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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 6, 1977)
OECC — OEA: Who will win the struggle? SALEM — One of the most fascinating power struggles this session has been the effort by the Oregon Educational Associa tion (OEA) — the state's most influential teachers’ lobby—to kill the Oregon Educa tional Coordinating Commission (OECC). Created in 1975, the OECC was that Legislature’s latest attempt at coming to grips with Oregon’s often uneven educa tional policies. Primarily an advisory body, the commis sion gathers and analyzes facts, monitors the activities of education policy making boards and makes policy recommenda tions to the Legislature and governor. The OEA is actively lobbying House members to kill the OECC’s budget, which is up for a vote this week. The reason the By MARY BETH BOWEN Of theEmerald OEA wants the OECC out of the picture is simple: The OEA feels its power is weakened by the OECC’s presence and could be even further weakened in the fu ture. With 8,000 teachers, large campaign cof fers and a well-organized, grass roots net work that can produce “consituent" re sponse within 24 hours, the OEA has be come very influential with Oregon legis lators in recent years. Prior to the OECC’s existence, it was the OEA that provided the Legislature with much of the information about elementary and secondary education. By being selec tive about the information they provided, the OEA was often able to determine which issues were addressed by the Legislature — and which were not. With the advent of the OECC, the Legis lature is now being supplied with informa tion and recommendations that don’t al ways reflect the views of the OEA or other educational groups. Other groups that oppose the OECC in clude the Oregon School Board Associa tion, the Confederation of School Adminis trators and Oregon’s community college presidents, who say the OECC’s power to veto proposed new community college programs—if they have an adverse impact on another segment of education — un dermines the control of local community col lege boards. The OEA has particularly objected to the OECC’s recommendations in the area of school curriculum, decisions the OEA thinks should be made at the local level. They also resent the OECC’s philosophy that strings of “accountability'’ should be attached to the $1 billion the state contributes to education every year. In total, the OEA’s main criticism is that the OECC is superfluous because the State Boards of Education and Higher Education are equipped to coordinate educational policy. But even members of both boards admit that coordination between the two has often been lacking. “There’s a lot of turf protecting,” says Sedley Stuart, a Board of Education member. “We jealously guard grades K through 12, and the community colleges, while the state system looks out for the four-year schools. When I first came aboard, I was appalled at the lack of coordi nation because without it you can’t have a good educational system.’’ Another obstacle to coordinating, or even creating, policy is the lack of time. Both boards tend to get bogged down in minor, administrative decisions that demand im mediate attention at the expense of policy decisions which can be postponed indefi nitely. As Louis Perry, chairer of the Board of Higher Education, remarked, "We re al ways saddled with a specific agenda so there is never enough time to discuss pol icy. Someday I hope we’ll be able to have a meeting with no agenda, just one subject to attack." Some legislators and education groups say the Legislature should perform the coordinating role the OECC is charged with. But most seem to feel that with $1 billion at stake, the job should be entrusted to a separate agency representing no spe cial interest, and with a stable membership. “For continuity in information and direc tion, you need a stable, intermediate group,” says Sen. Ed Fadeley, D-Eugene, chairer of the Joint Ways and Means Edu cation Subcommittee, who chaired the Sen ate Education Committee when it passed legislation creating the OECC in 1975. “I’d be nervous about the two-year shift in legislative committees,” he added. “The members of my subcommittee are more interested in community colleges this ses sion, next time it could be K through 12.” Aside from the education lobbies, most of the response to the OECC’s work has been positive. According to one Ways and Means staffer, the OECC’s forte is whittling away at the arguments of anyone who is grinding an ax in behalf of a special interest. “They wear away all the rhetoric and ar guments with facts,” he said. “By the time the issue reaches the Legislature, the quick retorts have been eliminated and the real issues are staring you in the face.” The OECC budget bill passed the Senate easily last week and indications are that it will pass the House despite the heavy OEA lobby effort. One of the reasons the OEA may lose their fight is that quite a few legislators doubt whether the OEA's position accu rately reflects the rank and file. A memo sent by the OEA to House mem bers last month states, "Our bright legis lators must be made aware that the teachers in Oregon, all of whom are tax payers of one sort of another, are united in their belief that the expansion of the bureaucracy should have stopped short of this watchdog body.” But Jacqueline Rogers, an OEA member who sits on the OECC’s advisory commis sion, says she thinks most teachers don’t know what the OECC is. “I don’t think teachers were even aware of its existence until the OEA took its posi tion,” said Rogers. “All of this activity had been coming from the leadership and not the members.” A frequently voiced criticism about the OECC is that they have the best of both worlds, being able to make policy recom mendations but not having to administer them. “They get a lot of press and consequently have a big stick in getting their point out to the public,” said Chris Dudley, a represen tative of the Oregon School Board Associa tion. “They can throw rocks at glass houses, with no responsibility for what hap pens.” T.K. Olsen, the executive director of the OECC, admits the OECC is in a comfort able position, but that the true challenge will come when the agency has to evaluate the outcome of its own recommendations. “Will the OECC be able to objectively evaluate what we told the Legislature to do?" asked Olsen. “And if need be, will we be able to say, Gee, what a disaster, that advice we gave you was a crock’?” Whatever the outcome, it will make for interesting watching during the 1979 Legis lature. Fate of student issues hangs on Legislature’s purse strings By MARY BETH BOWEN Of the Emerald SALEM — The fate of the "high priority” bills of the Oregon Stu dent Lobby (OSL) probably will be decided this week and next. Unfortunately, the attention of most students will be turned not to Salem, but to the joys of summer vacation. Most of the OSL bills have price tags and consequently are sitting •Tuition Freeze for Resident Undergraduates — Also a part of HB 2414, this proposal seems to have a good chance of winning subcommittee approval. The OSL has lobbied for a freeze on all tui tion, but it appears that there is more sympathy for helping resi dent undergraduates. •Financial Aid for Middle In come Students — Gov. Bob Straub is supporting a $2.6 million appropriation bill to extend finan Legislative Issues in the Joint Ways and Means Edu cation Subcommittee. Their pass age depends on two factors: how the subcommittee members vote and how much money is left over after the Legislature decides on a school finance program. Here is a status report on how the bills are progressing: •Consumer Price Index Prop osal — HB 2414 would limit in creases in resident under graduate tuition to no more than the increase in the Portland Con surher Price Index. The subcom mittee hasn’t discussed the bill yet; the OSL is lobbying to expand the bill's eligibility to include all students. dal aid eligibility to students with family incomes from $12,500 to $15,500, while the OSL is backing a $4.4 million appropriation, SB 5557, that would extend aid to the $17,500 bracket as well as to part-time students. Sen. Ed Fadeley, D-Eugene, has said he thinks there is enough money to finance both the tuition freeze and the finandal aid appropriations; other subcommittee members don’t seem so sure. •Graduate Tuition Increases — Straub and the Oregon Educa tional Coordinating Commission support increasing all graduate tuition and charging non-resident graduates more than residents. The State Board of Higher Educa tion opposes charging the differ ential and would rather continue current tuition charges. What the subcommittee will do is impossi ble to predict. •Women’s Athletics — The State Board of Higher Education is asking for $1 million to fund minor sports for women. HB 3147 hasn’t been heard by the sub committee yet and if funds are short, probably will have little chance of passing. •Day Care for Low-Income Students — The chairer of the Joint Ways and Means Subcom mittee #4, Rep. Howard Cherry, D-Portland, has said the $3.65 million appropriation bill, HB 2459, has little chance of subcommittee approval. However, Cherry says if full funding isn’t approved, he will support a pilot day care program at the University, with a price tag under $1 million. •Student Faculty Evaluations — HB 2702 is bogged down in the Senate Education Committee with Sen. Tony Meeker, R-Amity, hold ing the key vote. If approved by the committee and the Senate, the bill would become law. 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