cuts ahead of next school year.
Lawmakers did adopt proposed changes to the CSL backed by Gov. Kotek last year. The governor’s office had said her revisions would streamline the State School Fund and boost its coffers by more than $500 million.
Still, these calculation changes were not enough to satisfy some lawmakers on the House floor. Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, said the state’s funding formula, which is designed to equitably distribute money to school districts, is overly complicated and confusing. He urged lawmakers to scrap the formula altogether and start from scratch in a future session.
“At some point we need to recognize it’s time to have a ‘no kidding, sleeves rolled up’ conversation about what it is we’re gonna provide for kids,” Evans said. “The system and structure is not designed to produce.”
Republican representatives said they support pumping more money into Oregon’s public schools but could not back a bill without more funding guardrails. Rep. Jami Cate, R-Lebanon, said the current school budget formula does not ensure every student receives funding equitably.
Cate said some schools “have longstanding systemic issues that continue to be shortchanged when we do not address the funding formula.”
She continued. “I appreciate that we are continuing to invest in our schools, but colleagues, I’m frustrated that the benefit of increasing our investment doesn’t trickle down to all schools.”
In addition to the school funding bill, lawmakers on the House floor also passed an education bill that will set up a statewide student outcomes accountability system for Oregon’s school districts — Senate Bill 141. That bill also awaits Kotek’s signature.
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