Oregonian guest columnist: Can we trust PPS with all that money?

Oregonian guest columnist John Braestrup writes:

Portland voters are being asked to approve a huge bond measure this May. So we need to ask ourselves some questions to determine if the measure makes economic and educational sense.

Has Portland Public Schools told us that test scores, dropout rates and graduation rates will improve 20 percent if the measure is passed? Do we really need to spend money on every K-12 school? Isn't it really the junior and senior high schools that may need better labs and scientific equipment, not the elementary schools where the teacher, not the building, makes all the difference? Will the measure allow union and non-union contractors to bid equally so the money is well spent? Are there alternative means of raising money such as selling or leasing idle or underutilized properties that PPS owns? Can't PPS consolidate facilities, closing some schools and thereby reducing personnel overhead, maintenance and other operating costs, especially when district enrollment has steadily declined for the past 20 years?

These are only some of the questions we should be asking PPS.

Equally important is the matter of timing. Why didn't the district schedule its labor negotiations earlier so it could show progress in demanding and obtaining accountability by teachers, principals and the entire school system?

Citizens would be a lot more willing to pass the bond measure if PPS had shown its willingness to solve some of the core problems facing our schools.

Unrelated directly to the bond issue is the elephant in our living room -- the future unfunded costs of PERS. These costs will take away from every state function -- education, safety, roads, you name it. If PERS is not reformed, taxes in some form will have to rise, some businesses will likely look elsewhere to invest and many high-income individuals will leave, resulting in a stagnant Oregon economy with high unemployment.

Many voters believe government spending at all levels is out of control. The PPS measure is just another example of uncontrolled government spending.

Since our children started elementary school some 20 years ago, we've seen four or five PPS superintendents come and go, each one stating that he or she would change the system and with just a little more money everything would be fine. Yet there has been little improvement in student achievement. Oregon's status among the other states puts us in the bottom quarter, unable or unwilling to compete for the Obama administration's offer of federal grants.

I think voters should reject the upcoming bond measure as a means of forcing Portland Public Schools to achieve significant progress with the teachers union and then resurrect the measure a year or two later. Certainly a delay of one or two years is not going to change things dramatically. And if voters sense that real accountability has been established and progress has been made in the system, then maybe a better bond measure can be proposed and passed.

We're all for good schools and better pay for excellent teachers and principals, but they have to be accountable for turning out good students able to compete in the real world.

Source: Oregonian