Schools

The cry for help in our schools continues to grow louder, and Oregon voters are listening: In Tuesday’s election, Oregonians approved multiple local bonds and levies in attempts to keep their local schools afloat.

Voters faced five K-12 school bond measure and five K-12 school levy measures across the state. Results tallied after Tuesday's elections showed that 8 of 10 education measures passed.

Our schools across the state continue to face tough times. Deep budget cuts are leading to a still more dire situation for our students and community. Classrooms are overcrowded and class options are dwindling. Schools are understaffed and teachers are overburdened. But this election, Oregonians showed that they have had enough and took action to work towards restoring funding to their local schools. 

Klamath Falls City was among the eight that supported a school funding measure. This was the first time in at least 15 years that voters in Klamath passed a school levy. (The last attempt in 2006 failed, and there hasn’t been an attempt at the ballot since at least 1997.) Yet 57% of voters voted yes this May, in response to the needs of their community.

The other successful measures spanned the state, including measures in Washington, Morrow, and Douglas Counties.

For a list of the K12 school bonds and levies, visit the Oregon School Bond Association’s page where they list all education funding measures from the May 15 primary election.

One of the school measures turned down by voters was a levy in Canby School District which, notably, is located smack in the middle of conservatives’ latest strategic grounds: Clackamas County.

According to city estimates, more than 1,500 students, parents, and teachers came out this afternoon to rally against school budget cuts.

Marching from the Rose Quarter to Pioneer Square, the crowd chanted "Whose schools? Our schools!" and "Get UPSET!"

Signature gathering on the Kicker for K-12 Schools initiative is moving at an impressive rate!

With a little less than two months to go until signatures are due, we’ve collected more than 32,000 signatures. We now have signature gathering offices in Medford, Eugene, Salem, Hillsboro, Portland, and Bend.

Our Oregon is launching a signature gathering effort to qualify an initiative for the November ballot that would send money to K-12 classrooms by reforming the corporate “kicker” refund.

For more than a decade, school advocates, teachers, and parents have talked about the need for kicker reform. Reforming the corporate kicker and putting those dollars back into our classrooms is an idea that has broad support.
 
“The corporate kicker has long been described as costly and irresponsible,” says Our Oregon Director Patrick Green. “Initiative Petition 35 is an opportunity for everyone who cares about schools to come together and finally do something about it.”