Continued from Page 1
But opponents have taken
aim at the measure, labeling it
a "tool for the rich" because of
the tax break and maintaining
the measure would violate the
separation of church and state
They see the tax break as a
means for more wealthy fami
lies to pull their children and
their tax dollars out of the pub
lic system, sending their kids
to private schools instead.
"It's a Yuppie-Puppy tool."
said |ohn Marshall, director of
legislative services for the Ore
gon School Boards Association,
"It would front the rich" in
sending their children to pri
vate schools, he said, "leaving
the public schools with the dis
abled. the socio-eoonomically
disadvantaged..."
Hut the measure's supporters
see just the opposite
"Poor people need educa
tional choice the most." said
Steve Huckstein, coordinator of
Oregonians for Educational
Choice, the group that peti
tioned to put the issue on the
ballot.
"The rich can already afford
to send their kids to districts
with high property taxes or pay
tuition at private schools." he
said. “But the measure would
empower poor .people to send
their kids when? they want
They are the ones who need
educational choice the most."
Measure 5 calls for the crea
tion of an Educational Choice
Fund, which would be used to
replace the funds Inst by the tax
credits.
According to a fis< al impact
statement produced hy the state
for the measure, school dis
tricts that lost students would
pay into the Educational Fund
$1,500 for every private student
living in the respective district.
Proportional stale and federal
funding that would have gone
to those districts would also t>e
contributed to the Fund. The
Educational Fund would then
replace revenues lost by the tax
credits give to parents with pri
vate school students.
Because about 3.700 of the
33.000 private students in the
state learn at home, opponents
of the measure claim it violates
the separation of church and
state
It would be a violation "Be
cause home schoolers could
claim tax credits, and a lot of
them use some form of reli
gious home schooling," said
|au Coullon. campaign coordi
nator of Oregonians for Public:
Education and Religious Liber
«y
But backers of the measure
[joint to a report produced by
the legislature's legal council
in January that says such a
measure would probably be
constitutional.
"It s not excessive religious
entanglement by the state,"
Buckstein said. "It's like the (Jl
Bill, which gave entitlements
to veterans to attend either pub
lic, private or religiously affili
ated institution."
While1 opponents see church
and stale: as an issue, they also
draw attention to $ti7 million
the1 measure's fiscal impact
statement calls for to replace;
funds lost to tax credits.
The; statement estimates Sti~
million would lx1 needed dur
ing 1001 02 to replac e lost rev
enue. The financial impact
statement will not accompany
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the Measure on the ballot be
cause state officials failed to
provide written certification of
the statement before the re
quired deadline.
Opponents claim the state s
school system can’t stand to ab
sorb any financial losses. "Any
amount of loss is too much,"
Coulton said.
But supporters say the sum is
an amount the school system
can afford
"It would be a literal down
payment for improving our
educational system." Buckstein
said. "It would take less than
half of the automatic increase
the year the measure would be
enacted to make up thtf differ
ence."
Buckstein says he looks to
last year's budget figures to
make that claim Up to HO per
cent of the state's local tax
bases for schools have automat
ic 6 percent increases every
year, and last year's basic
school support from the state
Increased 14 percent. If those
funds continue to go up next
year at a minimum of 6 per
cent. the required $t>7 million
will be more than paid for,
Buckstein maintains.
Aside from budget figures.
Measure 11 supporters call on
the human aspect of education
al choice in their effort to per
suade voters. "The answer is
for people to take responsibility
to do things for themselves,"
said Gene Lehman, founder of
the Network for the Education
al Choice Initiative. "The real
key to success in any system is
parental involvement. This is
what you get with educational
choice."
But opponents disagree that
the measure will involve par
ents more. "Parental involve
ment is a myth," Marshall said
"Educational choice is only a
way to criticize public schools
without coming up with a real
solution."
“The problems are not the
school problems." he added,
citing an increase in single-par
ent households and more chil
dren without parental supervi
sion. "It is society’s problem."
"Schools should not be held
accountable for the ills of socie
ty. nor can schools cure the ills
of society overnight.” Marshall
said.
• Amends Oregon Constitu
tion. Requires open enroll
ment plan allowing students
to attend public schools out
side their districts, with leg
islative standards for financ
ing. and acceptance and re
jection of applications.
• Provides state income tax
credit for expenses of educat
ing students outside public
schools. Credit equally avail
able for secular, religious, in
stitutional. home basic edu
cation
• Establishes Educational
Choice Fund, funded by
school districts and state,
which mav cover costs of tax
credit, impai t aid to districts,
tax relief.
• Requires voter approval of
new. more restrictive laws on
nongovernment basic educa
tion.
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