Salem-Keizer Public Schools reached a tentative contract deal with its teachers Tuesday, but the underlying state school funding issues are far from settled.
On Tuesday, the Salem-Keizer School Board sent an open letter “To all who care about public education in Oregon.”
The letter calls on education advocates and state leaders to work together to fix Oregon’s funding system to create the kinds of schools communities want and students deserve.
Board Chair Karina Guzmán Ortiz said Salem-Keizer is not alone in its struggles to pay for an appropriate learning environment for staff and students.
“It’s really highlighted for us the need to advocate at the state level,” she said. “It’s going to continue to be hard unless something changes.”
The letter encapsulates what education advocates say is the basic problem with public school funding: The Legislature’s formulas don’t match reality.
Legislative analysts calculated in 2022 based on past data that districts needed a $9.5 billion State School Fund to continue their current programs and staffing levels in 2023-25. The Oregon Association of School Business Officials, using current contracts and bargaining trends, estimated that school districts would need at least a $10.3 billion State School Fund. They warned that even then some districts would face cuts.
The Legislature allocated $10.2 billion, and districts around Oregon have announced budget cuts for the next school year.
Education advocates, including OSBA, will be working with legislators and Gov. Tina Kotek’s office leading up to the 2025 legislative session to craft legislation to reshape school funding for the next biennium.
“The incredibly difficult labor negotiations we are seeing across Oregon show how much our students need an overhaul of how we pay for public schools,” said Emielle Nischik, OSBA’s acting executive director. “This is also an opportunity to re-examine all the supports students and staff members need — from better facilities to more training to meeting social and emotional needs.
“These are complex issues with far-reaching consequences for young people, adults and our state’s economic well-being. We look forward to working together with Gov. Kotek and legislative leaders to resolve them over the next year.”
Labor strife this year has highlighted the biggest source of the gap between what the Legislature gives schools and schools say they need: personnel costs.
Legislative analysts calculated school personnel costs would increase 5.45% during the 2023-25 biennium. Contract negotiations this school year are showing that number to be woefully inadequate.
Salem-Keizer’s personnel costs will increase 14% over that time, according to the letter. Bend-La Pine School District teachers earlier this year reportedly settled for roughly a 10% pay increase over two years plus additional health insurance benefits. Portland Public Schools reportedly settled its teachers strike with a 13.8% cost of living adjustment over three years, plus other benefits.
Portland and Salem-Keizer face tens of millions of dollars in budget cuts, and Bend-La Pine hopes to pass a five-year $21 million levy in the spring to fill funding gaps.
Salem-Keizer’s letter challenges state leaders to address the current State School Fund formula’s inadequacy to meet individual districts’ circumstances. Schools are being asked to care for more of students’ physical, social and emotional needs, which increased during the pandemic, without corresponding increases in resources.
The 11% cap on special education funding is one of the notable barriers. Schools receive extra weights in the formula for students with special needs, but they are limited to claiming 11% of enrollment, an arbitrary number set years ago. According to the letter, more than 17% of Salem-Keizer students need special education services and the state average is 14.5%.
A bill during the 2024 session to drop the cap stalled. During testimony, schools advocates were careful to point out that unless money was added to the State School Fund to pay for the additional formula weights, dropping the cap would just create different funding winners and losers.
Guzmán Ortiz says she wants a State School Fund that more equitably distributes funds based on student populations.
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
jarnold@osba.org
