West Linn standing for children

The education advocacy group, Stand for Children, opens a local chapter

By Nicole Decosta, Rebecca Randall

The West Linn Tidings, Nov 12, 2009

Senior Dan Fister and Sophomore Carly Fister of Wilsonville High School take notes at a recent Stand for Children meeting.

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West Linn parents joined forces with parents and education advocates statewide in starting a West Linn chapter of Stand for Children, a Portland-based national child advocacy organization.

“The main cause for forming the group is protecting the kids in West Linn and Wilsonville and making sure everything being done around their schools and communities is in their best interests,” said Christina Quattrocchi, the West Linn-Wilsonville organizer with Stand for Children.

Stand for Children has local chapters in five states: Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Colorado. Oregon has 14 chapters.

In addition to advocating for stable funding, the organization supports mentors for new teachers, fair and meaningful evaluation for educators and increased flexibility for schools.

“We’ve been expanding really rapidly and there’s obviously a great desire and need for people to get involved in this kind of work because of so many budget cuts and needing parent and community involvement,” said Rebecca Groff, communications assistant at Stand for Children.

In October, the newly formed West Linn-Wilsonville chapter held its first membership drive with 40 members – parents, teachers, school board members and principals – who discussed the importance of funding, new teacher mentorship programs, affordable kindergarten, class sizes and teachers, according to Quattrocchi.

Stand for Children is both a 501c3 and 501c4, allowing it to act as a charity as well as a lobby group to help pass legislation or elect politicians.

“Since 1999, its members in Oregon have won 73 state and local victories that accomplished key education reforms and leveraged more than $1.9 billion in public funding for schools and other programs serving over 981,765 children,” Groff said.

Right now, the group is focused on raising awareness of Measures 66 and 67, two referendum items on January’s ballot that – if not passed – could jeopardize $733 million in state funding; $285 million affecting K-12 schools.

So, in June the Legislature passed two tax increases to support that $6 billion budget – with wealthy individuals and corporations making up the difference.

Opponents to the taxes collected enough signatures to put both taxes on a Jan. 26 referendum ballot. Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown certified the signatures on Oct. 8. The measures, if passed, would apply to the 2009 tax year, according to West Linn-Wilsonville School Board member Keith Steele.

Measure 66 would increase taxes for Oregon households making more than $250,000 annually. Measure 67 increases the corporate minimum tax from $10 a year to $150 a year.

Steele estimates a more than $4 million loss for the school district if the measures don’t pass. While Steele said a budget reduction hasn’t yet been set for if the measures should fail, one solution could mean 18 less school days, most within the 2010-2011 school year.

The Lake Oswego School District formed a Stand for Children chapter in May and have 35 members. Members there describe their job as a type of support to the district.

“The school board comes and delivers facts, and we do the advocating,” said Rhonda Cohen, a Lake Oswego Junior High School and Lake Oswego High School parent.

The chapter plans on bringing the issue to the business community and PTAs over the next few months. Cohen said that most people she has talked to about the measures are just unaware.

Since January is not a regular election, the biggest challenge will just be getting people to vote, said Sarah Pope, an organizing director for Stand. And just because Lake Oswego and West Linn schools are doing better than most other schools in the state, doesn’t mean their students won’t be affected.

“We as a Lake Oswego chapter want to be a leader to make these opportunities available to all of Oregon,” said Clements. “We are in a state, we are in a country. We need to look beyond our borders. We need to do the best for all our kids not just the ones that live next door.”

For Quattrocchi, said she’d be “devastated” if Measures 66 and 67 don’t pass.

“The point is that no child in the state of Oregon will be immune if 66 and 67 do not pass. Every child will feel the impact,” Quattrocchi said.

SIDEBAR: The fact of the matter

MEASURE 66

What does House Bill 2649 do?

House Bill 2649 would add $472 million to the state’s coffers over the 2009-2011 biennium. The bill, now represented on the ballot as Measure 66, does three things:

1) Excludes from taxation up to $2,400 of unemployment compensation for one-year.

2) Phases out the federal tax subtraction for single-filers with income over $125,000 and joint filers with income over $250,000.

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