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In the 2025–26 school year, Portland Public Schools’ teachers levy funded about 686 teaching positions, 55 fewer than it had in 2024–25.
In a report presented to the Portland School Board on Sept. 1, members of PPS’s Community Budget Review Committee noted that the property tax levy, which collects $1.99 per $1,000 of assessed value, was struggling to fund as many positions both because it hauled in less than expected and because personnel costs were on the rise.
The number of teachers levy funding supports could decline by as much as 25% in the next five years, the committee noted. The 686 figure is already down more than 100 from recent years; when it was put up for renewal in 2019, the district noted the levy was able to fund an average of 825 positions each year.
The levy is slightly outperforming what PPS promised to voters when Portlanders passed the measure in spring 2024, its most recent five-year renewal. Then, the district had projected the levy would fund an average of 660 positions each year.
The levy has largely suffered because of the declining value of commercial properties in Portland, including downtown office space, and the resulting compression of property taxes. At the same time, the average teacher package the district provides (encompassing salaries, taxes and benefits) is $152,000 a year.
Last November, concerns about the levy weighed heavily on district officials, who confronted a $56.3 million budget deficit through spring. “It was down about $5 million and did contribute to our 25–26 year shortfall,” PPS chief financial officer Michelle Morrison confirmed to board members Sept. 1.
PPS’s budget review committee described the levy as a “vital funding source” that this year accounts for 12.1% of the district’s general fund resources. So as PPS officials anticipate staring down at least a $65 million deficit in spring, they’ll be closely monitoring how it performs.
