By J.D. LaRock
July 14, 2003

The citizens of Eugene (OR) already know Mayor Jim Torrey well, but over the past six months, he's become an increasingly familiar face among citizens throughout his state. From January to May, Torrey embarked on a one-man tour of each one of Oregon's 36 county seats. His mission? To find solutions to the fiscal crisis gripping the state's public schools.

This year, state budget cuts have forced many school districts across the country to scale back. But the situation arguably has been the worst in Oregon, which faced a $3 billion state budget shortfall at the start of 2003. In May, 84 public school districts took the drastic step of ending the school year a month early because of insufficient state funding. The consequences were staggering: teachers were forced to look for last-minute employment; working parents scrambled to find day care for their children; and tens of thousands of students were denied their right to an adequate public education.

According to education advocates, the warning signs of this calamity were evident well before the spring. In fact, in the fall of 2002, Torrey and the League of Oregon Cities approved a resolution calling on the State Legislature and newly-elected Governor Ted Kulongowski to work toward a bipartisan, equitable, and sustainable funding policy for the state's public schools. But instead, say advocates, the legislature largely ignored the problem. Meanwhile, the governor presented a budget that proposed severe cuts to Oregon's K-12 and higher education systems. According to Torrey, the governor cited wasteful local school board spending as the source of much of the school system's funding woes, and called on municipalities to find more money for education themselves.

In January, voters were presented with Measure 28, a ballot measure that would have raised income taxes and generated $300 million, enough to restore most of the cuts to education the governor and legislature made. However, it came up short, with only 45 percent of voters in favor of the measure.

The legislature's inaction and the governor's statements, said Torrey, spurred him to action. "While not traditionally the role of municipal government, stable quality public education is something I care deeply about as a father, grandfather, and mayor," he said. "Finding a sustainable and equitable funding plan is fundamental to the health of children, families, cities, and our economies."

On his tour, the mayor visited communities ranging from Portland, Oregon's largest city, to Moro, which has a population of just 340 people. At each stop, he met with elected officials, school board members, educators, parents, and citizens to gauge their views on the source of Oregon's school funding problems, and how best to avert future funding crises. In general, Torrey said, the Oregonians he met with strongly support greater state investment in public education. Further, he said, except in two communities — Portland and Hillsboro — citizens dispute the view that school boards are spending money wastefully.

"I heard repeatedly that it is not the local school boards that are creating the problems, but rather it is the state and the federal government with their mandated and largely unfunded requirements," said Torrey. Among those unfunded mandates, said the mayor, is a state policy requiring public school teachers to obtain a "certificate of advanced mastery" in the subjects they teach.

At the same time, the mayor said, his tour revealed very divergent views about the best way to ensure proper funding for Oregon's schools. For example:

• The representatives of the state's larger communities generally favored Measure 5, a ballot measure that would raise the property tax limit for education from $5.00 per thousand to $7.50 per thousand, while members of smaller communities did not think it would raise enough funds for their school districts.
• Some community members wanted the governor and 2003 State Legislature to place a school funding measure before the voters in time for the November 2004 election. Others, according to the mayor, felt "the Governor and the Legislature lack leadership on the school funding issue."
• Torrey said his meetings also revealed that few citizens understand the "Quality Education Model," a recently adopted state framework that will significantly influence how schools are funded in Oregon.

However, said Torrey, every one of the communities he visited agreed on one thing: in the absence of further action from the governor and state legislature, they want a special committee to be created to craft a new education funding plan for the state that would be referred to voters in time for the 2004 election. "Failing to deal with education funding will have a profoundly negative impact on Oregon's economy. While we wait to solve the problem, we are putting the future of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens at risk," Torrey said.

After completing his tour, Torrey compiled his findings in a report — "Education Funding: A Report from the Grass Roots" — and personally delivered it to Oregon's governor, and every state senator and representative. And while the influence of his work remains to be seen, the mayor said he is glad to have provided leadership on an issue that has been the source of such division these past months.

"I am convinced the case for equitable and sustainable school funding can be made, and that reasonable questions can be answered. Now all we need is the courage and the leadership to do it," Torrey concluded.