Property tax could rescue schools’ funding
■ While the4J district hopes
to maintain programs, the
Bethel district needs to
build more classrooms
By Josh Ryneal
Oregon Daily Emerald
Eugene schools, still feeling the
pinch from the passage of 1994 state
Ballot Measure 5, are seeking to re
gain lost tax revenue by sponsoring
two school funding measures on
the May 16 ballot.
The 4j school district, facing $5
million in budget cuts next year, is
presenting Measure 20-28, a pro
posed tax levy that supporters say
would only increase property taxes
by a small amount, while keeping
school funding at its current level.
The Bethel district, one of the
fastest growing school districts in
the state, is sponsoring Measure 20
33 to build two new schools and al
leviate overcrowding.
Neither measure had any state
merits of opposition in the Oregon
Voter’s Pamphlet.
Schools in the 4J district, facing
increasing operating costs and de
creased funding, hope to pass Mea
sure 20-28 to help maintain their
current levels of staff and programs.
If the measure doesn’t pass, the
district will face losing 46 full-time
teaching positions,
middle school ath
letics programs and
$1.1 million in ad
ministrative and
support positions.
Measure 20-28
would cost proper
ty owners an aver
age 71 cents per $1,000 of assessed
property value.
Kelly Mclver, communications
director for the 4} district, said state
legislative funding has not kept up
with the increasing costs of running
the district.
“We are still facing extensive cuts
from Measure 5, and we have never
been able to get back up to the origi
|ggr«*as
* Wte
LANE CO.
ELECTIONS
nal service we provided before it
passed,” he said.
The Bethel district, in northwest
Eugene, has schools filling up so
rapidly that there is currently only
one free classroom.
“This is a part of Eugene that is
growing very quickly,” Sen. Susan
Castillo, D-Eugene, said.
The Bethel district, Castillo said,
can’t keep up with the approxi
mately 100 new students each year.
“Classes are overcrowded, and
we really need some extra funding
to construct two new school build
ings and keep up maintenance on
the ones we already have,” she said.
If the measure passes, the district
will construct an 800-student ele
mentary and middle school build
ing and a 200-student alternative
high school. It will also expand on
existing school buildings.
Craig Hawkins, Bethel district
communications coordinator, said
the biggest hurdle is the voter
turnout law passed by the Oregon
legislature in 1997.
Ballot Measures 20-28,20-33
Eugene Ballot Measure 20-28 would authorize a local option serial tax levy
that would be used to maintain current levels of funding in the 4J school dis
trict. The money raised would prevent cuts of current programs and staff and
would cost taxpayers 71 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
Supporters say that Measure 20-28 would allow schools to stop any f u rther
cuts to programs and staff while only slightly increasing the property taxes of
residentsin the district. While only a temporary measure, it would provide $5
million a year in badly needed funding.
Eugene Ballot Measure20-33 requiresa 50 percent voter turnout to count,
and authorizes a $27.5 million bond measure that would be used to build two
new schools in the Bethel school district and expand current school buildings.
Supporters say that if Measure 20-33 passes, the overcrowding of Bethel
schools would bealleviated, while bonded debt would actually go down. Bad
ly needed facilities and expansions can be built to serve a rapidly growing
school district.
There is no known opposition to either measure.
SOURCE: Voter's Pamphlet
“We need 50 percent voter
turnout to get the measure passed,”
Hawkins said, “so even if it gains a
majority of the vote, it still may not
pass.”
Supporters of the measure will
organize grassroots efforts to in
crease awareness and get people to
go to the polls.
If the measure doesn’t pass, sup
porters plan to resubmit it to the No
vember ballot.
Socialist presidential hopeful has unorthodox views
Hiroshi Nakamura Emerald
David McReynold (right), the Socialist Party U.S.A. candidate for president, made a
campaign stop Tuesday evening atTsunami Books in south Eugene.
■The openly gay, draft card-burning, marijuana-smoking
candidate wants to broaden the issues in the 2000 election
By Andrew Adams
Oregon Daily Emerald
Appeari ng before a dozen mem
bers of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgender Alliance, David
r
McReynolds, the Socialist Party
U.S.A. candidate for president, ad
mitted his chances of winning the
election are not good.
But just being in the race,
McReynolds said, allows him the
opportunity to address issues that
he believes are worthy of the na
tional spotlight but are neglected by
major candidates.
The 70-year-old New York City
resident is not only an outsider be
cause of his socialistic views on
government, society and the econo
my. McReynolds is the first openly
gay candidate who is also open
about his past resistance to the mili
tary draft and his use of marijuana,
which he supports legalizing.
Tuesday’s visit to the LGBTA of
fice was just one stop on
McReynolds’ tour of Oregon. He
will make several more stops
Wednesday in Eugene before leav
ing for Ashland.
Mary Bankhead, LGBTA mem
ber and a sophomore majoring in
English, said McReynolds’ sup
porters came to the alliance and
asked if the candidate could speak
with members. Because
McReynolds is a strong supporter
of gay rights, Bankhead said the
group was interested in what he
had to say, but is “always interested
in learning about candidates and
national issues.”
McReynolds said he hoped his
national exposure
in the race will
make people start
to see socialism as
a viable alternative
to capitalism, even
though many peo
ple view his ideas
as radical. Howev
er, the core of his message includes
more conventional goals, including
universal health care coverage, re
duced military spending and more
personal freedom, he said.
McReynolds’ platform includes
universal health coverage and a
managed health care system in
NATIONAL
ELECTIONS
which hospitals are non-profit. He
said the Democratic candidate Al
Gore and the Republican hopeful
George W. Bush have addressed the
issue but are not as eager as he is to
change the current system.
He also wants to cut the current
military budget by half, abolish the ‘
Central Intelligence Agency, elimi
nate nuclear arsenals and reduce
the number of prisons. »
“This country has the highest
prison population in the world,” he
said. “There is a corporate drive to
put people into prison.”
Oregon’s Socialist party has a
strong voice despite its small size,
said Eugene resident Karl Scog, a
retired lawyer and current treasurer
for the Oregon State Socialist party.
He said the Lane County chapter of
the party has about 220 members
and is active despite “many people
being afraid of the S-word.”
009296|
-*fc
A
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Bicycles are a key component in a healthy transportation system.
Take a free bicycle safety class with
OPS Bicycle Coordinator David Niles
Tuesdays at 4:00 pm. Meet at OPS
with your bicycle. Suitable for
novice and experienced cyclists.
For more information contact David Niles
346-5425, bikes@oregon.uoregon.edu
|S0T600
Make mrt#ar&W Day
Support Campus Recycling
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i i
steel mug
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