Statewide

As if having to play the PPS lottery for a chance to send your child to a school with adequate course offerings isn't bad enough, you can now gamble for a few extra school funding dollars from the Oregon Lottery. Please read this "Scratch-it for Schools" article from the Oregon Center for Public Policy.
http://www.ocpp.org/cgi-bin/display.cgi?page=cp0801lottery

or Neoliberalism, Portland Public Schools, and the Commodification of Human Life

(I've posted the uncensored version of this essay on my blog.)

It's been nearly four months since I wrote Part 1 of this essay, so I figured it's time to let Part 2 out of my brain.

In Part 1 I focussed on Oregon's revenue crisis, the result of a libertarian assault on the state's ability to raise revenue in the '90s. When discussing the state of education in Portland, one cannot overemphasize the dire effect revenue loss has had on our schools. Portland went from 15th in the nation in spending per pupil in the early '90s to 31st in '04-'05. We now have the fourth-worst student-teacher ratio in the nation.
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Hi, I've just posted this on on my blog, and thought I might share it here. My apologies in advance if this is not appropriate for posting here.

Portland was once admired among cities for the fact that the middle classes had not yet given up on its public schools. But after a series of ballot measures in the '90s requiring severe property tax limitations, a major economic downturn, and a complete lack of leadership from two Democratic governors (not to mention a Republican state house with a strong libertarian bias against public anything), Portland's public schools seem to be throwing in the towel.

Today, in part one, I focus on the funding crisis.
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http://www.nea.org/goodnews/or01.html#ESR

Public School Revenue Raised Is Among the Worst In Nation:
Oregon ranks near the bottom of all states--45th out of 50--in the per capita revenue raised for public education.

Public School Spending Has Declined:
Public education spending per pupil has declined in Oregon. Since 2000, per pupil spending in constant dollars has declined by 3%.

Student/Teacher Ratio Is Getting Worse:
The number of students for every teacher is getting larger in Oregon and, as a result, students are getting less individual attention. The number of students per public school teacher has increased by 13% since 1990.
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