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Gov. John Kitzhaber today broke the silence that has surrounded a high-stakes behind-the-scenes battle over education policy. In the past couple of weeks, according to Salem sources, a rather unlikely alliance has come together in support of a package of education bills.
The list of bills includes some charter school fixes, a bill that would allow districts to opt out of Education Service Districts and other bills aimed at teacher training and the appointment, rather than the election of the state superintendent of public instruction.
But the bill that Kitzhaber has pushed the hardest is probably Senate Bill 909, which would consolidate the state boards that govern K-12, community colleges and higher education into one "education investment board," designed to better prioritize spending across the education spectrum.
The talk in Salem has been that House Republicans support much of Kitzhaber's education agenda and that they could peel off some Democrats, possibly including co-House Speaker Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay). In a House divided evenly at 30-30, their support might give Kitzhaber the opportunity to push has agenda through, even though the powerful Oregon Education Association has been lukewarm at best to some of his ideas.
Today, the behind-the-scenes maneuvering heated up after OEA signaled it would try to block Kitzhaber's plan. In response, the governor released the following statement:
âI am surprised and disappointed to hear that OEA has changed course and now opposes Senate Bill 909 and a package of modest education reforms that would deliver better results for students, more resources for teachers and more accountability for taxpayer dollars. For them to cling to the status quo is not in the best interest of Oregonians.â
Updated at 11:45 am:
OEA spokeswoman Becca Uherbelau says her organization opposes at least four of the bills included in the package and therefore wants to block the whole sheaf of bills, which is being offered in exchange for Kitzhaber and lawmakers being willing to free up $25 million from the Education Stability Fund.
"One bill we oppose is a charter school expansion bill," she says. "At a time that we are closing neighborhood schools it doesn't make sense to promote the growth of charter schools."
Another OEA target is House Bill 3681, which would permits statewide open enrollment. "That would wreak havoc on budgeting because districts wouldn't know how many students they are going to have,"
Uherbelau says
The union also opposes bill that would promote the growth of online charter schools and another that would carve out $5 million for a program developed by the Chalkboard Project aimed at improving teacher preparation. "That's $5 million for a special interest that would serve a small number of students," Uherbelau says. "We think it's better to invest in equitably across the board."
"This package of bills is bad for students," she says. "We have said if you take [Senate Bill] 909 [the Education Investment Board] out of the package, we'lll return to neutral on that bill but we won't accept the package."
WWeek 2015