This month, the governor and our legislative leadership have been meeting to determine if it will be possible to arrive at an agreement on funding public education and be called into a legislative special session. They are working to craft a compromise deal that balances moderate and meaningful Public Employees Retirement System reform, increased revenue directed to education, and small business tax credits.

There are a variety of PERS reform ideas being considered, each with its own unique strength and weakness and savings to the system overall. Structural changes could make sure the benefits PERS is designed to provide are fully funded and that PERS is solid and sustainable to support our public employees now and into the future.

Any increase in revenue from the Legislature could be used to reduce class size, add back calendar days for school districts, and pay for additional teaching positions at schools and colleges in Central Oregon. This current budget year, a number of Central Oregon school districts were finally able to add back some teaching positions and calendar days. However, school districts still are operating with far fewer teachers and larger class sizes than we have had historically, and we know this level does not meet the needs of our students. Similar reductions have been experienced in higher education. Enacting a package of reforms drives dollars to our classrooms now and sustains those resources into the future.

It is not a radical notion to entertain the idea of these proposed changes. Last legislative session, both parties were in agreement on the need to increase the overall level of funding for our schools, as well as aiming for a higher vision for Oregon’s educational system. Many of our local school boards have passed resolution after resolution calling for just this kind of change. Most recently, statewide organizations like Portland Business Alliance, Oregon Business Association, Oregon School Boards Association, Oregon Association of Education Service Districts, and Stand for Children Oregon have all made similar calls for reasonable PERS reform and a mix of additional revenue.

In this last legislative session, a compromise agreement dealing with this same set of issues came only a few votes from passing and being signed into law.

If you are a taxpayer, student, family of a student, or school staff, what happens in just a few short weeks should be of critical importance to you. Local school board members will be reaching out and asking our legislators to negotiate a compromise with sensible PERS reform and additional revenue directed toward our classrooms. We call on our legislators to work together to find a compromise, to find that middle ground that allows Oregon schools to be on a sustainable path into the future. Invest in our students, starting with our youngest in early intervention programs all the way through our colleges and universities.

We hope you will also take the time to contact your elected leaders and ask them to find a compromise, to find that middle ground. Let them know the vision you have for education in Oregon. Let them know the vision you have for the classroom in your Central Oregon neighborhood.