KICK BACK THE "KICKER"
When your refund check arrives, use some of it to help local schools. For many metro-area residents, this is the best of times. Our part of the state is alive and vibrant. Jobs are plentiful. The economy is booming. For many local schools, however, this is the worst of times. Tax limits and statewide funding equalization have reduced spending per student as much as 25 percent over the past six years. At the same time, the Legislature has imposed some of the most rigorous educational standards in the nation. Requirements and class sizes are up; offerings and resources are down. No wonder teachers and administrators are at wit's end. As if the situation were not already fraught with sufficient irony, in the next few weeks taxpayers in Portland School District No. 1 will be receiving refund checks totaling $80 million to $85 million. The total amount refunded to individual taxpayers in the greater metropolitan area will approach $215 million. This money is the product of the so-called "kicker" law, which sends state revenues that exceed projections back to individuals and corporations. This huge tax kickback is occurring as Portland Public Schools need $7 million to $10 million this year--and more than $30 million next year--just to hold the line on expenditures, which are at their lowest levels in recent history. In Beaverton and elsewhere locally, the picture is equally dreary. So, while the system that experts around the country view as the "last, best urban public school system in America" needs money desperately, the state is refusing to provide adequate financial support and at the same time refunding excess income tax revenues. In the face of such mistreatment, what's a supporter of Portland's schools to do? First, when your kicker arrives, give some--or all--of it to your local school foundation. In Portland, that's the Portland Public Schools Foundation. Call 1-888-308-4465 for more information. You can designate the money to benefit a particular school. That way it will buy resources--books, librarians, art and music teachers--the schools choose to fund. Or you can designate the money to go to the foundation itself. It will apply your money to its New Vision Challenge Grant Program, whose goal is to help our schools meet new standards imposed by the Legislature and deepen parental involvement. Either way, none of your money will go toward administrative costs in PPS's central office, and all will be deductible on your taxes. Then, when you've made your contribution, send notes to Gov. Kitzhaber, Senate President Brady Adams and House Speaker Lynn Lundquist. Tell them what you've done. Tell them you're tired of their screwing over the Portland area's public schools. Tell them they've done about as much harm as our schools can take--and that if they keep this up, they may just take our state's dreams for the future down with them. |
