The Oregon Senate approved $6.55 billion for public schools (The Oregonian, K-12 budget, on second try, passes Oregon Senate). The Oregon House of Representatives is expected to follow suit.
The Oregon Quality Education Commission in its Final Report of August 12, 2012 determined that $8.755 billion was needed to fully fund public education according to the Quality Education Model. Recognizing that this level of funding was unlikely, it provided a plan to phase in full funding over a ten-year period. The amount required to achieve this for the 2013-2015 biennium is $6.895 billion.
Article VIII, Section 8. Adequate and Equitable Funding of the Constitution of Oregon mandates that, "(1) The Legislative Assembly shall appropriate in each biennium a sum of money sufficient to ensure that the state’s system of public education meets quality goals established by law, and publish a report that either demonstrates the appropriation is sufficient, or identifies the reasons for the insufficiency, its extent, and its impact on the ability of the state’s system of public education to meet those goals."
The Oregon Supreme Court ruled that this section of the state constitution is unenforceable.
Even so, the Oregon State Legislature should fulfill its constitutional obligation.
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