On November 9, 2009, the Associated Press published a story by Tim Fought entitled “Stimulus patches part of Ore. Schools budget gap” (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091109/ap_on_bi_ge/us_stimulus_oregon_schools).
According to the article, the biggest share of spending in Oregon from the federal economic stimulus package has gone to pay teachers. And even though the money has been used to save and create teaching jobs in Oregon, the funds have not stabilized the school districts, which will see a shortfall after the temporary aid is no longer available after a period of three years. Then, schools will have to re-evaluate their curriculum and programs to fit the constraints of smaller budgets without aid.
Schools have suffered from the recession with the shrinking state budget. In January 2010, voters will be in a position to aid schools by upholding the Oregon state legislature’s tax increases. Measure 66 (House Bill 2649) will raise the personal income taxes for the top 2% of earners in Oregon. Measure 67 (House Bill 3405) will increase the minimum corporate tax. Both taxes are permanent. Opponents believe that an alternative can be found; it is because of their petitions that these measures will be brought to referendum in January 2010. Proponents say that public services (including education) will suffer if the measures are rejected.
For additional information on the measures, please visit http://oregonvotes.org/jan262010/bt_explanatory.pdf
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