WHAT ‘NO’ LOOKS LIKE
November 2014 was the last time the 4J levy was
on the ballot, and it won overwhelmingly: 75 percent
of voters supported it. You could assume that the levy
would pass in 2019. However, as the 2016 election has
indicated, political wisdom can’t predict the future.
Sure, not renewing the levy could save a few bucks.
Since it’s not an increase, the levy would continue to cost
property owners $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.
If the levy weren’t to be renewed by Eugene voters, it
could be tragic for local education. The school district
could experience an increase in class sizes due to layoffs.
“We’d be looking at significant layoffs in this district,”
says Tad Shannon, Eugene Education Association
president. “It would be a disaster.”
The district would have to chop about 9 percent from
the budget, which is about 161 teachers, says 4J board
member and former Eugene mayor Jim Torrey. If the
levy isn’t renewed, though, it doesn’t necessarily mean
that all of those teachers would lose their jobs.
“You’re going to have counselors, educational
assistants, mental health staff that are going to be
impacted,” Torrey says. “We would end up cutting some
areas of administrative.”
Cutting 9 percent would look like 10 years ago when
4J cut $22 million out of the district’s budget, he adds.
TAD SHANNON,
PRESIDENT
OF EUGENE
EDUCATION
ASSOCIATION
“We closed schools, we merged schools,” he says.
4J board member and campaign co-chair Anne
Marie Levis says she doesn’t know what she’d do if it
doesn’t pass.
“I never plan for the worst,” she says. “If we have to, we
could put it on the ballot in November. But I believe in the
Eugene voters and I believe in them investing in schools.”
DESPERATE MEASURES
At first, it might make sense to harbor some
resentment at 4J for asking to continue the levy after
asking voters to increase property taxes in November
2018. A levy and a bond, though, are two different
methods of raising money.
The bond was necessary for the district to build a
new North Eugene High School, for example. But the
school district can’t use any of that money on staff.
“This represents bodies,” Shannon says of the levy.
“This is for the people in the classroom. We have very
high ratios for nurses to students. Like, one to almost
2,000 — almost double the recommended ratio.”
He adds that although voters overwhelmingly
supported the bond measure in 2018, renewing the levy
is necessary to staff a new North Eugene High School.
And, not to discount the importance of new school
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