For years, Eugene’s public schools have been asked to do more with less. They’ve seen $50 million cut from their budgets, teachers let go, class sizes increased and programs cut. This year, they’re faced with another $30 million in cuts — and they’re being asked to do more with less yet again.
It wasn’t so long ago that we were in high school. Imagine classes with 50 kids in them, some of the students sitting on windowsills and the floor. Imagine not having a full choice of courses because the school doesn’t have the teaching staff to provide them. Imagine having to learn material covered in a full-year curriculum on your own because you’re losing more than a full week of school to furlough days — days when the schools have to close because they can’t afford to pay teachers to come to work.
That’s what’s going to happen next year unless we find a way to raise more revenue as a stopgap measure to address some of these problems. Measure 20-182 will do that. Make no mistake, the districts will still have to make big cuts. But this measure minimizes the harm done to the most vulnerable: the students.
Furthermore, it’s temporary (just four years); it’s progressive and it doesn’t ask anyone making less than $11,000 a year to pay.
So when your ballots come in the mail, please take a moment to think about Measure 20-182. Take a moment to think about the high school students who will have to sit on windowsills. Consider seniors who may not be able to get into their top-choice colleges because they don’t meet the requirements. Or once they get into a college, having to take a bunch of remedial classes, which cost a bunch of money, because they didn’t cover the material in high school.
Think about the kids who may drop out because the courses that kept them coming to school — maybe band or art or a really good elective — have been dropped. Think about sixth graders not having social studies. Think about fewer foreign language options. Think about one kindergarten teacher in a classroom with 31 five-year-olds.
Oregon already has the second-shortest school year in the nation and the fourth-largest class sizes. Do we really want the state to sink to the very bottom on indicators like these? Or do we want to pitch in for a modest amount and help stem a crisis?
The people working with Strong Schools, Strong Eugene, the grassroots group working to pass Measure 20-182, ask you to do the right thing. Vote for education, vote for the kids and vote for lending a helping hand in a time of need. Vote yes on Measure 20-182.
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If you vote in Oregon, you’ll soon receive a ballot that asks you to consider additional funding for education. Measure 20-182, on the May 17 ballot, seeks to raise $16.8 million for Eugene’s school districts so they can limit the increase in instructional days and restore cut furlough days. Why should you bother to vote yes?
