| Speech by Governor Kulongoski |
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| April 22, 2003 |
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PTA Convention 2006
Thank you Sandy for your introduction. Thanks also to you Beth – and your officers – for your leadership of Oregon’s Parent Teacher Association, and your unbending commitment to educating Oregon’s children, raising standards, and strengthening the partnership between parents and teachers.
And to all of Oregon’s parents and teachers – whether at this convention or not – I offer a special thank you. You have helped Oregon’s schools – and the children whose minds and futures they help shape – get through three of the toughest years imaginable.
In the year between when I filed to run for Governor, and when I was elected, Oregon lost nearly a quarter of its expected state revenue. That’s 3-billion dollars. There was no way our schools could be walled off from the pain of that terrible economic storm. But you did not lose heart. You did not walk away. And most important – you did not remain silent.
If there was ever a time for parents and teachers to work together, to chip in, and to demand that the leadership of this state – both public and private – honor its moral obligation to give Oregon’s children the best education possible, it was during the last recession. And believe me – you did not disappoint.
I haven’t forgotten – and I don’t want anyone in Oregon to forget – that Portland teachers volunteered to work for free in June 2003, which added two critical weeks to the school calendar, and helped our young people keep up with their studies – and stay competitive with students in neighboring states. I also haven’t forgotten that countless Oregon parents helped raise money – and paid special fees – to save education and sports programs that their children wanted and needed. For all this you have my deep thanks – and this commitment: As long as I am the Governor of Oregon, I will work to ensure that this state will never create a budget that requires cutting school days from the calendar – and school budgets to the bone.
In a moment I’m going to talk about how I intend to keep that commitment. But first, in this season of renewal, I want you to know that the worst days for education in Oregon are already behind us. We will not only restore the funding and momentum that was lost during the recession, we will give our public schools greater financial strength and stability than they have had for at least a generation.
Last year we increased state funding for K through 12 by 8-percent – to 5.318-billion dollars. Two days ago, the Legislature – at my request – met in Special Session and gave an additional 42.2-million dollars to our public schools from increased lottery revenue. This raises the state’s total support for K through 12 to 5.360-billion, which is an increase of 9-percent for the coming school year. These new dollars will be distributed equitably to all 198 school districts.
Portland schools will get even more help through additional property tax authority. This will add 15-million dollars to their budget each of the next three school years. I congratulate the Legislature for putting aside partisan differences and working quickly to solve a short-term funding problem. Now we can focus on the future – which must be about long-term funding stability and making sure that when Oregon parents send their kids off to school, those children will be getting the best education – from the best teachers – anywhere in America.
How far off in the future am I talking about? Months – not years! In December, I will present to the Legislature a K through 12 budget with a target of 6-billion dollars for the 07– 09 biennium. That is 104-million dollars more than the 10-percent guaranteed increase that I promised in my State of the State speech just last February. The 104-million will come from my new education investment fund.
If you’re a parent with a child in public school, what does a 6-billion dollar K through 12 budget mean to you? It means we can start restoring physical education, art and music, and remedial assistance to struggling students. These were never educational frills. They have always been absolutely critical to education excellence, and I am determined to make them available to every young person attending an Oregon public school.
As for the state as a whole, if my plan is adopted by the Legislature, Oregon will be solidly above the national average for per student spending by the end of the 07-09 biennium. For the 09-11 biennium, the numbers look even better. There will still be the guaranteed 10-percent increase – no matter what the state of Oregon’s economy.
But instead of 104-million, my education investment fund is projected to kick in more than 500-million dollars in additional support for our public schools, bringing the total K through 12 budget in 09-11 to over 7-billion dollars. That’s an increase of more than 2-billion just since I became Governor.
What will 7-billion dollars buy for the students, parents and teachers of Oregon? Plenty. Most important – we’ll be able to make a real run at reducing class size. Not just in K through 3. But from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade. That means more individual attention for students. Less stress for teachers. And the development of programs based on the Quality Education Model.
It is beyond dispute that K though 12 education in Oregon has suffered recently because we simply didn’t have enough money to provide the best possible education. Our students still score very high on national tests – and for that parents and teachers deserve a lot of the credit. But there’s simply no question that excellence comes with a price tag – and for the last few years we, as a community, have been unable to pay the price. Now we can – in large part because our economy has come roaring back. After being dead last in economic growth – we’re now doing better than 45 other states.
New companies are moving in. Oregon companies are growing and expanding their payrolls. More Oregonians are working than ever before. And both General Fund and lottery revenue have risen sharply. This is why I made putting our economy back on track my top priority when I became Governor. It is the umbrella that protects all of Oregon’s critical services – especially education. In other words, when the economy thrives – revenue grows. And that – more than anything else – is what parents, teachers, and most of all students – need right now.
There is only one piece of bad news in all this good economic news: It can lead to complacency and satisfaction with the status quo. But I don’t think the status quo is good enough. And I’m sure that the PTA doesn’t either. So my challenge to this convention – and to everyone in Oregon who cares about education and the future of our children – is to think beyond dollars and cents.
Yes, we’re mining new revenue because our economy is growing. But when it comes to building an education system that will prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow, we need to drill deeper than simply providing more funding. I want to keep going – all the way to structural changes in the way we budget and manage education in Oregon. If we don’t, we will lose our brightest young minds – and our most innovative new businesses – to other states, and even other countries.
That’s why I’m calling on the Legislature to approve my plan for creating and funding what I call the Education Enterprise. That means funding and managing education as one seamless system that begins with Pre-k, and then moves on to K though 12, community colleges, four-year institutions, and workforce training and re-training.
This is my vision for lifelong learning. All parts of the education continuum are linked. All receive the same 10-percent minimum guarantee that K through 12 receives. And all contribute to giving Oregon the best educated, best training and best skilled workforce in the country.
Many of the critical pieces of the Education Enterprise are already in place. I’ve been working with the Chancellor of the Oregon University System to make sure he cares as much about the quality of pre-school programs and high school graduates as he does about university graduates. The State Board of Education and the State Board of Higher Education are already meeting and working together – finding solutions that benefit not one sector or the other, but both.
We’re investing 500-million in capital construction at Oregon’s community colleges and universities. Every graduate from an Oregon high school who qualifies on the basis of need and wants to go to an Oregon community college or university will now get financial help from the state. This help will soon be extended to eligible part-time students.
We’ve set up an integrated data transfer system for K through 20 so that student transcripts will now be easily available to high schools, community colleges and the Oregon University System through one electronic database.
Today, many high school juniors and seniors are simultaneously enrolled in an Oregon community college, and many students can now earn credits at both an Oregon community and a neighboring four year institution – and have those credits recognized as valid by both the community college and the university.
Finally, although it is a little beyond the scope of my remarks today – I am very aware that many of our high school graduates do not need or want a four year degree. They want a skill and a living wage job. At the same time, many older workers have lost their careers and their way of life because of globalization and technological innovation. So I am rapidly putting together – with our private sector partners – a workforce development strategy that will align the skills of workers with the needs of business.
My point is this: We are making real progress toward building my vision for an Education Enterprise. But there are three pieces that still aren’t fully in place. The first is a stable funding plan. This week the Legislature proved they are capable of acting quickly – and across party lines – to get more money to schools when those resources become available.
But relying on special sessions is obviously not the way to help our schools. This is the equivalent of using the Emergency Room for primary and preventive care. We need a stable, reliable and predictable way to fund the entire Education Enterprise – not for a year or two, but for a decade or two. We can have the best K through 12 program in the world, but if we have a second rate and under funded post-secondary system – the verdict is certain: We lose. Our best young minds will go to out-of-state colleges and universities, and for the large percentage of high school graduates who want a skill but not a four-year degree – they won’t find one.
So I’m asking you today to help me build a chorus of public support for my plan to dedicate 61-percent of the General Fund to the Education Enterprise, with the 10-percent guarantee I talked about – and my education investment fund. Let’s not make the mistake of starting our work in January – after the Legislature is already in session. The time to speak out is now. We must put the days of cutting school budgets behind us – forever!
The second unfinished piece of my vision for an Education – is communicating to the public a better understanding of the challenges parents, teachers and administrators face today. Some of our toughest social problems and challenges are being brought right to the schoolhouse door – and into the classroom. Drugs, divorce, rampant marketing of sex and violence, large numbers of children for whom English is a second language, and young people spending time watching videos and programs like South Park – instead of reading.
We need to start a dialogue with the public about the critical role schools now play in mitigating these problems, and how taking on these added responsibilities help prevent even bigger problems down the road. I’m talking about unemployment, drug abuse, domestic violence and other problems that can impact not just families with children in school – but entire communities.
Which brings me to the third piece of my vision for an Education Enterprise that still needs to be put in place: Enlisting the help of the 20-percent of Oregonians who have children in public school – to reach out to the 80-percent who do not. Parents with kids can be the best ambassadors for increased funding and better management of our schools. So I hope you will talk to your neighbors. Talk to your representatives. Talk to your community and business leaders. And continue to invite them to visit your schools
– and attend your PTA meetings.
And what should you be talking to them about? How important funding the Education Enterprise is – not just for your family’s future – but for theirs. Because the bottom line is this: We cannot have first rate job growth, or a first rate quality of life, or a first rate environment, or a first rate health care system – for anyone in this state – if we try to get by with a second rate education system. I am telling you – it will not happen!
So everyone with a stake in this state’s future needs to understand that they also have a stake in the Education Enterprise. That means becoming part of the investor class. Not investments in stock – but investments in opportunity, hope, and the human mind, from the youngest children – to older workers who need a new start in life.
This is what my life – and your mission – have always been about: Helping to give people the education they need to find the success they want. We’re not there yet. So fighting for education in Oregon remains a work in progress for both of us.
But as we strengthen our partnership, we can both look forward to the day when the need for progress will be over, because – together – we have made education in Oregon the best it can possibly be.
Thank you.
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