PORTLAND — Despite more than $400 million in budget increases this year for Oregon Public Schools, many districts have been forced to trim teaching positions and programs.
Escalating personnel costs, including for employee pensions and other retirement costs, have put the state’s school systems in a financial bind.
Oregon’s largest district, Portland Public Schools, will receive $29 million more from the state school fund this year than last. The increase in funding is not enough to cover rising salary and pension expenses, with retirement costs alone surging by $18 million, district budget chief Ryan Dutcher said. As a result, 55 fewer teachers will work at district’s 77 schools this fall, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
In the Salem-Keizer School District, Oregon’s second largest, the state school fund allocation rose $31 million. But employee pension costs skyrocketed by $10 million, and 67 teacher positions were cut, said Michael Wolfe, chief operating officer. Eliminating that many teaching jobs saved $6.8 million, Wolfe said.
Kelsy Dunlap said her freshman physics class will have 40 students, making it harder to learn names, grade assignments and give each student the time they deserve. Teachers in her district have come to expect budget cuts, she said.
“That’s Oregon. That’s what we do here,” Dunlap said. “It’s demoralizing.”
In Beaverton, Ore., the schools budget increased $21 million. But the district still had to make cuts because pension costs rose by $14 million. The district is also opening a new high school and a refurbished elementary school, and those costs didn’t help with budgets already stretched thin, district spokeswoman Maureen Wheeler said.
District leaders decided to trim library staff, reduce professional development programs for teachers and cut spending on classroom supplies.
Matters are only expected to worsen for the state’s nearly 200 districts in 2019 and beyond, as bills for employee health plans and pensions continue to balloon, say district officials and specialists at the Oregon Department of Education.
“This state does not have a sustainable revenue model,” Wolfe said. “We’re tired of it.”
