PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Public Schools announced it will cut $30 million of its budget. This comes a couple months after agreeing to a new deal with teachers. Once the deal was announced, Portland Public administrators said budget cuts were inevitable.
Oregon’s biggest school district will also reduce its reserves to the minimum required balance. Half of the budget cuts will be to the central budget office, cutting about 6% of the central operations budget, Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero wrote in a letter to parents. The other $15 million will come from cuts to schools, about 2% of the school-based budget.
Parents expressed concern about how student learning could be impacted.
“It’s going to exacerbate the very conditions that teachers were striking for,” Rashelle Chase-Miller, a Portland Public Schools parent said.
Chase-Miller said cuts should have avoided affecting classrooms, as much as possible.
"The roles that impact students should be the last thing on the chopping block," she added.
Other parents said the $30 million in cuts are a product of the teacher strike. PPS said its recent agreement with teachers will cost the district $175 million over three years.
"I love teachers, absolutely love teachers,” George McCleary, who has students at Chapman Elementary School said. “But the teachers union took a huge hit in my book."
Budget cuts, on top of missed class time, has left McCleary concerned about students’ education. "To add additional cuts on top of that is downright scary,” he said.
However after the deal with teachers, PPS warned cuts would occur. School board members also said in November that the state needs to better fund schools.
"We also got a contract that we cannot afford,” PPS school board member Andrew Scott said. “And we cannot afford it because the governor and legislature have failed to adequately fund education in Oregon."
State leaders also said more needs to be done.
"We have to take a deep-dive on our school funding formula," Governor Tina Kotek said.
Kotek said in November that her office will take a more active role in education budgeting. Though parents remain exasperated as budget cuts occur.
"And then you know we sit around and wring hands about why Oregon's outcomes are so bad,” Chase-Miller said. “But it's not a mystery. We're not providing what kids and educators need to be successful."