for the Mail Tribune

SALEM — Parents, teachers and students rallied on the Capitol steps Monday to urge the Legislature to provide more money for schools and full funding for the Head Start program.

Estimates of the number of participants vary from 1,500 to 3,000. They came from around the state, including 30 to 35 Jackson County residents who arrived by bus. Karen Starchnick of Medford, a team leader for Stand for Children, one of the rally sponsors, said others drove their own cars.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski has proposed a $6.06 billion operating budget for kindergarten through 12th grade, an increase of about 13 percent in per-pupil spending over the current biennium. For the Medford School District, that would total about $5,700 per pupil.

The governor told the receptive crowd his budget would allow full funding of Head Start if lawmakers agree to increase corporate taxes. He also said he wants to help restore programs, such as art and music, and make a dent in class sizes.

Advertisement
Kulongoski didn’t offer any firm numbers on what it could take to meet the demands of education advocates such as Stand for Children, which organized the rally. The non-profit advocacy group wants at least $6.3 billion for 2007-09 as proposed by the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators. Under COSA’s proposal, the Medford district would receive about $5,900 per pupil.

“Our job now is to keep this debate alive and not stop until we secure stability and excellence for all of education,” the governor said.

Also speaking were Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, and House Speaker Jeff Merkley, D-Portland.

Wendi Edwards of Central Point, a mental health therapist with the Jackson County juvenile justice system, said a fully funded Head Start is her top priority. Without a leg up at age 4 or 5 and with problems at home, many preschoolers fail to integrate successfully into classrooms that are often overcrowded.

“These are the ones I see at age 16 or 17,” she said.

She said the problem is particularly acute for Central Point schools, which will lose teachers and face larger class sizes if the district can’t get an additional $800,000 to maintain its current class sizes of 26 students.

“We’ve spent our reserve fund,” she said. “The additional funding we’re asking for is just to maintain the status quo.”

Charlie Brotherton, president of Brotherton Pipeline of Gold Hill, believes the lack of consistent funding for schools fuels the crisis.

Inadequate state support, state mandates that are either unfunded or underfunded, and the “double majority” required to pass local levies are largely to blame for the uncertainty.

Brotherton, who has served as a volunteer with Mae Richardson Elementary School in Central Point for 15 years, also supports impact fees to help schools cope with growth from new housing developments.

Participants fanned out through the Capitol following the rally to press their case with their legislators.

The Jackson County contingent had meetings scheduled with Sen. Jason Atkinson, R-Central Point, Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, chairman of the House Education Committee, and Reps. George Gilman and Sal Esquivel, Medford Republicans.

Not on the list was Rep. Dennis Richardson, R-Central Point, who said he participated in an earlier teleconference with Southern Oregon Stand for Children in which the only issue discussed was money.

“The conversation cooled when I said my support for education should not solely be by how much additional money I am willing to spend,” he said. He said improving Oregon’s educational system “is more than joining a bidding war of elected officials,” adding there also should be an inquiry on how additional money will be spent, and whether it will promote better student outcomes.