UNSUSTAINABLE ‘RECORD REINVESTMENT’ IN EDUCATION NOW LEADING TO CUTS, DISINVESTMENT

Two years ago, Democrats hyped their ‘record reinvestment’ in Schools…

“Hooray! This is a great budget for our kids,’ said Rep. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis. Gelser, a former Corvallis School Board member, said next school year will be the first since 1990 that Corvallis can avoid making budget cuts and will be able to add back staff and programs.”

(House Approves $6.245 Billion for Oregon Schools, The Oregonian, Steven Carter, 6/11/2007)

“Democrats say the budget approvals represent a turnaround for education in Oregon with immediate effects felt throughout the state.”

(News Release: Democrats Lead House to Approve Record Reinvestment in Oregon's K-12 Public Schools, House Majority Office, 6/12/2007)

…While Republicans Warned That Unsustainable Spending Could Threaten K-12 Funding Later.

“Rep. Ron Maurer, R-Grants Pass, said school boards and administrators should set aside dollars in reserve because the run-up in spending would not be sustainable when Oregon's now-rising economy hits its next, inevitable downturn and state revenue slides.”

(House Boosts School Budgets, The Register-Guard, David Steves and Anne Williams, 6/13/2007)

Dave Hunt Taunted Republicans on 2007-09 Education Funding…

“Sixteen years of Republican control in the House wreaked havoc on K-12 schools in Oregon,” said House Majority Leader Dave Hunt (D-Clackamas County). “Today, Democrats have begun to reverse decades of disinvestment and finally put kids first in Oregon.”

(News Release: Democrats Lead House to Approve Record Reinvestment in Oregon's K-12 Public Schools, House Majority Office, 6/12/2007)

… Now the Speaker Signals A Democratic ‘Disinvestment’ in 2007-09 Education Funding.

“‘There will absolutely be cuts in schools that will impact kids this year,’ [Speaker Hunt] said...”

(Another wave of early school closures in Oregon?, Mapes on Politics/The Oregonian, Jeff Mapes, 2/3/2009)

Legislature Could’ve ‘Fashioned a Glide Slope’ during last February’s Special Session…

“Republicans, who were in the minority when the spending package was crafted last session, took the opportunity to amplify their previous warnings that majority Democrats were spending too freely in 2007, when revenues poured in at $2 billion beyond the previous spending cycle's totals.

“House Republican Leader Bruce Hanna of Roseburg said the Democrats crafted an unsustainably large budget that could force cuts in the coming months to bring it down to the size it should have been all along.”

(Economists see slump ahead for state, The Register-Guard, David Steves, 2/9/2008)

…But Now We’re Looking at a Nose Dive.

“House Republican Leader Bruce Hanna, R-Roseburg, said reducing government spending seems the most prudent step to balance the budget. He said it was regrettable that the Democrats in charge of state government did not heed his party's warnings early last year that, given the worsening economy, steps should have been taken then to curb spending so the cuts could be spread over a longer time span, instead of being concentrated in a few months.

“We could have fashioned a glide slope instead of a nose dive,’” he said. ‘That's now what we're looking at: a nose dive.’”

(State's Shortfall Predicted to Double, The Register-Guard, David Steves, 1/17/2009)