New poll shows voter support for K-12 education and revenue reform

A ground-breaking poll released today indicates that Oregonians see K-12 public education as the state’s top funding priority, and that they support raising business taxes to avoid cutting school budgets.

In late February 2017, DHM Research surveyed 600 registered Oregon voters on behalf of the Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA). The goal was to assess Oregonians’ values, their state budgeting priorities and support for possible revenue reform strategies. The full survey can be found on the OSBA website.

This survey is believed to be the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of Oregonians’ public spending priorities as the state faces a $1.6 billion budget shortfall for 2017-19 and a long-term struggle paying for services such as education, health and public safety.

“This poll clearly shows how much Oregonians value our public schools, and are willing to tackle the difficult choices we need to make so our students receive the education they deserve,” said Betty Reynolds, president of the OSBA board of directors.

Jim Green, OSBA’s executive director, said the poll provides important information for legislators to act.

“Our state’s voters – and more importantly, our children – are looking for leadership on the issue of revenue reform,” Green said. “We all know that taxes are always a tough subject for legislators, but for nearly a decade we’ve been balancing the budget on the backs of our students. Our young people need better from us.”   

The poll results demonstrate that of all public services, Oregonians overwhelmingly believe that public K-12 education should be the Legislature’s top funding priority – schools were named as often in this regard as the next three public services combined, including public safety.