RoguePundit

Trying to Address Passing the Trash

Back in February, the Oregonian did an article on passing the trash (previous blog here)--in other words, allowing molesting teachers to move on to other schools.  Despite some recent legislation, the playing field remains tilted towards protecting the educators moreso than the students.  Fortunately, Vicki Walker keeps chipping away at the problems.

Two legislative committees Friday set out to curb sex abuse by educators with a range of legislation, including proposals that would restrict secret resignation deals, expand reporting requirements and make it a crime for teachers to have sex with older students.

Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, led a three-hour joint meeting of the Senate and House interim education committees and appointed two groups of lawmakers to begin drafting legislation for next year.

The legislators agreed to work on crafting an Oregon version of a Washington law that bans districts from making any resignation or contract agreement that "has the effect of suppressing information about verbal or physical abuse or sexual misconduct by a present or former employee."

... 

Nancy Hungerford, an attorney for numerous school districts, told legislators that administrators usually negotiate such agreements when they suspect a teacher is engaging in sexual misconduct but can't prove it.

That's one reason.  But more often, school districts will agree to confidential settlements to save time and money.  The accused remains on the payroll while being investigated, during which time the district usually needs to hire a replacement.  Most school districts are financially fragile, while the unions and their lawyers have deep pockets.  The often-toothless Teachers Standards and Practices Commission (previous blog here) is backlogged, taking an average of 16 months to investigate cases.  Et cetera.          

The education committees also are working on measures to require more people, including school board members, coaches and school volunteers, to report immediately any suspicion of sex abuse to police or the Department of Human Services. They also want to expand and improve training of educators, parents and students about child molesters and to shield people who report from any kind of civil action.

In addition, lawmakers are considering laws to require district attorneys and the Department of Human Services to give evidence from their investigations of accused educators to the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, a licensing and disciplinary board.

The committees also will draft legislation to make it a crime for educators to have sex with students, even those at or older than 18, Oregon's age of consent. Rep. Jerry Krummel, R-Wilsonville, said the law should be extended to college professors, but Walker said she wanted to keep it focused on public schools. It wasn't clear whether how such a law would affect private schools.

My local school district gave a golden handshake to a teacher who was having sex with an 18-year-old student (previous blog here). 

Legislators also are considering laws to:

Require university and college professors in schools of education to be fingerprinted for background checks because they have access to children when visiting student teachers in schools.

Require school districts to check references on new hires.

Remove a five-year statute of limitations on state licensing investigations.

Allow parents to sue superintendents who cover up previous offenses of child molesters.

Those are all good ideas as well. 

Vicki Walker has attacked some of these issues before.  Unfortunately, her legislation on such topics gets defanged before it's passed.  Not hard to figure out why...

A Coach and His Baggage Join Hermiston HS

Buzz Brazeau used to be the athletic director and then an assistant principal at North Medford HS.  Now, he's the principal at Hermiston HS. Mike Kaye, the AD there, also used to be an AD at North Medford.  Both well acquainted with the man who was just hired to be their new football coach.

(Mark) Hodges has spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Fernley High School in Fernley, Nevada, but has previous assistant coaching experience in Oregon at North Medford High School (1999-2004), South Medford High School (1993-1998) and Southern Oregon University (1991-1993).

Hodges had a good run at the Medford schools (including as the track coach at North), but his time in Nevada has been plagued with scandal.  The highest profile of these was evidently not of his doing...though one has to wonder how a coach could be that disengaged from the recruiting of his players.

First there were offers, then there weren't. Then there was a crooked third-party recruiter, and finally Wednesday it was discovered he didn't exist, either.

In a one-paragraph statement issued by the Lyon County School District, Fernley senior Kevin Hart, who made national news this week as the recruit who committed without a scholarship offer and then as the victim of a cruel hoax, admitted the entire process was a fraud.

"I wanted to play D-I ball more than anything. When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality," he said. "I am sorry for disappointing and embarrassing my family, coaches, Fernley High School, the involved universities and reporters covering the story."

Five days after Fernley coach Mark Hodges proclaimed it "a great day for Fernley High School," the admission was an abrupt outcome to a story which had ultimately reached ESPN, national radio shows and countless Internet message board since the day Hart said he chose California over Oregon in a momentous announcement ceremony that had Hart's father, Richard, holding back tears.

Hermiston had begun recruiting Hodges in December.  Officials there must know that Hodges isn't leaving Fernley on good terms.

A promised lawsuit by Fernley High School teacher and football coach Mark Hodges against the Lyon County School District and others, including the Board of Trustees, was filed with the Third Judicial District Court in Yerington Tuesday afternoon.

...

Citing a report first aired by KRNV TV, Reno, on Friday, Feb. 8, Hodges' suit, which McKenna's office sent copies of to the Fernley Leader and other media outlets last week, charges the coach was libeled, defamed and/or slandered by the Lyon County School District because the district supplied information for that report, which, in part, said, "News 4 has confirmed that it is going to be recommended to the Lyon County School District board that Fernley head football coach Mark Hodges not be offered another contract as coach. The grounds for the decision are unprofessional conduct and fiscal irresponsibility."

The TV station also reported that Fernley coaches had been alerted by an email from University of California three days before Hart's announcement that there had been a misunderstanding and Hart wasn't going to be offered a scholarship; and the report also charged that when Hodges was approached, he said "everything was still in order." In addition, the KRNV report said it learned of "unauthorized funds" allegedly being spent by the football program on uniforms.

Hodges wants $20,000 in general and future damages, plus "past loss of benefits, future loss of earnings and/or loss of earning capacity, punitive damages, reasonable attorney fees and costs of the suit, and additional damages as deemed by the court." 

Hodges had already had problems at Fernley before the above occurred.  From a July '06 article in the Medford Mail-Tribune...

Former North Medford High head track and assistant football coach Mark Hodges has come under scrutiny for using two ineligible players while serving as the head football coach at Fernley High in Nevada last fall.

Fernley was forced to forfeit all five of its 2005 football victories after then-seniors Jori Kaeser and James Oppelt were declared ineligible. Kaeser, Oppelt and Colin Hodges, the son of the coach, moved to Fernley last summer from Medford after Hodges got the Fernley job.

All three players returned to Oregon shortly after the football season ended. Colin Hodges and Kaeser graduated from North Medford last month while Oppelt, another former Black Tornado football player, graduated early and joined the Army Rangers.

Hodges also violated Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association rules by conducting practices on Sundays throughout last season, NIAA executive director Jerry Hughes told NevadaPrep.com, a high school sports Web site.

The Sunday practices were supposedly voluntary film sessions. 

Hodges claimed that his son and Kaeser moved back to Medford to avoid college out-of-state tuition costs.  Evidently there was no problem though with his son playing quarterback in an all-star game in Nevada--representing Fernley HS--the same month he graduated from North Medford.   

Hodges, reached earlier this week, said the violations were a misunderstanding caused in large part by Fernley High administrators failing to inform the NIAA of his actions.

Kaeser had been living with the Hodges family for six months in Oregon and made the move to Nevada. Hodges considered it a hardship arrangement but since the case was never forwarded to the NIAA, Kaeser wasn't granted a hardship eligibility waiver, Hughes said.

...

"This turned into a real ugly deal, but after you wade through the muck and the mire, we really didn't do anything wrong," Hodges said. "Jori (Kaeser) had been living with me for six months before I ever talked to anyone in Nevada about the job down there."

Hughes, after meeting with Hodges, Kribs and Lyon County School District administrators last week, said he wouldn't pursue recruiting violations against Hodges but warned all Nevada schools that violating eligibility rules in the future could lead to severe sanctions.

But the third kid was living with a Fernley assistant coach, meaning he was ineligible with no possible waiver.  That's a no-brainer in Nevada.  All three were impact players.

Lucky for Hodges that his old buddies from North Medford have given him another opportunity.  Hope nobody ends up regretting that. 

Schools Passing the Trash

For those who may not have seen it, The Oregonian had a interesting article today on something I used blog about quite a bit--how school districts are allowing molesting teachers to move on to other schools.  Here are a couple of excerpts.

During the past five years, nearly half of Oregon teachers disciplined for sexual misconduct with a child left their school districts with confidential agreements. Most, like Cushing's, promised to keep alleged abuse quiet. Some promised cash settlements, health insurance and letters of recommendation as incentives for a resignation.

The practice is so widespread, school officials across the country call it "passing the trash."

The Oregonian reviewed 767 cases of educator misconduct over the past 10 years in which the state commission revoked or suspended licenses for misbehavior. Sex-related offenses ranked the most common, and in 165 cases the agency disciplined educators for misconduct ranging from touching students or sending them love notes to molestation and rape.

This, of course, is a tiny fraction of the 35,000 educators who teach, mentor and coach in Oregon.

The article included several examples, one of them being Steve Koller, a former high school science teacher from my local school district (previous blogs here & here).  He had an inappropriate relationship was with a 17-year-old girl from Illinois Valley HS and was quietly given a golden handshake.  The Daily Courier had to sue to gain the release of the settlement document.  The chairman of the Three Rivers School Board at the time was Dave Toler, who now of course is a county commissioner. 

Oregon public school officials say an educator suspected of sexual misconduct gives them few options. If they fire the educator, they may face a costly legal battle with teachers union lawyers. Putting an employee on paid leave is also expensive because the (Teacher Standards and Practices Commission) takes, on average, nearly 16 months to complete investigations.

...

Oregon's commission, with its power to revoke licenses, marks the last line of defense in keeping schools free of harmful educators.

But the commission, a professional organization supported by license fees, also tries to serve educators and their interests. Teachers unions helped create the commission in 1965, and nearly all 17 commissioners are teachers or former teachers.

The agency has 2.5 investigators to handle nearly 300 pending cases across the state. It has not invested in additional investigators, despite a $1 million annual carryover, because state lawmakers must approve additional spending, according to Vickie Chamberlain, the agency's executive director. Until last year, she didn't ask for additional staff, assuming legislators would deny the request. In 2007, lawmakers approved increasing the staff from 1.5 to 2.5 investigators.

The union's job is to protect teachers, not students.  Dreadfully slow justice financially motivates school districts (and their insurers) to settle, regardless of guilt.  Who has deeper pockets and more experience with such cases, financially fragile school districts or the teachers union?

And let's not forget that administrators also have a few bad apples in their midst, including folks who try to cover up accusations that could prove embarrassing, expensive, etc.

Still, it's the granting of second chances, secret deals, slow investigations and naive staff that help problem teachers remain in Oregon schools, experts on sex offenders say.

That's why Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, sponsored the law passed last year that requires all districts to offer education on child abuse to parents and staff. Walker also sponsored a law that allows the public to see the personnel record of any educator convicted of most sex-related crimes.

Walker talks tough, and she has made a bit of progress in this area.  But a Democrat with ambitions of higher office doesn't dare get too aggressive regarding the needed reforms.

Taxpayer Funding for the New U of O Arena

Nike's founder has been tremendously generous over the years in supporting the U of O.  It's not surprising that his gifts sometimes come with a few strings attached.  It's not the deadline in the following that I have a problem with.

The document reads in part: "The Donors' obligations under this Agreement shall be contingent on the approval of the state of Oregon on or before June 1, 2008 for the issuance by the State of XI-F(1) bonds to fund the cost of design and construction of a new basketball arena for the University of Oregon."

The state issues XI-F(1) bonds for projects that are self-liquidating and self-supporting.

Why should taxpayers be on the hook if that proposed arena runs into financial problems?

Oregon lawmakers on Monday called on the University of Oregon to set up a reserve fund that could help repay bonds for a new arena—an additional precaution against the possibility that revenues from the basketball and concert venue fail to meet projections.

The request—which UO officials took same-day steps to accommodate—comes in the wake of newly released documents that prompted some lawmakers to urge more caution as they proceed with plans to issue $200 million in state-backed bonds for the project.

The new disclosures—a less-than-rosy analysis of an arena’s revenue-generating projections, and that a document signed by Phil and Penelope Knight conditioned their $100 million gift on the state meeting a June deadline for bonding approval—have not prompted lawmakers to speak out publicly against the arena.

Was the requirement regarding XI-F(1) bonds Knight's idea or something planned with--or by--U of O President Dave Frohnmayer?

Many lawmakers said they would withhold judgment on the EcoNorthwest report’s revenue projections, since it was produced before the particulars of the current arena plan had been worked out.

But several were less than pleased that its existence wasn’t made known to them by the UO until the weekend’s news came out. The report was made available to reporters after UO professor William Harbaugh requested its disclosure under Oregon’s public records law. 

I understand the need to replace the aging Mac Court.  But the U of O's plans are far more grandiose.  If the revenue projections can be believed, there should be no problem finding investors and benefactors to back the bonds...hint, hint.

The latest disclosures prompted the lawmakers who co-chair the Joint Ways & Means Committee to ask Frohnmayer to create a reserve account, which would provide dollars for repayment of the bonds in case revenues from games, concerts and other events don’t cover the debt.

...

In a letter to Nolan (D-Portland) and Senate co-chairman Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, Frohnmayer wrote Monday that the UO athletic department would create an Arena Bond Reserve Fund, into which $1 for each admission ticket for the arena would be deposited. Frohnmayer pledged a reserve deposit of at least $500,000 a year.

The deposits would begin in mid-2010 and continue until the reserves totaled either $12 million or 6 percent of the outstanding principal owed on the bonds.

It wasn’t clear from Frohnmayer’s letter whether the $1-per-ticket would come from tickets’ currently proposed prices or added to a $2 surcharge already planned to repay the arena bonds.

Oregon has underfunded its university system for years.  That has helped neither the quality nor the cost of the education our institutions provide.  Yet, we're supposed to give a stunningly expensive entertainment facility on one of the campuses priority access to our tax dollars if it runs into financial problems. 

Wrong.

Anything But the Compensation

The school board in Eureka CA just approved a 7.2 percent pay raise over three years for its teachers.  That's certainly not exorbitant when compared with anticipated inflation.  But the budget is tight, and that's before one considers that California is facing a huge budget shortfall which could result in a 10 percent cut in K-12 school funding.  The following from a recent Eureka Times-Standard editorial reminds me of many school districts here Oregon.

It was a feel-good moment Wednesday night--the room erupting with cheers--when the Eureka City Schools board agreed 4-1 to a new contract for teachers. A feel-good moment, at least, for teachers who will be keeping their jobs when all is said and done. For everyone else, however, the financial future of the Eureka schools remains grim.

...

For the federal government, living way beyond one's means is a way of life. But let's not kid ourselves--at the local level it's a zero-sum game: If you pay out here, you have to cut back there.

If the district pays teachers more, then either there need to be fewer teachers, or maybe some school buildings have to be sold or closed. Oh, wait--there is a whole other special interest group fighting that solution.

No wonder board member Pace, when threatened by teachers with a recall if she didn't OK their pay, said they'd be doing her a favor because “no one wants this job.”

The Times-Standard has been critical of the board in recent months for its seemingly lax oversight of school bond spending. And recent examples of poor public communications cause concern.

But we are sympathetic to the Eureka City Schools board and staff as they strive to deal with budget shortfalls amid continued declining enrollment. If everybody has to “win,” then everybody will surely lose.

Too often, we provide more compensation at the expense of everything else, especially the children.  Then as the staffs shrink and the workload and class sizes increase, the remaining educators gripe that they deserve even more compensation for enduring those conditions.  Educators can get really ugly if someone points the blame at anything other than insufficient funding.

JoCo Tops Average Teacher Salaries in 2006-07

My local Three Rivers School District is having financial problems.  The sprawling district, which "serves all of Josephine County outside the city of Grants Pass and the Applegate area of Jackson County" (a total of 5,247 students), must shrink its budget by $1.19 million next year and another $1 million the year after.  This might drive the closure of Wolf Creek Elementary or the merger of Williams Elementary and the Applegate Schools.

The state distributes funding based upon enrollment, which continues to decline here.  Much of our population growth is in retirees and other empty-nesters.  The district has extensive busing requirements, and diesel prices aren't helping.  And of course, one can't forget the biggest expense of the average school district, compensation.

Last month, the OSBA published the following map, which shows the average teacher salaries in Oregon for the previous school year.  Josephine County regained the top spot--$57,991 per year, over $7,000 higher than the state average and an increase of 6.5 percent over the previous school year.

The Grants Pass School District is a bit larger and pays a bit better (previous blog here).  Teachers comprise less than half the employees in the districts, and some administrators are paid much better than teachers.  Et cetera.  That said, Josephine County is definitely not a wealthy area.  Unemployment is perennially higher than average, and the per capita income here ranks 30th out of Oregon's 36 counties at just 73 percent of the national average.

What are we getting for compensating our educators so well?  Not enough...and soon maybe one less small school that's important to its rural community.

Non-Naming Rights

Here's an interesting way for a university to raise money.

When he became dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business in 2002, Michael Knetter went looking for a big donor, someone who would give $50 million in exchange for putting their name on the school.

No one was interested.

So, Knetter decided to do something radical: find contributors willing to pay to keep the school's name off the market.

After years of conversations, 13 alumni announced last month that they were giving $85 million in exchange for assurances that the business school would not be named for any donor for at least 20 years.

It's the biggest donation in university history, and it comes at a time when stadiums, buildings and whole colleges elsewhere are being named for the highest bidder.

But, Knetter has an eye towards selling out in the future.

Knetter said he approached three contributors with the $50 million asking price.

But when they weren't ready, he changed his approach. He said he was bothered that one person would get the name and other donors would be left out. And he learned the price of naming rights was going up and that keeping the name for now would be a strategic asset. After 20 years, he estimates, the naming rights on the school could bring in $300 million or more.

...

In an interview, Knetter said he was still trying to figure out how to spend the money, beyond increasing salaries, hiring more faculty and staff, and serving more students.

Nice problem to have.  He'll announce his plan in January.

Union-Baker ESD...Repayment of its Ill-Gotten Gains

In the Fall of '04, an Oregon State Police investigation uncovered extensive fraud and mismanagement within the Union-Baker Education Service District (previous blogs here, here, and here).  One of the key elements of the fraud was that managers inflated average daily membership (ADM) statistics in programs the ESD managed and used them to overbill the state...and possibly the federal government (previous blog here). 

In early '05, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) announced that it had asked the Secretary of State's Audits Division to investigate the ESD.  And two-plus years later, the public can finally see the results of the investigation (here), including ODE's response to the report.  As per a recommendation in the report, Superintendent Castillo says she intends to recover the excess payments.  That brings up the question, who's going to pay?      

School districts in Union and Wallowa counties may have to pay back a total of $1.27 million to the state due to alleged enrollment fraud in the Union-Baker Education Service District's alternative school programs from 1999 to 2004.

The specific amount of money each of the school districts was found to have received through "over enrollment'' was released Friday by the Oregon Department of Education.

Nine of the 10 school districts in Union and Wallowa counties were found to have received more money from the state than they were owed. The one exception was the Troy School District, which has fewer than 10 students and has never had students in the ESD's alternative school program.

Following are the totals the Secretary of State's Audit Division claims that Union and Wallowa county school districts owe the state: La Grande $247,464, Cove $32,502, Elgin $234,369, Enterprise $173,687, Imbler $151,467, Joseph $189,734, North Powder $161,738, Union $73,886 and Wallowa $68,828.

The Oregon Department of Education has not determined how much the districts will have to pay back or when payments would be due.

The Union-Baker ESD aggressively sought work in school districts outside of its geographical area.  The ESD even procured an airplane to help manage some of its programs in far-off locations, like Florence, Burns, Eugene, The Dalles, etc.  Overall, the ESD served 41 school districts, and it inflated the attendance numbers for all but one of them to the tune of $3.4 million.  It was the Union-Baker ESD that got and spent most of that money.  Bigger organization, more pay, less oversight of reimbursements and contracts, easy extra days and overtime...you get the picture. 

Districts may owe much less to the state than what Department of Education figures indicate, said Mike Wood, superintendent of the Union School District. Wood explained that when districts receive money from the state for students in the alternative school program they give the ESD 60 to 80 percent of it and keep the rest. The amount given to the ESD is based on predetermined agreements it has with districts. This means that districts kept only 20 to 40 percent of the money they received for over enrollment.

...

Wood said he believes many districts were over-enrolled in the ESD alternative school program through no fault of their own. He said that in some cases districts were receiving money for alternative education students they did not know were credited to them.

Wood said he noticed this about seven years ago. He then had the ESD promise in writing that it would not credit any of its alternative education students to the Union School District without getting written permission from him.

Seven years ago.  Notice that I mentioned that the fraud was uncovered in an OSP investigation.  From this link:

The OSP investigation was called for by Union County District Attorney Martin Birnbaum after he received information from members of the Education/Workforce Development Committee, a self-appointed watchdog group with members in Baker and Union counties. The audit was conducted as part of the investigation.

As usual, ODE was asleep at the switch...it's hard to find fraud and mismanagement if you're not really looking.  Back to the original article.   

Wood said the system in place made it easy for the ESD to credit alternative education students to districts without them knowing about it. The Union superintendent added that districts had no reason to be leery of the ESD's alternative school program because the state had given it good marks. This led school district officials to believe they did not have to be on the lookout for fraud.

"I don't think that anyone knowingly did anything wrong at the time because nobody at the ODE ever indicated that anything was being done wrong or that things should be done differently,'' Wood said.

It makes no sense to punish the schools and thus their students monetarily.  A few of the key leaders of the ESD were fired after the OSP investigation, but what about those who could have uncovered the problems.  Glaringly missing from the report is any personal responsibility for oversight of the fraud and mismanagement.  ODE is treating this as a process problem, and it hasn't even committed to fixing all of the processes.  For instance when it comes to verifying the residency of students included in the attendance numbers...

ODE will consider residency testing within existing staffing and budget levels.

Going after the school districts for money will give Superintendent Castillo the appearance of seeking to right a wrong while providing a great distraction for what's not being addressed.

Follow-up on Unusual Measure 37 Claim

A few months back, I posted about how District 7 (the Grants Pass School District) was suing both Josephine County and the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development for $6.7 million over a Measure 37 claim that was denied.  The denial seemed straightforward because Measure 37 refers to "private real property."

JoCo had given the land in question (445.57 acres for $1) to District 7 back in 1942 so that it could offer a forestry program.  The district held on to the land for investment purposes after shuttering the forestry program years ago.  However, the land is now zoned "woodlot resource," which restricts most development.  In its lawsuit, the District asserted that it's how the property is used, not who owns it, that should govern whether the land is considered "private real property." 

JoCo has asked District 7 for the land back before.  Now, it's suing to get it.

The county's lawsuit contends District 7 has "failed and refused to use the subject property for public purposes." When the property was conveyed, the county said it relied on assurances from the district that it would be used for public purposes "in perpetuity."

County Attorney Steve Rich said the idea of asking District 7 to return the land has been a topic of conversation for quite awhile, starting with former commissioner Fred Borngasser who brought it to his attention nearly a decade ago.

...

According to the lawsuit, the school district's "failure and refusal to use the property for public purposes is an automatic reverter vesting legal title to the property in Josephine County."

The school district and the county agreed to put the first lawsuit, dealing with the Measure 37 waiver, on hold last week in Josephine County Circuit Court until a decision is made about who actually owns the land.

Makes sense, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out legally.

District 7's attorney Jim Dole said the county made this same request 10 years ago. At the time, the district didn't believe it had to turn over the property.

"We hadn't heard anymore on the issue, so we assumed it had been put to rest," Dole said. "We are disappointed the county would do this."

Dole said the school district plans to defend itself because it feels its position has merit. The district used the property for its forestry program for decades, Dole said.

"We hope to have the case resolved in the next few months," he added.

As usual, all District 7 sees are dollar signs...in this case, about $15,000 per acre.

Latest OSBA Teacher Salary Data

The OSBA recently published the average K-12 teacher salaries for each of Oregon's counties during the 2005-06 school year.  Josephine, Jackson, and Lincoln Counties, which were 1-2-3 in the 2004-05 school year, have each dropped a spot because they were passed by Multnomah County.  The average teacher salary there was $55,041, an increase of $4,211 (8.3 percent) over the previous school year. 

For Oregon's 27,509 K-12 teachers statewide, the average salary in 2005-06 was $50,048, an increase of $1,871 (3.9 percent) over the previous year.  Just 9 of Oregon's 36 counties exceeded the statewide average (in order): Multco, Josephine, Jackson, Lincoln, Hood River, Klamath, Clackamas, Lane, and Wallowa.  The bottom four were the same as usual (though the order tends to vary):  Harney, Wheeler, Grant, and finally Morrow...where the average salary was $40,927.

For counties around here:

                         2005-06          2004-05          2003-04          2002-03

Coos:                $45,392          $45,427          $44,871          $45,533

Curry:               $47,090          $46,287          $48,671          $45,491

Douglas:           $45,940          $46,555          $45,191          $43,492

Jackson:           $52,439          $51,665          $50,953          $50,688

Josephine:        $54,445          $52,371          $50,925          $49,253

Klamath:           $50,756          $49,258          $48,281          $47,222

And in somewhat related news regarding my local Three Rivers School District here in JoCo...

Fewer students and employee reductions headline the $42.5 million 2007-08 general fund budget, which shows a loss of more than 14 positions and up to 30 other employees having their hours reduced. The district has a $43.7 million general fund budget for the current school year.

...

Three Rivers plans to eliminate 7.25 teaching positions and another 7 classified employee positions for the 2007-08 school year. Twenty-one people had the number of hours reduced and another eight to 10 people will likely be informed their hours will be cut.

Last year, the district added back at least four new teachers to its ranks.

The article noted that over the last decade, the number of students in the district has dropped from 6,600 to 5,400 and is expected to level off at about 5,000.  Fuel prices in this large, rural district certainly haven't helped the budget situation either.

The bulk of the district's general fund - about 80 percent - pays for employee salaries and benefits. To help free up more of the budget, Business Manager David Marshall is using about $1.14 million originally targeted for school improvements to pay for teachers.

Marshall also reduced the district's contingency fund from $904,188 this year to $597,000 for 2007-08. "It may be acceptable or not to the board," he added. "It is less comfortable than I would like to be. But we had to do something."

Three Rivers' troubles can be traced to the district's declining enrollment. From May 2006 to May 2007, the district lost 260 students. This will affect the amount of funding the district receives from the state next year and likely for the 2008-09 budget. Even though Three Rivers is getting about $400 more per student, any gains will be consumed by the loss of students and increases in salaries and benefits.

In other words, the troubles can't just be traced to declining enrollment.