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PUBLIC
HEARING: SB 550 A, SB 819 A |
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TAPE 156-157,
A-B |
MAY 6,
2003 8:30 AM STATE CAPITOL BUILDING
Members Present: Representative Lane Shetterly, Chair
Representative
Wayne Scott, Vice Chair
Representative
Joanne Verger, Vice Chair
Representative
Phil Barnhart
Representative
Vicki Berger
Representative
Pat Farr
Representative
Mark Hass
Representative
Elaine Hopson
Representative
Max Williams
Witness Present: Senator Devlin, District 19
Dr.
William A. Korach, Lake Oswego School District
Ozzie
Rose, Confederation of Oregon School Administrators
John
Marshall, Oregon School Boards Association
Representative
Macpherson, District 38
Jim
Scherzinger, Superintendent, Portland Public Schools
Laurie
Wimmer Whelan, Oregon Education Association Kathryn Weit, Oregon Counsel on
Developmental Disabilities
Brian
Reeder, Department of Education
Staff Present: Paul
Warner, Legislative Revenue Officer
Steve
Meyer, Legislative Revenue Office
Kathy
Tooley, Committee Assistant
TAPE 156, SIDE A
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055 |
Chair Shetterly |
Calls meeting to order at 8:45 a.m. |
OPENS PUBLIC HEARING ON SB 550-A AND SB 819-A
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070 |
Steve Meyer |
Provides description of SB 550 which creates a High Cost Disabilities
Grant and increases grants for high transportation cost districts. Exhibit 1.
Provides description of SB 819 which increases the limit for the amount of
school local option tax revenue excluded from school local revenue in the
school equalization formula and allows districts with small high schools to
merge and maintain the extra student weight for small schools for four years
Exhibit 2. . Notes that it has a subsequent referral to Ways and Means and
discusses revenue impact. Exhibit 3. |
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125 |
Senator Devlin |
States that both bills have strong support from the Senate. Discusses
history of local options. Testifies in support of SB 819-A because it is a
modest adjustment to a much needed local option and it gets rid of the
disincentive for small high schools to merge. Points out that it is not a
solution to school funding, but a tool for districts to solve part of the
problem. |
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209 |
Dr. William Korasch |
Spoke in favor of 819A because it gives school districts options
while they wait for a statewide solution.
Discusses the Lake Oswego school district. Refer to written testimony.
Exhibit 4. |
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350 |
Rep. Verger |
Asks what kind of salary increases the Lake Oswego school district
will be giving. |
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355 |
Korasch |
Responds that teachers will be getting 3.5% increase due to a
contract signed 3 years ago. |
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375 |
Rep. Verger |
Asks if it is possible to ask teachers to take a decrease. |
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377 |
Korasch |
Responds that they are in those negotiations, but can’t discuss them presently. |
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368 |
Ozzie Rose |
Testifies in favor of SB 819 because it gives districts options and
gives an incentive to merge small schools. Testifies in favor of SB 550 and
discusses task forces on special education and small schools. Points out that
none of these are solutions, but rather tweaks to the formula that help. Suggests
that they raise the bar for reimbursement of special education students so
that everything above $25,000 per student is reimbursed and that there is a
sunset so that the legislature will have to revisit the issue. |
TAPE 157, SIDE A
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035 |
Chair Shetterly |
Asks if anyone is working on an amendment. |
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037 |
Rose |
Responds that he has had meetings and that someone was supposed to be
thinking about it, but he isn’t sure. |
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043 |
Rep. Farr |
Asks if everything above $25,000 would be reimbursed. |
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045 |
Rose |
Responds positively. |
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052 |
Rep. Farr |
Asks if he suggests a two-year sunset. |
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053 |
Rose |
Responds affirmatively. |
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055 |
Rep. Berger |
Asks what they would be trying to determine if they sunset the bill
and bring it back in 2005. |
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058 |
Rose |
Responds that they need to determine how effectively the bill
addresses the problems with the formula. |
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067 |
Rep. Barnhart |
Asks if this bill would likely not affect most schools, except for
small school districts that have 1 or 2 high cost students. |
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073 |
Rose |
Responds affirmatively. |
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083 |
Rep. Verger |
States that every child is the same in the eyes of the legislature
and anything to encourage giving more money to one school district creates
discrepancy in the level of education offered. Asks where allowing local
options will lead them in the future. |
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111 |
Rose |
Responds that the ideal situation would be to fund schools adequately
so that every school district received what it needed. States that local
options do create differences and that there should be restrictions on how
much is allowed. Testifies that SB 819 is an acceptable amount. |
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137 |
Rep. Verger |
Expresses concern that increasing local options will prevent further
statewide solutions. |
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160 |
Rose |
Agrees that they should be trying to solve the greater problem, but
points out that they aren’t capable of solving the greater problem right now
and that by making these adjustments, it will make things a little better. Discussion follows. |
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177 |
Rep. Farr |
Asks if there has been any discussion on sun setting SB 819 in order
to put pressure on the Legislature to come up with a universal solution. |
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185 |
Rose |
Responds that he has not heard any discussion. |
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190 |
Rep. Barnhart |
Asks if the local option tax is the increment amount between Measure
5 and Measure 50. |
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198 |
Rose |
Responds affirmatively. |
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202 |
Rep. Barnhart |
Asks how many school districts this applies to. |
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208 |
Rose |
Responds that he doesn’t know. Discussion follows. |
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212 |
John Marshall |
Discusses the task forces on special education and small schools and
how SB 550 attempts to change the formula to reflect the differing needs of
school districts. Offers support for SB 819 because school districts are
different and there should be some ability to connect those needs back to the
local community. Discusses the history of the local option and the changes
due to the current economic situation. States that the state has equalized
resources but that equity, which means that every child has equal access to
educational programs, has not been achieved. Explains the small high school
merger incentive. |
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395 |
Rep. MacPherson |
Testifies in support of SB 819 because the funding formula has moved
school districts away from their local community and that this would in some
measure restore that connection. |
TAPE 156, SIDE B
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022 |
Rep. Barnhart |
States that this bill will not affect most communities and asks if
any districts in Rep. MacPherson’s legislative district would benefit from this
bill. |
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039 |
Rep. MacPherson |
Responds positively and discusses the Lake Oswego school district. |
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047 |
Rep. Hopson |
States that she will support the bill, but asks about kids that live
in communities that don’t want to tax themselves. |
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070 |
Rep. MacPherson |
Responds that equalization to provide for all children is good, but
questions whether it is desirable to move toward such strict uniformity that
there is no reflection on the differences and aspirations of school
districts. |
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077 |
Chair Shetterly |
States that he is not concerned that anyone would mistake SB 819 for the
“big fix”. |
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087 |
Jim Scherzinger |
Testifies in support of SB 550 and SB 819. States that the high need special ed bill is a move toward
better equalization. States that Portland
Public Schools’ special education costs were much higher than what they were
allocated. Discusses mandates that require the state to provide services,
creating an increased proportion of spending on special ed in local
districts. |
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130 |
Rep. Barnhart |
Asks if SB 550 would result in a net increase in state funding to the
Portland Public School District. |
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133 |
Scherzinger |
Responds affirmatively. |
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135 |
Chair Shetterly |
Asks if the transportation grant piece would reduce funding? |
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144 |
Scherzinger |
Responds affirmatively and discusses net gains and losses. Discussion follows. |
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155 |
Laurie Whimmer Whelan |
Offers support of both bills because they are good policy rationales.
Points out that SB 819 would keep pace with inflation and the original intent
of the local option bill. Discusses history of local options. States that
these bills combined are a compromise and not a substitute for a decent
budget or long-term solution. Expresses concern that without these bills,
districts will lose some of their biggest supporters to private schools. |
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224 |
Katheryn Weit |
Testifies in support of SB 550. Discusses drivers for the high cost
of special education students and the need for additional data. Supports
putting a sunset on the bill. |
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267 |
Rep. Verger |
Expresses support for the small high school merger incentive and asks
if that could also help with the problem of declining enrollment schools by
providing full funding over a period of four years until they are able to
adjust. |
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285 |
Wimmer Whelan |
Responds that it is a possibility. |
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292 |
Brian Reeder |
Offers support for both bills.
Discusses the uncertainty of the amount of local option that could be
raised. Gives examples of different school districts. Discussion follows. |
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389 |
Rep. Hopson |
Asks for the numbers of high cost students and small high schools
would be affected. |
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395 |
Reeder |
Responds that he doesn’t have numbers with him. Discussion follows. |
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404 |
Reeder |
Points out that SB 819 doesn’t have a big effect now because of the
Measure 5 limit. |
TAPE 157, SIDE B
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002 |
Meyer |
Discusses revenue impact of SB 550 and the estimates for the school
transportation grant. Exhibit 5. Discusses the K-12 special education
estimates. Exhibit 6. |
CLOSES PUBLIC HEARING ON SB 550 A and SB 819 A
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059 |
Chair Shetterly |
Meeting adjourned at 10:06 a.m. |
Tape Log Submitted by,
Kathy Tooley, Committee
Assistant Tara Lantz, Committee Assistant
Exhibit Summary:
1.
SB
550 A, Steve Meyer, Staff Measure Summary, 1p.
2.
SB
819 A, Steve Meyer, Staff Measure Summary, 1p.
3.
SB
819 A, Steve Meyer, Revenue Impact Statement, 1p.
4.
SB
819 A, William Korach, Written Testimony, 4pp.
5.
SB
550 A, Steve Meyer, Revenue Impact Statement, 3pp.
6.
SB
550 A, Steve Meyer, K-12 Special Education Estimates, 1p.