Are you looking for ways to advocate to increase state funding for our public schools?  Read below for some ways you can help!  Scroll to the bottom for background information regarding funding our public schools.  

Sign the petition to support Portland PAT teachers in their bargaining.  You can find information about what are teachers are hoping to achieve in the petition here.  

Past advocacy efforts:

Provide public comments encouraging fully funding Oregon Public Schools on 4/8/23.  The Joint Ways and Means Committee Co-Chairs are holding listening sessions around Oregon about the budget. They will be holding one in the Portland area on Saturday, April 8 (10:00 am - 12:00 pm)  at Portland Community College - PAC Auditorium (Sylvania Campus 12000 SW 49th Ave, Portland, OR 97219). This will be an opportunity for folks to sign up to testify on the State School Fund, early literacy investments, and funding for summer programs. The link to sign up to testify will be available in the next week on the Ways and Means Committee’s OLIS page.  For information about fully funding Oregon schools look at the PPS advocacy toolkit linked above.  

Meet with the teacher’s union to learn how we can all work together.  Thursday, April 13th from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, PAT (Portland Association of Teachers) is inviting all parents / guardians / community members to have dinner and meet with PAT members at the PAT office, located at 345 NE 8th Ave. On the agenda for the evening is - defending public education, how PTA's and PAT can work together, ways to engage and support our public schools, and FUN! Please RSVP here so they know how much to order for dinner. Kids are welcome but childcare is not provided. And if you aren't able to make it but would like to be informed of future PAT events and happenings you can join the PAT Community support email list here.

Request a public hearing and work session regarding HB 3221.  One of the other bills is the local option levy bill, HB 3221. The bill was initially referred to the House Education committee but PPS and its partners got it referred to the revenue committee, which is a more appropriate place for it to be discussed. This bill has not been scheduled for a public hearing and work session yet. It would be very helpful if  parents could email the Chair of the Committee to request a public hearing and work session and spread the word for other parents to reach out as well. It could be really helpful to put some pressure on the Chair to schedule this public hearing. Nancy Nathanson's email is Rep.NancyNathanson@oregonlegislature.gov   Here's a sample email that could be sent: 

------

Learn about and support the work of Reform PPS Foundation Funding and how you can get involved here.  And sign their petition here.

For some background information: 

The Department of Administrative Services (DAS) initially proposed appropriating $9.52 Billion to the State School Fund. This amount represents only a 2.36% increase for the biennium from our current allocation of $9.3 billion to the State School Fund. A 2.36% increase is not enough to meet the needs of our students, address our workforce challenges, or even address basic inflationary cost pressures.  The Oregon Association of Business Officials (OASBO) surveyed 40 school districts across Oregon and has determined that $10.3 billion is necessary to maintain current services including core programs and staffing levels for our students. To be clear, this amount will not represent new or additional investments in K-12; a $10.3 billion SSF will cover increased costs, maintain current staff and programs, and address significant inflationary costs.  The Quality Education Commission (QEC)  was established in 1999 (codified in 2001) to research best education practices and determine the resources needed to provide an optimal public education system, creating the Quality Education Model (QEM). The QEC reports these findings to the Legislature and Governor every two years. The 2022 QEM estimates that it will require a State School Fund investment of $11.889 billion to achieve lasting educational gains for all students.