Over 12 years, Stand for Children in Oregon has grown to be one of the state's foremost grassroots voices for kids, with 1,800 members in 11 communities. Our numerous state and local victories have benefited hundreds of thousands of children. To date, we’ve leveraged more than $1.9 billion for schools and other children’s programs serving more than 970,000 Oregon children.
Highlights:
Increasing Public Investment in K-12 Schools
For more than 10 years, Oregon has dealt with tough economic
times by disinvesting in education, resulting in some of the largest class
sizes in the nation and the loss of offerings in PE, Art, Music, and other
critical school programs. Stand for Children brought 3,000 people to the
Capitol steps for a Presidents Day Education Rally in 2007. Members testified
at all seven Ways & Means field hearings on the K-12 budget in communities
around the state, and met individually with legislators. The Legislature
responded by approving a $6.245 billion ’07-’09 budget for K-12, an increase of
18% above the previous biennium.
Improving School Facilities
Oregon is one of only a handful of states that provides no
funding to build and renovate schools, instead relying totally on local bonds
to cover these costs. For years the Oregon Homebuilders Association, one of the
most powerful lobbies in the state, was able to quash all attempts to require
developers to help pick up the tab for school construction. Schools became
overcrowded, and more and more classes had to be held in portables. Our
Chapters in North Clackamas, Hillsboro, and Beaverton raised public awareness
about the school facilities crisis, and in 2007 their advocacy changed
everything. Stand for Children worked with the Oregon Homebuilders Association
to win legislative approval for a construction tax on not only residential but
also commercial and industrial development that could generate $60 million a
year for both growing and declining-enrollment districts in urban, suburban,
and rural parts of the state.
Improving Educator Quality
New teachers struggle to succeed in a difficult profession
with little support, and their students, often the neediest in each district,
suffer a second-rate education. Teacher turnover costs Oregon taxpayers $45 million each year, with 40% of the
state’s new teachers leaving the profession within their first few years. Stand
for Children developed the Oregon New Educator Mentor Program to provide
research-based, best-practice mentoring to new teachers and principals to give more students a
top-notch educational experience. We helped craft the legislation establishing
the program, which will serve nearly 1,000 teachers and principals in 2008-09,
and won support and initial funding for it from the governor and the legislature.
