News Center

Board members take OSBA’s message to Washington

February 08, 2012

Kris Howatt, president of the Oregon School Boards Association, will lead a delegation of OSBA’s board of directors to Washington, D.C., to urge congressional action on important education issues.

In addition to Howatt, the board members are David Beeson (past-president of OSBA), Dave Krumbein (secretary-treasurer), Karen Cunningham, Laurie Adams and Sam Lee.

The board members will meet on Feb. 7 with the state’s congressional delegation to stress the importance of Oregon’s proposed waiver of No Child Left Behind. Just as important, they will urge action to prevent damage to rural schools if Congress lets federal funding of the Secure Rural Schools Act run out on June 30.

If Secure Rural Schools funding expires on schedule, Oregon’s counties stand to lose $250 million in income paid by the federal government to compensate for vast tracts of federal land that generate no property taxes. An end to SRS funding would mean the loss of about 4,000 jobs in Oregon and $400 million in business sales, according to a recent study by economists at Oregon State University.

The OSBA delegation will point out the devastating impact that loss of SRS funding would inflict on many rural school districts in Oregon—districts that have already suffered severe budget reductions.