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OSBA ramps up effort to push legislative priorities
February 08, 2012
With the launch of the 2012 legislative session, the Oregon School Boards Association has dialed up the intensity of its efforts to achieve its legislative goals.
“Our priorities emphasize the ongoing fight to restore a sense of urgency over the condition of public education in Oregon,” said Kris Howatt, president of OSBA. “Statewide, a third of our students fail to earn high school diplomas after four or even five years of high school. Many school districts struggle to maintain their programs in the face of ever-tighter budgets. In short, our sense of urgency is both real and justified.”
Priorities for the 2012 session
The association’s legislative priorities fall into three categories:
• Student achievement. OSBA will vigorously advocate legislation that supports progress in student achievement, Howatt said. “We need to make sure every student is ready for college, apprenticeship, a career and productive citizenship.” Raising the high school graduation rate leads the list of OSBA’s goals, she added.
• Shared accountability. OSBA will continue to urge the governor and the legislature to join local school districts and education service districts in sharing accountability for student achievement. “We’re all in this together,” Howatt said, “and we all need to acknowledge our respective roles in helping students succeed in their academic careers.”
• Funding. Adequate, stable funding continues to be among OSBA’s primary legislative goals. For the current legislative session, OSBA’s chief objective is to ensure that any budget rebalancing does not reduce funding for K-12, Howatt said. Over the longer term, OSBA will urge the legislature to ensure that schools have the resources to meet their responsibilities. “We also see an urgent need to direct resources to fund capital construction for K-12 schools.”
OSBA’s priorities and the governor’s proposals
Governor John Kitzhaber’s legislative priorities for the current session correspond generally with OSBA’s. On the governor’s behalf, the Oregon Education Investment Board has proposed legislation (SB 1581) that would call on local school boards and other public education entities to sign “achievement compacts” with the state. Presented as a replacement to provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the compacts would set planning goals for student achievement and require collaboration in preparing students for post-secondary education (see accompanying story: “OSBA sees ‘achievement compacts’ as important tool”).
“If the legislature passes SB 1581, it will help move the ball the forward toward achieving OSBA’s priorities,” Howatt said.
The leadership of OSBA encourages members to contact their local legislators to stress the importance of enacting the association’s legislative priorities, Howatt added. “This is a critical time for public education,” she said. “Many schools are barely holding on because of tight budgets and scarce resources. Never has our legislative agenda been more important.”
Visit http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/ to find contact information for your state senator or representative.