Jeff Gudman for State Treasurer
The Legislature's Stealthy K-12 Cuts!
Why do we feel that our schools aren't well-funded, even when the Legislature is reporting record K-12 appropriations and "historic gains" for students? Because they're manipulating numbers to cover up the cuts.
2023 Appropriations:
On August 2, 2023, Legislative leaders described a $10.2 billion appropriation as “record funding” for K-12.
K-12 Education Funding: Legislative Policy and Research Office
Oregon’s Department of Education reported enrollment of 547,424 students for the 2023-24 school year.
View Department data for 2023-2024
That’s $18,632.72 per student.
2021 Appropriations:
In 2021, the K-12 appropriation was $9.3 billion (Senate Bill 5514), and the Department of Education reported enrollment of 551,977 students.
View Department data for 2021-2022
Nominally, the 2023 appropriation is $16,848.53 per student. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the inflation-adjusted value of that 2021 appropriation would be $18,920.55 per student in 2023 dollars. (Adjusting based on the end month of each Legislative session when funds were appropriated.)
No matter how you cut it, K-12 funding increased from 2015 to 2021. But in every way that matters, it dropped in 2023.
Sometimes that's a sad necessity, but our state leaders ought to be honest and forthright with Oregonians about those challenges, rather than trying to cover it up with slick press releases.
Or to put it another way: The Legislature actually shorted the 2023 K-12 budget about $287 per 547,424 students, making total cuts of over $150 million. Senator Steiner, who was Co-Chair of the budget-writing Ways & Means Committee, signed onto that August press release describing these cuts as “Historic Gains for Oregon Students.”
We need a State Treasurer who’s not afraid to be honest about Oregon’s finances.
Thanks for reading. This is an example of the kind of transparency and engagement you can expect from Jeff Gudman as State Treasurer!
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