Portland Tribune: School Priorities Take Trip to D.C. with U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and PPS' Bobbie Regan

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By Shasta Kearns Moore

Poor, minority, rural and special education kids were at the top of the list as Oregon School Boards Association members lobbied the Oregon delegation to Congress at the beginning of the month. That's because federal programs often provide the bulk of the funding for these underserved populations.

Portland Public Schools board member Bobbie Regan was one of a handful of Oregon school board members to visit Washington, D.C., Feb. 1 to 3.

"It was a good trip," said Regan, who is president-elect of the OSBA. "Mostly what we're trying to do is nudge and encourage. And thank, when that's appropriate."

The eight association members who traveled to the U.S. Capitol had three top priorities: restoring timber payments to rural counties, boosting special education funding and introducing The Promise of Oregon marketing campaign to try to boost state voter support for school funding. Regan said the group also heard about potential changes to the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Actof 2010.

The group spoke with U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, as well as U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader and Greg Walden.

The trip was part of the annual National School Boards Association rally, which drew about 800 school board members from across the country. Oregon's Bonamici gave the keynote address to the group at a Feb. 2 luncheon.

Bonamici received a standing ovation, according to Regan, for introducing legislation in January that would decrease the number of tests given at schools.

The Start Making Assessments Reliable and Timely (SMART) Act would create federal grants for school districts to audit their standardized tests and eliminate ones that are redundant or don't have adequate science behind them.

The issue is a controversial one, particularly after the development of Common Core standards. For example, a Tennessee teachers union filed a lawsuit Feb. 5 arguing that more than half of its teachers are evaluated on their students' performance in subjects that they do not teach.

"The legislation will help districts plan more coherent assessment systems that take into consideration a broader picture of the tests students are taking," Bonamici said in a news release on her bill. "We have a responsibility to keep an eye on student growth, but we should remember that one test on one day can never capture all that students know and all the ways teachers support their students."

Special education funding

Also speaking at the Feb. 2 event was U.S. Rep John Kline (R-Minn.), chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Kline came out in strong support of funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) at the once-promised 40 percent level. IDEA requires districts to offer adaptations for students with disabilities to access the general curriculum, but has never been fully funded.

An increase of funding to IDEA would be huge to PPS' bottom line as the district has around 350 "high-cost special education students," those who cost more than $30,000 per year to educate. Many of these students come to Portland from across Oregon to access specialized services, such as hospitals and other treatment options.

Regan said she was encouraged that Kline wants to fully fund IDEA but the task now in a Republican-controlled Congress is to find an offset -- an area of the budget that can be cut.

Regan said she thinks Congress will be more quick to act now that Republicans have control of both chambers.

"I think when you have a party in control, oftentimes you will see a little bit more movement, which is encouraging," Regan said, but added after a pause: "It's hard to know."

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