Oregon School Funding
School funding is an important element of school sustainability. There need to be adequate capital and operating funds to provide instruction as well as to provide and maintain the needed facilities and services. Schools are funded differently from state to state. While SOSI is not involved in the school funding discussion, some general funding information and links to more details follow.
Overview of Funding Sources:
STATE: A large part of Oregon’s school funding comes from the state.
- State School Fund (SFF) provided biennially by the legislature, largely derived from state income taxes and lottery revenue
- Oregon’s Common School Fund.
- Other sources
LOCAL: A lesser portion of Oregon’s school funding comes from local sources; property taxes, local option levees, and other.
FEDERAL AND OTHER: A small portion comes from federal and other sources.
The State of Public Education: Oregon’s Future at a Crossroads
This powerpoint from the Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA) provides an overview of the school funding situation in Oregon
http://www.osba.org/HOTOPICS/FUNDING/toolkit/funding.pdf
School Finance 101: Oregon Department of Education (ODE) webpage
This webpage includes the basic terms and processes related to school finance in the State of Oregon.
http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?=14
2007 Oregon Public Finance: Basic Facts
This research report issued by the Oregon Legislative Revenue Office provides a summary of state revenue and budgeting. Section G covers schools. Oregon school districts operate with relative autonomy within guidelines specified by both the Legislature and the State Department of Education. The federal government also requires certain mandated programs.
http://www.leg.state.or.us/comm/lro/2007_final_basic_facts.pdf
2007 School Finance Legislation - Funding and Distribution
This research report issued by the Oregon Legislative Revenue Office describes legislation affecting Oregon’s school finance system that was passed in the 2007 regular legislative session.
http://www.leg.state.or.us/comm/lro/2007_school_finance_legislation.pdf
The Common School Fund
The Common School Fund is a trust fund, managed by the Oregon Department of State Lands for the benefit of Oregon´s K-12 public schools. It is derived from the management of certain state lands and their mineral and timber resources, as well as other resources under the State Land Board´s jurisdiction. Other sources of money contribute to the Common School Fund as well. The State Land Board distributes the earnings annually, directly to Oregon’s school districts.
See further details at: http://www.oregon.gov/DSL/DO/aboutcsf.shtml
Other groups and websites involved with school funding issues in Oregon:
Open Books Project
The Chalkboard Project created Open Book$, an online tool that gives you the facts about Oregon K-12 school spending in a simple, easy-to-understand format.
http://www.openbooksproject.org/default.aspx
Oregon Legislative Revenue Office
For a list of additional research reports covering various school funding topics see: http://www.leg.state.or.us/comm/lro/home.htm
Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA) Webpage
The page has an extensive collection of information about school funding.
http://www.osba.org/HOTOPICS/FUNDING/index.htm
Stand for Children, Oregon
Stand for Children is an organization that provides an independent, non-partisan citizen voice for children. Their mission is to teach everyday people how to join together in an effective grassroots voice in order to win concrete, long-lasting improvements for children at the state & local levels. To read Stand for Children’s perspective on tax reform changes that could increase adequacy & stability for public education, click here: http://www.stand.org/Page.aspx?pid=516. To learn where Oregon stands on key indicators of class size, length of school year, and high school graduation, click here: http://www.standforchildren.org/Page.aspx?pid=668.
Oregon Politics 101 powerpoint from Stand for Children which focuses on education funding.