Grassroots Calendar

A summary of upcoming events is shown below, Click here for our event calendar which shows more details. 

• Come Celebrate Historic K12 Budget Bill Signing

  On Thursday, June 28, Governor Ted Kulongoski will be signing into law three bills that make up the 2007-09 K12 funding package. The bills, House Bills 5019, 5020 and 5021, mark the first major reinvestment in Oregon's public schools in more than a decade.

  The public is invited to attend the bill signing ceremony which will take place at 1:15 PM on the Capitol steps. OEA members are welcome and encouraged to attend and help celebrate this historic budget. This is your chance to say thank you to legislative leaders and the governor for making K12 a priority and for reversing the trend of disinvestment in public schools.

  The ceremony will be:
  1:15 PM
  Thursday, June 28
  Capitol Steps
  900 Court Street NE
  Salem, Oregon 97301

  For driving directions visit: http://www.leg.state.or.us/capinfo/

f you have any events to add please send them to:
webmaster@washcodems.org

Contact your Legislators

Contact your Legislators via their webforms (or goto our issues page for more info):

• Sen Wyden's webform
• Sen Smith's webform
• Rep David Wu's webform
• Webform for your State Representative/Senator
• Webform for sending Letter to the Editor (via Oregon Food Bank)

Salem Update

The Healthy Kids Plan (HB 2201), Governor Kulongoski's plan to cover all Oregon children under the age of 19 with health insurance, was defeated on the House floor. Although it got a simple majority, it did not get the three-fifths majority needed to raise the cigarette tax.  The bill will be back though, and Sen. Avakian is confident it will pass in some form before the session ends. It looks like it may be referred to the ballot as a constitutional amendment. Please contact your state legislators (democrats and republicans) and ask that they support this measure.

Democrats Lead House to Approve Record Reinvestment in Oregon's K-12 Public Schools

Budgets totaling $6.245 billion for 2007-09 sail through on bipartisan vote

SALEM—House Democrats delivered on a promised significant reinvestment in K-12 education with the approval today of a combined $6.245 billion budget for 2007-09. Three budgets—the State School Fund, the School Improvement Fund and the Department of Education budget were approved today with unanimous, bipartisan support.

"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."

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

State Representative David Edwards (D-Hillsboro), whose district holds some of the highest-growth areas in the state told fellow lawmakers, "This reinvestment means my school district can add fifty-two new teaching positions, provide more academic support services and increase funding to three sports programs. These and other, similar improvements in districts around the state will make a material and transformative difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of students."

Democrats say that in addition to the dollar amount, the approval of the three main education budgets today is the earliest passed by the Oregon Legislature in a decade. During the 2005 Legislative session, for example, the budget was not approved until the last day of session—August 5. This early passage allows school districts to immediately begin planning for the increased funding and implementing related changes in the upcoming school year.

"For years as a school board member, we lived with the uncertainty of late K-12 budgets that forced enormous increases in class size and the closure of four public schools in Corvallis alone," said State Representative Sara Gelser (D-Corvallis). "This is the best and earliest budget this state has seen in decades.  In approving this budget, we are promising our students lower classes, a full school year, and the promise of an education that will prepare them for success in the 21st century."

Two of the budgets approved today—The Department of Education Budget and the School Improvement Fund—contain specific programs and provisions aimed at increasing student achievement.

The Department of Education Budget includes $39 million to fund Oregon's pre-kindergarten Head Start Program--$10 million above the Governor's Recommended Budget. At previous funding levels, just over half of eligible kids could participate in the program. Today's approved budget allows the state to enroll 75 percent of eligible Oregon children.

"As a school principal I've seen too many kids come to school unprepared for academic success," said State Representative Betty Komp (D-Woodburn). "Too often, these kids—already at a disadvantage—fall even further behind. Head Start has a proven track record of preparing kids for a lifetime of success and ensuring that these kids come to school prepared to learn, thrive academically and socially."

Democrats say the $260 million contained in the School Improvement Fund is specifically dedicated to improving student achievement.

"Today's vote allows school districts flexibility to spend money on the established best-practices that are most critical for their student population—whether that is decreasing class sizes, implementing all-day kindergarten or increasing vocational training for high school students," said State Representative Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay).  "At the same time, by limiting the ways the money can be spent and requiring districts to report on the outcomes of those expenditures, the fund guarantees clear accountability to tax payers."

Building a world-class public education system—including adequate school funding-- is a core part of House Democrats' Roadmap for Oregon's future. The bills now move to the Senate for final approval.

If you dont know who your legislator is, just click this link , enter your address and it will show you all your federal and state representatives!

VISIT OUR NEW WEB SITE 

Check our website for the latest updates.

Our New Website!!!

Our new website is ready and will be connected to the www.washcodems.org address in a few days. For now, you can use the www.washcodems.com address to link to it. The new website makes it much easier for PCPs, house district leaders and committee chairs to add content directly to the website.

To get access to the site you register for an account, initially you will have public access rights, but if you are a PCP we will grant you PCP access which allows you to view the Precinct Leader pages. This gives you access to our PCP list, training materials, and updates from our various working committees.

Each PCP will also have their own public blog where they can post articles, thoughts, or just give an update on what your working on and the issues that are important to you. You will also be able to participate in group forum discussions. The platform committee in particular will be using this to gather comments on the issues they are working on. You can create new forum topics or write responses to existing topics. PCPs can also add events to the calendar.

There will also be House District pages maintained by the house district leaders which will list events and discussions specific to a house district and have updates from candidates and our state representatives.

Registered users will also be able to add comments to various pages on the site. The idea is to make our web page a participatory community forum and organizing tool for the county party. Stay tuned for upcoming training events for those interested in hands on training. As you begin to use it, please send any comments and questions to webmaster@washcodems.org.

Blue Oregon Blog Articles

• Finally! Healthy Kids goes to voters
• Fix Measure 37 - Time is Running Out 
• Landmark Anti-Discrimination Bills Clear the House

Local Groups

• The Oregon Center for Public Policy
• Our Oregon Coalition (state budget group)
• Citizens for Oregon's Future (state budget group)
• Oregon Bus Project
• NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon
• Oregon AFL-CIO
• Oregon League Of Women Voters
• Onward Oregon
• Democracy for Oregon
• Blog for Oregon
• Blue Oregon
• Oregon Center for Christian Values
• Planned Parenthood - Columbia/Willamette

Volunteer Opportunities

Please join us by filling out our online volunteer form.   Or fill out the paper form and send it to us. We highly value our volunteers and recognize special contributions each month.