Willamette Week| News| Politics

Despite all the talk about kids, education is really about money. In this state, you're only worth what you can wring out of the Legislature. And in the current session, there's no slicker group than the lobbying team of Portland Public Schools.

That's right. The same organization that two years ago whimpered home with its tail between its legs is now getting some respect in Salem. It may be too soon to put PPS up in the ranks of the most powerful special interests, but thanks to some impressive personnel moves, it's the leading contender for most-improved lobbying team.

"I like very much what has taken place," says state Sen. Tom Hartung, a suburban Republican who chairs the Senate Education Committee. "Portland will have greater credibility."

The district has assembled a lobbying team that is impressive in its depth and breadth. It includes a former top business executive, a PR-savvy superintendent, the most-trusted numbers cruncher in Salem and a rookie lobbyist with strong ties to the GOP caucus.

The tag-team approach is a stunning turnaround from two years ago, when then-superintendent Jack Bierwirth personally lobbied lawmakers on a nearly daily basis. His efforts reportedly left a lot to be desired.

"Salem folks tell me Bierwirth was a disaster," says Portland Association of Teachers President Richard Garrett.

Many of those active in the last session, including lawmakers, lobbyists and educational activists, point to three major flaws in the district's effort of two years ago. First, many agree that Bierwirth, a patrician Democratic, came across as arrogant and a bit too fond of telling people how things worked in New York. Second, the data he used to make his argument were unreliable and often wrong. Third, legislators got a clear message that as far as Portlanders were concerned, the rest of Oregon was scenic but irrelevant and certainly not deserving of additional funding.

When the session ended, the district had few friends in Salem and had to beg the city and local businesses to make up its budget deficit.

Since the middle of last year, however, the district has taken a number of steps to clean up its image. Here's the lineup that will go to Salem and an assessment of the players' strengths.

The Big-Picture Guy: After a long search, the district hired Ben Canada last August. So far, his folksy demeanor and well-honed public-relations skills make him a big improvement over his predecessor. A great believer in parental involvement, Canada forms task forces even faster than Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Hartung is impressed with Portland's new boss. "I'd say that Canada's doing everything that has to be done," he says.

He applauds Canada's recent elimination of two assistant superintendent positions and his decision to require that administrators serve as substitute teachers.

"That sends a message that he's going to concentrate on the classroom," Hartung says.

The Consiglière: Formerly a senior official of NW Natural and the Chamber of Commerce, Bruce Samson was named general counsel and director of public affairs for the district in August. He has quickly become an indispensable aide to Canada and School Board Chairman Ron Saxton. His close ties to business leaders will come in handy in Salem. "Samson's a giant when it comes to dealing with the Legislature," says Skip Liebertz, superintendent of Corvallis Public Schools.

The Numbers Cruncher: In October, Jim Scherzinger, the longtime head of the legislative revenue office, became the district's chief financial officer. His stellar reputation as a fiscal analyst in Salem should overcome the district's history of shaky numbers. "With Scherzinger," Hartung says, "we'll believe the figures."

The Schmoozer: In early January, Samson completed the team by hiring Dan Lavey to lobby for the district. Although he's never held an official lobbying post before, the 33-year-old Lavey served two sessions as the chief aide to Gordon Smith when Smith was president of the state Senate. Since then, he worked on Smith's U.S. Senate campaigns and enjoys tremendous access to the state's Republican leaders. Even hard-core Democrats applaud his hiring. "He's a great hire," says former School Board member Stephen Kafoury, himself a lobbyist.

The Bench: In a sign of how concerned the local business community is about education, the Portland Chamber of Commerce hired Democratic lobbyist James M. Whitty last spring. Whitty will work on other issues but expects to spend a large chunk of his time working on the district's behalf. The son of a popular former state legislator, Whitty learned his trade pushing the environmental agenda of Associated Oregon Industries.

The team's challenge, as laid out by Canada, Samson and the School Board, will be to demonstrate that the district is operating efficiently. Secondly, says Lavey, it will have to articulate its short- and long-term funding problems. Finally, say team members, the district must offer legislators a range of possible solutions that benefit the whole state instead of trying to jam what's best for Portland down everybody's else's throat.

Among those solutions will be increasing the overall number of dollars in the state education kitty, enabling local districts to raise money independently and tweaking the formula by which state money is allocated.

Lavey expects that Scherzinger and Samson will visit Salem regularly but that the superintendent's visits will be carefully scripted. Canada's first major trip will be a round of presentations to key lawmakers and committees in mid-February.

Although it's early in the session, the district's new pragmatism has already shown promise. At a Chamber of Commerce breakfast last week, House Majority Leader Lynn Snodgrass, who only two months ago struck terror into the hearts of district leaders, made a point of praising Canada.

In addition, Snodgrass and other GOP leaders have agreed to attend a town hall meeting on the state of Portland's schools on Feb. 18.

In the meantime, Lavey and Whitty will be working the hallways and back rooms, spreading the message that Portland is now both accountable and anxious to cooperate.

In a thinly veiled reference to Bierwirth, Lavey says, "We come on bended knee, not from the mountaintop."

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Willamette Week | originally published January 27, 1999