Susan Castillo Statement regarding August Revenue Forecast

For immediate release
contact Susanne Smith, 503-947-5637

August 26, 2010

Susan Castillo Statement regarding August Revenue Forecast

SALEM – “Today our state received more bad budget news. Oregon’s most recent budget forecast shows a $377.5 million budget shortfall for our state. The Governor, Senate President and Speaker have announced that additional cuts to K-12 will not be necessary and have pledged to maintain funding at the June level of $5.756 billion for K-12 education. To maintain this level, they propose using the $118 million federal Education Jobs assistance and approximately $34 million of the state reserve funds. As soon as we are able, my staff will provide school districts and education service districts with updated estimates.

“While this is welcome news, it is a short-term fix for a long-term funding problem for K-12. I look forward to working with state leadership to address this persistent K-12 funding challenge.

“I want to commend our school districts for all the hard choices they are making for their students this biennium. They have had to leave staff positions unfilled, ask their teachers to take pay cuts, slash professional development, turn their thermostats down, cut their sports programs, and make many other challenging decisions to minimize cuts to our classrooms and provide as much instructional time for our students as possible. Our districts are to be commended for their dedication, perseverance, and sacrifices.

“Oregon educators are working hard to implement the increased high school graduation requirements adopted by the Oregon State Board of Education in 2007. One thing is crystal clear: our state needs skilled graduates. As we continue to navigate this uncertain and rocky economic landscape we must continue to look to education as our way out of this, and future recessions.”

For an audio clip of Susan Castillo go to: http://video.orvsd.org/ode/Budget-Message-8-26-10.MP3

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Susan Castillo, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Susanne Smith, Communications Director, Telephone (503) 947-5637
http://www.ode.state.or.us

Oregon Department of Education News Releases contain information that was originally released to the press as an official release. Refer to each News Release for the details.