Document text
Keep school debate civil, Hannon says He can't sway everyone at town hall BY PETER WONG Like a stern father, state Sen. Lenn Hannon stepped in Saturday to head off a verbal brawl between advocates of more state aid for schools and legislators who say their target is out of reach. The Ashland Republican, one of the Legislature's two senior members, succeeded to a point with nearly 150 people who packed a town hall meeting at McLoughlin Middle School in Medford. He and two other Southern Oregon legislators have signed onto House Bill 2900, which sets a two-year target of $5.1 billion advocated by the Coalition for School Funding Now. But three other legislators have declined to commit to a specific figure. "I would say there isn't a person in this row who does not believe in education," Hannon said of his five colleagues. "So let's not harangue them over a figure. The question is about how do we move to a proper funding level. There is not an unlimited resource." Hannon and others said the choices boil down to cutting other proposed spending and using the savings for schools, keeping a projected refund of personal income taxes and raising money from other sources. But their responses to written questions about aid to schools did not satisfy some in the audience, who proceeded to ask them questions face-to-face on other topics. "I think it was a waste of time," Carolyn Pratt of Medford, a parent, said after the 90-minute meeting. "I think nothing got solved. I think they do not understand how we felt -- and we did not get an idea of how they felt." Pratt said she does not advocate cuts in early childhood or higher education programs, but the priority should be on aid to elementary and secondary schools, which receive 75 percent of their money from income taxes and lottery proceeds. "But it did give people some perspective," said Don Bruland, director of senior and disabled services for the Rogue Valley Council of Governments. "I think it helped others understand there are different interests." Among other topics discussed were low-income housing, transportation for elderly and disabled people, proposed spending from tobacco settlement payments and proposed changes in the minimum wage and the ban on use of bait and dogs to hunt bears and cougars. It was a rare joint appearance during the session, which just passed the 60-day mark, by the six legislators who live in Jackson and Josephine counties. Of the two-year, $10.7 billion budget that Gov. John Kitzhaber submitted to the Legislature, $4.6 billion would go to public schools. Kitzhaber is expected Monday to propose more but still short of $5.1 billion. "None of us wants to be labeled in history as the people who dismantled public education," said Rep. Carl Wilson, R-Grants Pass. Rep. Rob Patridge, R-Medford, said legislators just obtained a model to help them decide the costs of educating students to attain new state academic standards. "If you ask me to write the checks, I need to know what the costs are of educating kids," he said. "But it does not make sense if we raise the bar and have great kids graduate -- and then they have nowhere to go." Rep. Judy Uherbelau, D-Ashland, said public schools deserve more but not at the expense of social services or other levels of education. "We are pitting one segment against another," she said. "We need a bigger vision." Senate President Brady Adams, R-Grants Pass, has taken part in several town hall meetings. "The one issue that got a little more emphasis here than at the other meetings was about bears and cougars," Adams said afterward. "In the Portland area, you do not get people talking to you about bears and cougars." Legislators heard from environmentalists opposed to tampering with the 1994 ban that voters approved in Measure 18, but also from a rancher who described cougar injuries to livestock. "These meetings should be more about listening than talking," said Rep. Jason Atkinson, R-Jacksonville. "I think it's all positive when you share all of the demands on the state budget with as many people as you can." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA