Oregon lawmakers eye more than $3.5 billion in school improvements

Joint Committe on Student Success

The Joint Interim Committee on Student Success, shown here at a student safety roundtable in Bend, toured the state in spring, summer and fall 2018 to take testimony about improving public education

A legislative committee that spent the summer and fall combing the state for ways to improve Oregon schools learned Thursday evening how much it would cost to enact all their best ideas: more than $3.5 billion.

That staggering sum was not completely unexpected. No one expected Oregon would go for the entire wish list.

Doug Wilson, the legislative analyst in charge of making the estimates, urged lawmakers who were tempted to add up all his cost estimates to “please put the calculator down.” He noted that the assumptions underlying the estimates make them imprecise and urged lawmakers to weigh the potential value of the various suggestions independently.

Committee members now must work to whittle the suggestions while some of its members and others in power try to put together a package of tax increases to pay for the plan. Their aim will be to craft a proposal that would raise enough money to cover a substantial amount of school improvement yet also be able to draw enough yes votes at the Capitol and among voters statewide to become law.

The most expensive items on the bipartisan committee’s list of desired school improvements are largely the same ones Gov. Kate Brown stressed in her re-election campaign: Add 10 days to the school year (estimated to cost $516 million over two years), lower class sizes in the first four grades ($164 million), and improve recruitment, training and support for teachers ($61 million to more than $500 million).

Other big-ticket items: Give every elementary school at least a part-time teacher for art, music, PE, library and English language development, plus a counselor ($250 million), come closer to covering the true costs of special education ($230 million), require before- or after-school tutoring for struggling students ($276 million) and give schools one counselor for every 250 students ($238 million).

The estimates were generated by Wilson and Tim Walker, analysts in the Legislative Fiscal Office, Oregon Department of Education Assistant Superintendent Brian Reeder and other specialists.

Wilson noted that the estimates do not account for facility demands, such as a need to build new classrooms to house additional, smaller classes or renovations needed to create career-tech teaching spaces. He also said he was unable to price certain suggestions, such as changing the timing of contracts with school employee unions.

Lawmakers said they'll prioritize proposals with the most potential to improve student outcomes.

But committee co-vice chair, Republican Greg Smith of Heppner, likened the list to an educational version of the Sears Catalogue sent to homes across America in late fall during the 1900s to get kids and adults alike drooling over all the items they’d like to get for Christmas. Making plans to buy almost everything on the list of possible school improvements like a kid dreaming of Santa’s largesse would be “very premature,” he cautioned.

Some of the committee’s proposals are relatively low cost, the estimators said. A proposal meant to help school districts detect chronic absences as early as possible and intervene to remove barriers would cost $4.5 million, they said. More ethnically or linguistically diverse teacher candidates could be recruited and trained for just $1 million, they said. Putting student test scores into teachers’ hands more quickly so they could use the feedback to adjust instruction should be essentially free, they said.

Kindergartners lined up and ready

Lawmakers expressed support for expanding access to high quality early childhood programs so more Oregon 5-year-olds can start school strong.Betsy Hammond / The Oregonian

Individual lawmakers on the committee expressed strong support for early childhood education, additional counselors and extra supports for high-need groups who have been ill served by Oregon schools, including Native American students and those learning English as a second language.

Committee members visited schools and communities all over the state in the run-up to creating their wish list, and several said that caused them to advocate for better equipping schools to diagnose and treat students’ mental health.

“We heard it at every stop,” committee member Rep. Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, said Thursday evening. “We need to do something on mental health.”

-- Betsy Hammond

betsyhammond@oregonian.com

@chalkup

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