By Kathryn Hickok
How much money does it take to “fully fund” Oregon’s public schools? In November, the Joint Committee on Public Education Appropriations of the Oregon Legislature released a “Report on the Adequacy of Public Education Appropriations,” which examines the level of funding provided by the Legislature and other sources for public schools. The Legislative Fiscal Office and the Legislative Policy and Research Office prepared the report.
It concluded that public schools are receiving the full $13.5 billion recommended by Oregon’s Quality Education Commission in 2024 to “fully fund schools” because the Legislature appropriated $11.36 billion and schools receive another $2.2 billion from the corporate activities tax (also known as the Student Success Act).
According to a recent Oregonian article analyzing the report, advocates of public education funding, like PPS board member Christy Splitt, dispute that the Legislature has met the Quality Education Commission’s recommendation. Splitt argues that school funding is “complicated” and that the conclusion is the result of a “political narrative.”
However, the facts remain that school funding has increased over the years while academic outcomes have declined. Legislators are asking for accountability for how schools are spending state dollars and the scores are discouraging. This year’s National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) scores show only 24 percent of Oregon eighth graders are “at or above proficient” in math, and 27 percent are proficient in reading.
Maybe more money is never enough because money is not the solution to Oregon’s education problems. Maybe more options in education would make better use of the funding we already have and allow parents to have a greater say in choosing schools that meet their children’s learning needs.
Kathryn Hickok is Executive Vice President at Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s free market public policy research organization, and Director of Cascade’s Children’s Scholarship Fund-Oregon program. She specializes in research and policy in school choice legislation and other key issues relating to education.
