For our schools, we'll vote again and again - and again, if we must.

By Representative Shemia Fagan of Clackamas, Oregon.

"It would be nice to see them find some middle ground between screwing people out of their retirement and bankrupting the schools"

-Quote from an Oregonian on my Facebook page

I could not have said it better myself.

I ran for public office on a commitment to invest in our schools and give our businesses the educated workforce they need to compete in the global marketplace. Today, I took one large step toward fulfilling that commitment.

I voted to save our schools and local governments $810 million this budget cycle through changes to the Public Employees Retirement System. PERS reform was going to happen this session, and this is the fairest legal proposal that was put forward that still contains significant savings.

As much as we hear the cry for more more more from PERS retirees, it's important to remember that these are Oregon seniors being asked to give up money they've earned and come to rely on in their golden years.

I was disappointed in my Republican colleagues who all voted no because they want to take more money from Oregon's teachers, firefighters, police officers, and retired seniors.

On the floor during debate, my colleague Rep. Greg Matthews summed up my feelings nicely when he said:

"I feel like I'm driving down I-5 Southbound and I see a hitchhiker with a guitar strung on his back and a cardboard sign that reads "Hollywood." I pull over and tell him I'm going as far as Sacramento and he is welcome to come along. Instead of getting somewhere, he simply says 'No thank you. I will only take a ride if you're going all the way to Hollywood.' Well pull out that guitar and keep singing your song because you've missed the ride."

Governing is about compromise and I am disappointed that all my Republican colleagues voted "no" instead of working in a bipartisan fashion on a plan that is fair to Oregon's public servants and saves taxpayers nearly a billion dollars.

Washington DC Style Partisan Politics Rears its Ugly Head in Salem

Yesterday, the Oregon House Republicans attempted to block a vital component of our school improvement budget: the $275 million in revenue that we need in order to stabilize schools and other vital services. Partisan politics got in the way of passing a bill that would reduce tax breaks for the top 3% of corporations and the top 2.4% wealthiest Oregonians.

Oregon spends twice as much on tax breaks every two years ($33 billion!) than we do on all state services combined - ($16 billion). I will redouble my efforts to invest in schools through a balanced approach, savings in PERS and scaling back special tax breaks for big corporations and the wealthy.

I will not be deterred. Oregonians don't care how many votes it takes in order to stabilize funding for our schools, and neither do I.

Stability for our Schools

Oregonians spoke loud and clear last November. We need to increase investment in our schools.

So here is the good news: If we win the fight to reduce spending on tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations, those savings, along with PERS savings, will allow us to increase the K-12 schools budget for 2013-15 by over $1 billion (billion with a B!).

This investment reverses the budget cuts and puts our schools on the right track. Because we asked everyone to pay their fair share, we can reduce teacher layoffs. We can begin to attempt to get our class sizes under control. We can reduce cuts to critical after-school programs that give kids the spark they need to succeed. This is a big deal.

April 26, 2013