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Teachers fight against Measure 95 Local educators say initiative linking their pay to class scores will hurt students By Vicki Guarino During school hours, such political activism is forbidden on school grounds. But in the off hours, in the union office, teachers are working the phones and networking opposition to an initiative that would upend pay formulas that have been in place for decades. Ballot Measure 95, sponsored by anti-tax advocate Bill Sizemore, would amend the state constitution to require that all public school teachers and college professors be paid based on the academic performance of their students. No longer would teachers be paid according to their years of teaching and level of education. Other ballot measures of concern to educators School boards, teachers and education associations around the state say more measures on the November ballot worry them than just 95, the teacher pay issue. Medford School Board members, for example, are opposing nine measures they say jeopardize education. Initiatives targeted range from Ballot Measure 2, which would require legislative review of administrative rules governing state agency operation, to Ballot Measure 98, which prohibits payroll deductions for such items as union dues when those funds ultimately are used for political purposes. Oregon voters face a total of 99 measures on the November general election ballot. Other measures opposed by educators include: Measure 8 � limits state funding appropriations to 15 percent of the state�s prior personal income from the preceding two years, which could reduce the amount of money the state spends on education. Measure 86 � requires refunding to taxpayers any general fund revenues that exceed state estimates, which also could hurt schools financially. Measure 88 � increases the maximum in federal income taxes paid that is deductible on Oregon income taxes. Critics say the measure would reduce state revenues, again jeopardizing school funds. Measure 90 � authorizes rates giving utilities return on investments in retired utility properties, potentially reducing the pool of revenue from which schools are funded . Measure 92 � prohibits payroll deductions for political purposes without specific written authorization, which also potentially effects deductions for union dues. Measure 93 � requires public vote on all fees, taxes and charges levied by government agencies, which would effect numerous changes set to cover the cost of various services. It�s a plan teachers call insane and frightening. It erroneously assumes all students can learn at the same measurable pace, they say, and it erases all assurance of a teacher�s earning power from year to year. Advocates of the measure object to the present pay structure, saying it protects the wages of incompetent teachers and does nothing to recognize highly effective teachers. They argue that the amount of time a teacher has spent in the classroom has nothing to do with whether he or she is a good teacher. By measuring students� academic gain, wages would be set more fairly, they say. Academic gain would be measured by student test scores. Specifics of the new pay formula � the subjects to be tested and how, and the correlation of test scores to money � are not included in the ballot measure. Measure 95 backers say implementation would be left to local communities and school boards. The measure is expected to cost public education, including community colleges and universities, $47 million in the first three years. That is money that wouldn�t be spent on schools and improving students� education, say teachers campaigning against the measure. Instead of being a measure to boost public education in Oregon, teachers say, Measure 95 is a blow against it. So teachers and their backers are on the phones gathering support. Starting this week, the volunteers are calling the public, explaining the dangers and drawbacks of the measure. A door-to-door campaign against this measure and others is planned as well. "This isn�t a tool to improve teaching," says local union representative Mike McEachern, of the Oregon Education Association. Just the opposite, say Rogue River Middle School counselor Celia Schultz, an educator for 20 years, and telephone volunteer June Buck, a fourth-grade teacher at Kennedy Elementary with 25 years� experience. They say the best and most experienced teachers would find they have to dodge the tough teaching assignments with handicapped, troubled and struggling students to protect their paychecks. "Children come to schools with all kinds of worries that don�t have anything to do with reading, writing and arithmetic," says Buck. "We have students coming to us living in cars, they haven�t eaten, they don�t have coats, mom and dad are fighting. We have so many needy children. "I think a lot of what we do for kids can�t be measured on a test. "Who would want to take those kids?" Schultz says there are natural differences in the way students learn, at what age they learn and how fast they learn. "This measure says every kid is the same, and they all learn at the same pace," Schultz says. And in the classroom, Buck adds, teachers would become much more focused on test taking, rather than on many of the social and interpersonal skills that also are important to learning and becoming productive, self-sufficient, responsible adults. "We would be teaching to the test all the time, wouldn�t we?" Buck predicts. Teachers are not alone in the fight against Measure 95. Nearly all school boards and education associations in the state have adopted resolutions opposing the initiative, as well as other ballot measures addressing funding and instruction. Some students, too, are siding with teachers against the salary measure. Phoenix High student Zebulon Tolman criticized the proposal in a recent issue of the school�s student newspaper, the Pirate Scroll. "Teachers teach," Tolman wrote. "They can�t and don�t make their students learn, but only offer the opportunity to learn. "The rest of a student�s performance depends on commitment and dedication to learning and improving in that class." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.