Having failed to respond intelligently to shrinking revenues, our school board instead turned repeatedly to Portland teachers for help. Asked for help with insurance costs, teachers in 1995 gave the District $8 million from their Health & Welfare Trust. Asked to help with salaries, teachers accepted a salary freeze; over a period of years, this represented a contribution of tens of millions of dollars by employees. Portland teachers also agreed to give up professional development funds, eliminate sabbatical leaves, accept reduced early retirement benefits, and to make a host of other sacrifices. All of these savings have now vanished.
Portland teachers did everything they could to make sure, despite the district's financial problems, that their students would succeed. They have shown a remarkable capacity to do more with less. As a result of these sacrifices, Portland teachers' salaries today are among the lowest in the metropolitan area. Once the current round of contract negotiations is finished, their salaries will rank dead last among the 14 metro area school districts. Yet each year our teachers continue to spend an average of $500 of their own income to buy basic school supplies for their students.
Relying so heavily on employee sacrifices has the effect of hiding the pain caused by Measure 5. The things that teachers have given up are not noticeable to the general public; nor are they significant to many legislators in Salem. To most voters, the Portland district appears to be managing, even after years of diminished funding. Not surprisingly, legislators uneasy about raising more revenue for schools conclude that Portland must never have needed the money we've lost. In this way, the decisions of Portland's school board have helped undermine the efforts of those seeking adequate funding for our schools.
Portland teachers did everything they could to make sure, despite the district's financial problems, that their students would succeed. They have shown a remarkable capacity to do more with less. As a result of these sacrifices, Portland teachers' salaries today are among the lowest in the metropolitan area. Once the current round of contract negotiations is finished, their salaries will rank dead last among the 14 metro area school districts. Yet each year our teachers continue to spend an average of $500 of their own income to buy basic school supplies for their students.
Relying so heavily on employee sacrifices has the effect of hiding the pain caused by Measure 5. The things that teachers have given up are not noticeable to the general public; nor are they significant to many legislators in Salem. To most voters, the Portland district appears to be managing, even after years of diminished funding. Not surprisingly, legislators uneasy about raising more revenue for schools conclude that Portland must never have needed the money we've lost. In this way, the decisions of Portland's school board have helped undermine the efforts of those seeking adequate funding for our schools.
