Oregon Public Broadcasting

A day after Governor Ted Kulongoski released his budget, he’s hearing it from education advocates.

Kulongoski characterized his spending priorities as ‘holding education harmless.’ But school district leaders and community college advocates say that’s not true. Rob Manning reports.

Gov. Kulongoski said this week that his budget propsal prioritizes education.

Ted Kulongoski: “My passion, and it started long before I became governor, is to make sure that Oregon has the best-skilled, best-trained, best-educated, work force in America.”

Kulongoski said that he wants to keep funding for education strong, especially in the first year of the next biennium.

Ted Kulongoski: “I’m holding all of education - not just K through 12 - harmless in the first year, and we will find additional funding, if necessary, in the second year.”

Chuck Bennett: “It just doesn’t hold education harmless. Nobody’s being held harmless in this budget, certainly not education.”

Chuck Bennett is the lobbyist for Oregon’s Confederation of School Administrators. He says that the two and a half percent increase is less than the overall six percent increase in state revenues - and it doesn’t keep up with rising costs of running schools.

Chuck Bennett:  “We are going to see decreased school days - we already are seeing that as a result of cuts to this budget. It’s going to compound itself next year.”

But Bennett doesn’t just object to what he sees as a disconnect between the governor’s rhetoric and his budget. Bennet says the state should be spending its rainy day funds.

Chuck Bennett: “I think we’ll be talking with legislators during this session about going into the Education Stability Fund. If this isn’t a rainy day, I don’t know what is. The governor is asking us to wait until the dam breaks.” 

Chip Terhune: “You know, I think education will look back on this budget in probably about four months, and be incredibly grateful.”

That’s the governor’s chief of staff, Chip Terhune, speaking on OPB’s Think Out Loud. Terhune argues that over the next year or two, budgets will tighten even further, and that’s when the rainy day funds will really be needed.

Trudy Sargent is board co-chair for Portland Public Schools. She agrees with the governor's office - reluctantly.

Trudy Sargent: “I hate to say it because I’d like there to be more resources for K-12 resources around the state. But I think it would be very wise to take a long view of this.”

Sargent says she believes the governor followed through on a promise from last month to quote “put kids at the front of the line.”

But other education advocates are wondering what happened to their place in line. The proposed funding for community colleges is much less generous than for  K-12. Not only does it not keep pace with expenses, it represents a three percent cut to the current funding.

Andrea Henderson is with the Oregon Community College Association.  She says that'is inconsistent with the governor’s two highest priorities - education and the economy.

Andrea Henderson: “It hurts our ability to respond to the immediate economic needs of Oregonians right now. Community colleges are on the ground, helping people who either don’t have a job, or are underemployed, get the training and skills they need to get a job.”

The governor’s office says that community colleges will get an additional $15 million next year from the same Education Stability Fund that will boost K-12, if needed. That would net colleges a two percent increase.

But even if they get that bump next year, community colleges say they’re having a hard time keeping up with double-digit enrollment increases.

The governor’s budget is just the first step in the process. State spending will be the subject of a great deal of wrangling starting in January, when lawmakers convene in Salem.