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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 1994)
■ COMMENTARY Kids First puts kids in jeopardy isan Nevine. Lisa mgaouetie and Bobby Lee On November Hth, you will Ix! asked to cast your vote to help determine the economic and so< ml direc tion of this state. The choice over ballot measures may at first seem obvious, but in reality they could have devastating offer Is on Oregon's future. One of those measures is "Kids First" or bal lot Measure 15. This measure, if passed, could result in an increase of college tuition by 30 percent in each of the next two years and the cut ting of significant funding to crime prevention, corrections, human servic es and state pro grams, including the Oregon Health Plan. Measure 15 would constitu tionally require the Legislature to fund schools and community colleges (k 14) at no less than the base amount designated in the 1993-95 biennium, with adjustments for enrollment and inflation. This means the state's contribution to school funding will he increased in 1995-97 from $2.9 to $4.3 billion, an annual increase of $7 13 million. All this without increasing tax es-. Sound good? Who would deny that taking care of our chil dren, our future, should not be a priority ? The kic ker is that the additional allocation to schools has to come from somewhere. With the passage of Measure 15. K-14 schools will be rec eiv ing about fit) percent of the 5B.9 billion general fund, up 43 per cent from the current budget. This leaves approximately 30 percent (after allocations are made to programs that receive federal matching funds) to be split between all other state agencies and programs. These agencies and programs are already facing 12-15 percent budget cuts due to the passage of Measure 5 in 1490. If no alterna tive sourt e of funding is found, programs suc:h as higher educa tion. crime prevention and cor rections would 1)*’ cut an tithii tional 18-25 percent. All state agencies will find themselves on the cutting block while h 14 remains the sacred lamb in the state's turbulent budgetary times Our state is experiencing a major transition from an econo my hind on natural resources to dependency on human resources Wo are continually moving toward a knowledge based economy. Oregon employ ment trends show that there will lie over 400,000 new jobs in the next decade whit h will require a college degree. Oregon needs to develop its human resourt es to meet this demand and bo able to fully realize the benefits of this new economy However, at the same time that the need for individu als with college education becomes greater, passage of Measure 15 would make higher education unattainable for many Oregonians If Measure 15 passes • The Oregon State Hoard of Higher habitation might raise tuition by 30 percent over the next two years In state tuition would go up to $4,000 next year and $5,500 the following year, pricing approximately 8,000 stu dents out of higher education • Or, not raise tuition and instead cut enrollment by 8.000 This number is equivalent to the total incoming freshman or transfer students next year • At least one state peniten tiary would have to he shut down, most likely the Eastern Oregon Corrections Institution in Pendleton. This would mean the release of approximately 1.500 convicted criminals. • Between 200 and 350 Ore gon State Police would be laid oil • Up to 13.CMH) violent offend ers on parole or probation would no longer be supervised • The Children Services Dm sion will face cuts so deep that reports of child abuse to chil dren over the age of 5 may have to go unaddressed, accounting for 77 percent of the total i uses reported. • State services which pro vide jobs and homes to Oregoni ans with disabilities may have to be cut completely, affecting 5.IKK) people. Rather than increasing fund ing to one area at the expense of others, what we need is an ade quate and stable funding source, which inevitably means tax reform. This is not easy because any solution must First deal with the politically painful de< isiotis required to reform any tax svs tern. Advocates for Measure 15 argue that the passage of this measure will help make it clear that wo need meaningful tax reform. Hut will this really hap pen' Many people doubt it The fate of statewide tax measures in Oregon sim e 1'lfiH has shown clearly that most of those passed were tied to publit school fund ing This means that future tax reform will be even more diffi cult if the public thinks that the school funding problem is solved by the passage of Mea sure 15 This measure is a dangerous "solution" to a complex prob lem We believe that Measure 15 is a selfish polii y which puts our state decades Imhmd the changing demand of Oregon's economy, and more important lv. puts kids at risk both inside and outside of the classroom Please vote NO on Measure 15 Knti Neville, hsu Bigaouette and Booby Ijbv are graduate students in Planning, Public Policy and Management. 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