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Students: We get short end of the stick Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Students of the nearly 100-member Crater High School choir check over an acceptance list for the Jazz Express choir recently. Cutbacks in school funding have resulted in crowded classrooms, and educators say the situation will only get worse as another $7 million shortfall looms over next year's budgets countywide. They say the Legislature hasn't made the school funding crisis a priority By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Parents are dismayed, teachers are stunned and students say they will be the ones who will suffer. All worry about the impacts on education next year with the elimination of 151 Jackson County school positions because of budget shortfalls totaling more than $7 million. After losing 153 positions last year, schools already have felt the squeeze from larger class sizes and cuts in programs. "It takes a lot longer to get class started," said Crater High School senior Valerie Boggs. "Any time that you've got 40 students in a class, it gets a little louder, and takes a little while to calm down." Next fall, the doors of campuses across Jackson County will open, but much will be missing. Schools will have reduced 304 positions in two years to offset shortfalls totaling more than $11 million. Last year, schools tried to trim around the edges, but this year they've had to cut deeper into teaching positions. Both the Ashland and Medford school districts will have lost 10 percent of their teaching staffs by next fall. Throughout the state, many of the 198 Oregon school districts are cutting back, and, in some cases, closing schools down. Boggs, a member of Students United for Financial Education Reform, said students are fed up with lawmakers who seem unwilling to tackle the statewide crisis in education. "We went around to every student in English classes and sent postcards to the Legislature," said Boggs. "A lot of the students realized education is not a priority with the Legislature, and that was frustrating for students." Boggs said she doesn't support Measure 13, which proposes taking a School Endowment Fund and converting it into a rainy day fund. The Legislature would use the majority of the fund - $220 million - to avoid more cuts to education, which already has taken a $112 million reduction statewide. If the measure fails, Jackson County schools would have to reduce another $10 million, or $360 a student, in addition to the cuts they're already facing. The state is looking at another shortfall approaching $1 billion in the next biennium that could spell additional cuts for schools. In addition, a faltering retirement benefits program could mean Jackson County schools need to raise another $4.6 million. As a result, even if Measure 13 passes, school officials aren't optimistic about the future of education funding. "It (Measure 13) will be a Band-Aid to fix next year, and then we worry about the next biennium," said Crater High Principal Karyn Lynch. "We need to convince our Legislature that we want stable funding for our schools." At Crater, which will have to bear a portion of the $800,000 in cuts at Central Point schools, Lynch anticipates losing one or two teachers. "We're also taking a look at all kinds of activities, supplies and other things." The school had two security positions in the past but will be down to one next year. Central Point has spent years pruning back its budgets, resulting in already-large classrooms. The choir class runs about 100 students, the physical education class has 48 and some regular classrooms support 34. Even with the cuts, Crater doesn't plan to drop any programs. "We will reduce where we can rather than eliminating," said Lynch. Rogue River School Board member Randy Jentzsch said his district has been cutting back for years, resulting in large class sizes at Rogue River High. "We have some classes that have 40-plus students," he said. "There's not enough room to put more desks in some classes, and so the students sit on the teacher's desk and against the wall." Jentzsch said many of the larger districts are just starting to feel the pain of budget cuts that Rogue River has experienced already. "We've been living without for so long that it seems normal," he said. Jentzsch's son, senior Greg Jentzsch, said, "We're losing a lot of good teachers." With cutbacks in staff every year since 2000, Rogue River High teachers instruct as many as 180 students during a day, he said. "When we see we're going to get cut even more, the students are getting worried," he said. "There's not much more they can cut." In Ashland schools, parent Larry Cooper predicts drastic measures if cuts continue. "No matter what, they're going to have to close a school in order to minimize the impact on all the elementaries," said Cooper, whose daughter goes to Helman Elementary. The Ashland School District discussed closing a school this year because enrollment continues to decline. Overall, Cooper said, the future doesn't look bright for education in Ashland. "I feel like it's heading back to the way it was when I was a child, when we had 35 kids in a classroom," he said. "Everybody knows that will be a lower quality of education." Cooper is particularly worried about the impacts on special education students. "The question is, how are they going to provide special education if there are going to be less classroom teachers?" he said. "They will be overburdened by having more students in general. And there will be fewer aides." Some relief might be in sight that could bring back aides and other support staff. The Ashland Schools Foundation in April launched an aggressive phone campaign to raise $750,000 to restore teachers' jobs. More than $100,000 in donations has been confirmed so far. And Linda Richards, president of the 143-member chapter of the Oregon School Employees Union in Ashland, said a tentative agreement was reached Thursday with the district that could freeze salaries to offset some of the layoffs and reductions in hours. The agreement, which still requires a vote of union members, would net the district $92,000 that would have gone toward salary hikes. While support staff may be close to an agreement, teachers are looking at the prospect of losing 28 of their colleagues, or about 10 percent of the teaching staff. "Part of the thing that we've really enjoyed here at Ashland is the smaller class sizes," said Leanne Wallace, president of the Ashland Education Association and an English teacher at the high school. "Our fear is we're not going to have it anymore." Next fall, Wallace and other teachers will find 10 percent of the staff gone at the high school, which will lose seven out of about 70 teachers. Some classes such as physical education or band could edge up to 35 students, and some core courses such as math, science or English could see as many as 30, she said. "At the high school, there will be more students and less time to prepare for those students," said Wallace. After cutbacks last year, she said the mood on campus has been down. "Teachers tend to be optimists for the most part," Wallace said. "What I'm feeling from my peers is discouragement." Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.