Carole Smith's "Pants on Fire" Over School-Bond Issue

The Oregonian today calls B.S. on Superintendent Carole Smith's claim that Portland Public Schools' proposed $548 million construction bond would affect 40 percent of the district's students.

The bond, if approved for the May ballot by the School Board on Dec. 13, would fund the rebuilding of three of the district's nine high schools.

"The school district's own projections show enrollment at the three rebuilt high schools will make up only a quarter of all high school students," the daily writes. "Trying to inflate that number to 40 percent is ridiculous."



Which brings to mind a joke from 2009.

Last year, when state revenue projections showed a sharp decline in funding for public education in Oregon, Smith clung to the fantasy Gov. Ted Kulongoski would maintain a $6.4 billion allocation for K-12 schools, causing some insiders to wonder if Smith ran the Make-A-Wish Foundation rather than the state's largest school district.