72nd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2003 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
 LC 2158
 
                         Minority Report
 
                           A-Engrossed
 
                        House Memorial 4
                  Ordered by the House April 23
    Including House Minority Report Amendments dated April 23
 
Sponsored by nonconcurring members of the House Committee on
  General Government: Representatives PROZANSKI, WIRTH
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure.
 
  Urges United States Congress to give first priority to
  { - defense appropriation bills - }  { +  education + }.
 
                         HOUSE MEMORIAL
To the President of the United States and the Senate and the
  House of Representatives of the United States of America, in
  Congress assembled:
  We, your memorialists, the House of Representatives of the
State of Oregon, in legislative session assembled, respectfully
represent as follows:
  Whereas, as Governor Kulongoski has declared, putting our
children first is both an economic imperative and a moral
necessity; and
  Whereas a strong educational system is vital to a strong
economy; and
  Whereas Congress originally expected the federal government to
pay up to 40 percent of a state's cost of implementing the
Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, but the federal
government covers only 14 percent of the State of Oregon's costs;
and
  Whereas funding the federal No Child Left Behind Act at the
levels originally proposed would benefit Oregon's students by an
additional $60 million; and
  Whereas with these laws, the federal government has imposed
what amount to unfunded educational mandates on the states; and
  Whereas the ongoing recession has forced the State of Oregon to
impose steep cuts in its support of public education, having
required local school districts to reduce spending for
kindergarten through grade 12 education by more than $500 million
over the past year; and
  Whereas these cuts have resulted in larger class sizes, layoffs
of teachers and other staff, curtailment of extracurricular
activities and other programs, cuts in valuable curriculum and a
shorter school year; and
 
  Whereas Oregon has begun to lose teachers to states where
school budgets are more stable; and
  Whereas economic recovery and development depend upon a ready
workforce that possesses the skills and education to handle the
jobs of the 21st Century; and
  Whereas we cannot expect to achieve and maintain prosperity if
we shortchange secondary and post-secondary education; now,
therefore,
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
  Oregon:
  (1) The Congress of the United States is respectfully requested
to give education the highest priority, recognizing that no
nation can claim to make itself safe from any foe, foreign or
domestic, if it fails to pursue the highest educational standards
and thereby ensure the capability and readiness of citizens to
cope with the economic, social, environmental and political
challenges of this century.
  (2) A copy of this memorial shall be sent to each member of the
Oregon Congressional Delegation.
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