Despite the recent upheaval in public finance, the typical school district still approaches, organizes, and perceives a school finance referendum no differently than 40 years ago. Political strategy remains a rather shunned, undeveloped resource at a time when election success is most needed and when school administrators cannot take public…

Appendix One, items pertinent to the hearing of September 21, 1971, includes material supplied by Dr. Robert W. Blanchard concerning allocations from Oregon's basic school support fund. Appendix Two, items pertinent to the hearing of September 22, 1971, includes material supplied by Joel B. Berke on "The Current Crisis in School Finance:…

This study attempts to understand educational priorities through an investigation of budget choices made by 46 Oregon school districts. Two-thirds of the sample districts did not experience stringent fiscal constraint; the remainder showed budget allocation patterns favoring instruction at the expense of administrative and other areas. Includes 20…

Textbooks on government invariably include sections on state and local government, but because of the diversity of political structures existing on the local level, most material is general and not very satisfactory in helping students understand their immediate political environment. This resource was put together to help teachers gather relevant…

This article examines some implications of the Serrano vs Priest decision for Oregon's system of financing public schools. The author presents one alternative financing method -- a Statewide system to assess, collect, and disburse to each district or county an amount equalized on a per student basis. The status of the school financing system in…

Studies the deleterious effects of Oregon's Measure 5 (a property relief measure) on two suburban elementary schools in Oregon City and West Linn. In both Oregon and California, a shift away from property taxes has not been accompanied by the development of adequate funding from other sources. Our growing willingness to provide for children's…

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the issue of statewide tax and expenditure limitations (TELs). Through the use of public opinion surveys and case studies of the campaigns, the author explains the politics of the TEL issue. Chapter 1 uses a multivariate analysis to determine whether or not differences exist in the voting…

During the past 5 years, Oregon has set in motion a set of fundamental changes in state policy that will radically affect schools. It has: (1) reduced property taxes without increasing other taxes in a way that will reduce state/local taxes as a share of income from 12.1 percent of personal income in 1991 to 10.3 percent in 1996; (2) shifted to…

This report examines the current school finance system in Oregon and recommends changes to make the system more equitable and less subject to variations in local property wealth. After briefly describing the inequities of the present system, most of the report discusses the committee's legislative recommendations and their probable impact. The…

This survey examined the attitudes of people in four states where tax or spending limitations appeared on the ballot in November 1978. It found that people had positive attitudes toward schools in their communities, believed schools are doing an above-average job, and viewed schools as a public service that should not be reduced. Results suggest…

This preliminary report summarizes much of the work and findings of the research staff of the Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity of the Oregon Legislature. The research staff's task was to analyze Oregon's current school finance system and its various alternatives and to develop a computer simulation for predicting the impact of…

The allocation of education funds by State legislatures, the attitudes of legislators on educational issues, and the interaction of legislators with education lobbyists in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Utah, and Oregon were studied in an attempt to explain how educational resources are allocated in the 50 States and how legislators approach the…

The Oregon educational system confronts a set of legislative challenges similar to, yet different from, the rest of the nation. Like the rest of the nation, distrust of government runs high, politicians are wary of raising or restructuring taxes, the economy is expanding, and the November 1994 state election shook up the political leadership of…

This paper describes the development of school finance reform in Oregon from 1968 through legislative enactments in 1973 and proposals for the voters in 1974. The first section describes the 1973 school finance reform proposal, rejected by voters, as it was originally submitted (whereby the State would have assumed 95 percent of the operating…

A random sample of the population in each of five Oregon cities was interviewed in 1964 and 1966, to assess the impact on citizen support for the schools of a series of innovative educational programs for the culturally deprived. In general, a change to more favorable attitudes toward the programs was found among both the citizens at large and the…