Northwest labor press., August 15, 2008, Page 19, Image 19

LaborDay-08 (15-28):NWLP
8/12/08
8:41 AM
Page 19
...Oregon ballot measures
(From Page 18)
general fund revenue on schools, 13
percent on public safety and most of
the remainder serving children, sen-
iors, and the disabled. Thus, this meas-
ure could cut spending on those things
— in order that higher-income earners
could pay less taxes. Voters turned this
down by a substantial margin in 2000.
M EASURE 60: Teacher “class-
room performance,” not seniority, de-
termines pay raises. Pay for perform-
ance might work in real estate, one of
Sizemore’s side businesses. But do
you want to pay police officers for per-
formance? In areas where crime is a
problem, is that because police are in-
competent and need to be replaced?
Most people would say that’s ridicu-
lous, yet Sizemore thinks it’s teachers
who are to blame when students fail.
Voters rejected this measure in 2000.
This time, Sizemore has made it clear
teachers would be banned from receiv-
ing even cost-of-living increases. All
raises of any kind would have to be
based on classroom performance,
which the measure doesn’t define. To
make that work would require that dis-
tricts develop new quantitative meth-
ods of evaluating all teachers. That
This union button is from an
unsuccessful “pay-check deception”
ballot measure that Bill Sizemore
sponsored in 1998. The button is
back in vogue 10 years later, only this
Sizemore Measure 59 deals with
making federal taxes fully deductible
from Oregon tax returns.
could include more standardized test-
ing, at an official cost estimate of $30
million to $60 million a year. Or it
could include trained classroom evalu-
ators, at a similar cost. Currently,
teacher salaries are set through collec-
tive bargaining agreements negotiated
between each local union chapter and
the local school administrators. Most
contracts have a single salary schedule
with pay grades that reflect experience
in the classroom and educational at-
tainment. Such a schedule is very pre-
dictable and helps districts budget. If
teachers are paid solely by how well
students perform — with no al-
lowances for differences in income,
home life, and parental education and
involvement — good teachers would
likely leave low-income schools for
more affluent schools that test better.
Sizemore’s own kids were mostly pri-
vate schooled, so this measure may be
less about improving public schools
than wrecking them to make private
schools more attractive — and to pun-
ish public school teachers and their
unions. Newly-formed Parents &
Teachers Know Better PAC, backed by
PTAs, school employees unions, and
groups like Stand for Children, will
campaign against this measure, and
against Measure 58.
M EASURE 61: Mandatory mini-
mum sentences for theft, identity theft,
forgery, drug crimes and burglary. In
1994, voters passed Measure 11,
which spelled out minimum sentences
for violent crime. The measure led to
new prison construction and increased
rates of incarceration. Now Measure
11’s sponsor, Kevin Mannix, is back
with a measure applying a similar ap-
proach to property and drug crimes.
Offenses like burglary, identity theft,
or making or delivering methampheta-
mine near a school would get mini-
mum three-year sentences. The state
prison population is 13,600 now. Ac-
cording to the official estimate, Meas-
ure 61 would add 4,000 to 6,000 more,
at an additional cost of $161 million to
$274 million a year — plus close to $2
billion over two decades to build and
finance new prison construction. And
the union representing most correc-
tions officers is opposed to it. Mary
Botkin, lobbyist for AFSCME, says
(Turn to Page 20)
Labor Day
Greetings
From the Staff of
Masonry Industry Trust
Administration Inc.
Administrator for the Mason Trades and the
Construction Industry Drugfree Workplace Program
9848 E. Burnside
Portland, Oregon 97216
503-254-4022
Toll Free 1-800-591-8326
Working towards a
more secure energy future.
Bradwood Landing recognizes the people who
make our economy go – the working women and men
of Oregon and southwest Washington. Your next job:
building Bradwood Landing, a project that means a lot
to you, your families and the Pacific Northwest.
In building our clean energy LNG facility, you’ll
also be securing a reliable supply of energy that the
Northwest needs to compete, thrive and succeed –
the kind of energy that creates a stronger economy,
a healthier job base, and greater opportunities for
your kids – and their kids.
It’s comforting to know we’ve got the right
people for the job. Let’s get to work.
Good for the economy. Good for the Columbia.
Bradwood Landing Of fice
(866) 497- 3335
AUGUST 15, 2008
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
t
t
905 Commercial St. t Astoria, OR 97103
(503) 325 - 3335
t
www.bradwoodlanding.com
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