A tale of three cities: The chance at local option levies can affect school districts across Oregon in drastically different ways
Portland Public Schools wants to renew a local tax that already helps pay for hundreds of teachers. Bend-La Pine wants to start a new levy that would offset substantial budget cuts. In Salem-Keizer, option levies aren’t really an option at all.
Oregon funds schools through a combination of local, state and federal money. State funding makes up the biggest chunk of district budgets and is largely based on a weighted per-student formula — in other words, districts are paid based on how many students they serve.
Local option levies are a way for schools to generate additional revenue to pay for school operations — to fund programs, reduce class sizes or meet other education priorities.
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