Salem-Keizer School Board to lobby Oregon Legislature on funding

For the first time, Salem-Keizer Public Schools will create an agenda to lobby the Oregon Legislature on funding issues.

Superintendent Andrea Castañeda presented her proposed legislative agenda to the school board Tuesday night.

“As we think back on the year that we traveled through, it is easy for us to all remember how acutely state issues and specifically state funding issues affected our district,” Castañeda said.

Castañeda said she hopes the district’s legislative agenda will align with that of its workers’ unions, as well as with those of the Oregon School Boards Association and Confederation of Oregon School Administrators.

Her proposal includes the following elements:

Accurately calculating the cost of operating schools

In July, Gov. Tina Kotek released a proposal to increase the State School Fund’s current service level estimate for the 2025-27 biennium by $515 million.

The State School Fund provides the majority of funding for K-12 public schools. The current service level is the state’s estimate of the amount needed to continue existing programs.

For Salem-Keizer, Kotek’s changes to the current service level calculation would mean an extra $36 million over the biennium.

Castañeda’s proposal asks the board to call on the Oregon Legislature to fully fund the formula changes.

“It’s clear that this has been needed for a long time,” board member Ashley Carson Cottingham said.

Increasing special education funding

The state funding formula provides a double weight for students with disabilities, but caps that at 11% of students.

In Oregon and nationwide, about 15% of students are enrolled in special education services, and Salem-Keizer’s identification rate is 17.9%.

Castañeda’s proposal asks the board to support increasing the special education funding cap to match the national average, and to add automatic escalators to keep pace with changes in identification rates.

It also asks the board to support increasing the reimbursement rate for the High-Cost Disability Grant program, which reimburses districts for special education costs higher than $30,000 per student.

And it asks the board to support establishing an adequate and stable funding formula for childhood screening and intervention services.

Caution in creating new, restricted grant programs

Under Castañeda’s proposal, the board will ask the Legislature to oppose the creation of new restricted or competitive grants to fund state education initiatives.

In Salem-Keizer, Castañeda said, three employees apply for, manage and report on about $140 million in state and federal grants.

“Every increase in administrative overhead further taxes an overtaxed system,” she said.

Correcting past, suspending future unfunded or underfunded mandates

Castañeda’s proposal asks the board to oppose state mandates that don’t come with funding.

In Salem-Keizer, for example, 2023’s House Bill 2531 will require the district to invest nearly $40 million to replace lighting fixtures.

Senate Bill 489 changed unemployment insurance benefits during school breaks and summer, with uncalculated costs passed on to school districts.

And SB 819 changed rules for students receiving abbreviated day instruction, creating new administrative and tracking responsibilities for school districts.

The proposal will be refined based on feedback the board provided Tuesday, Castañeda said.

Castañeda will ask the board to adopt a one-page summary of the legislative agenda at its Sept. 10 meeting,

Tracy Loew covers education at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips: tloew@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem-Keizer School Board to lobby Oregon Legislature on funding