PORTLAND, Ore. — Days after Portland Public Schools reached a deal with its teachers union, ending a near month-long strike, school board members are calling on the state for more funding, arguing that the labor standoff was exacerbated by the district's budget constraints.
"We're having the wrong fight," PPS board member Andrew Scott said.
During the legislative session earlier this year, the state approved $10.2 billion for Oregon public schools over the next two-year budget cycle, which aligns with the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.
That's the biggest pot of funding the state has ever given its public schools, but some education officials and advocates were quick to declare that it still wasn't enough, pointing to a 2022 report from Oregon's Quality Education Commission that calculated schools should receive almost $11.9 billion, nearly $2 billion more than what they ultimately got.
Multiple PPS school board members called on the state to provide more funding, and Scott added that lawmakers should reexamine the kicker fund, a state program that sends excess revenue back to taxpayers if personal income tax revenues exceed projections by at least 2% during a budget cycle.
"We are about to send $5 billion back to Oregon taxpayers because of the kicker law,” Scott said. “That funding would have been transformational for every school district in Oregon."
The average kicker payout will be $2,100 for Oregonians this year, although it will vary greatly because the amount each Oregonian gets back is based on the amount they paid in taxes.
Experts told KGW the idea of getting rid of the kicker refund is incredibly unpopular among taxpayers.
"It would be a very steep hill to climb, to get rid of the kicker," said John Horvick, senior Vice President at Portland-based DHM research.
Two-thirds of Oregonians support the kicker, he said, and many are very concerned about their own finances.
"We would be asking voters to not only give up that money that they feel like they need," Horvick said, "but to give it to a government that they don't have a lot of confidence in."
Getting rid of the kicker would require a change in the Oregon constitution. Oregon voters enthusiastically passed an amendment to get rid of the kicker for corporate taxes in 2012, but efforts to do the same for personal taxes have gotten a much chillier reception.
"Historically people have looked at the kicker and they've tended to say, for the past 40 years, we think it's a good thing," said Jim Moore, the Director of Political Outreach at Pacific University.
Moore said he believes it’s very unlikely Oregon politicians will try to eliminate the kicker. Gov Tina Kotek also shot down the idea of changing the upcoming kicker at a news conference this week, although she said she'd be open to a future conversation about it — and regardless, she added, something about the state's school funding strategy needs to change.
"We have to take a deep-dive on our school funding formula," she said, adding that she she plans to ask the state Chief Finance Officer and Department of Education to weigh in on school needs.
Moore said he thinks a major change in how schools are funded is unlikely.
"It's a tough sell,” Moore said. “Even if you're a popular politician."
Without any new source of funds likely coming toward Portland Public Schools, board members said they worry they may need to make major cuts to meet the terms of the agreement with the teachers.
"We also got a contract that we cannot afford. And we cannot afford it because the governor and legislature have failed to adequately fund education in Oregon," Scott said.