PORTLAND, OR -- As the State Legislature moves into the home stretch, lawmakers are running out of time to find more money to fund public schools.
Hanna Vaandering, President of the Oregon Education Association, tells KBND the just over $7 billion approved for K-12 schools is still not enough to help increase the state's troubling graduation rates. "The next biennium of funding is close to no-cut, but it does not add in those things that really make a difference in the lives of our students, which is making sure they have access to art, P.E., music, career and technical opportunities, having libraries open with trained librarians. Those things that really inspire learning and really get them ready to be successful."