| Schools Candidate
Offers Budget Fix By Fred Delkin Oregon politicians, both in office and seeking same, are wringing their hands over state government budget problems, but sensible solutions are in very short supply. Neither our incumbent governor, nor the crowd of candidates seeking to succeed him, have yet crafted a coherent budget plan. One candidate for statewide office seems
to be an exception. Rob Kremer, running for state schools superintendent,
is offering a Kremer’s budget solution is simple and seems sensible. He proposes trimming every state agency’s staff and professional services budget by 5%…and cutting the state department of education’s budget by 11%. These reductions, according to Kremer, would be achieved by cutting (horrors!) state employees rather than programs. Following common business strategy “This is no different than what every business in America does when faced with tough economic times,” Kremer points out, and emphasizes that his plan would balance the state budget “while holding schools harmless from cuts, and does so without raising taxes.” This thinking, we submit, is directly opposed to common bureaucratic thinking and practice. (OMED: According to a number of sources we consider reliable, the school budget deficit in Oregon can be viewed as artificial. What the economic downturn has created, according to these sources, is an inability to meet requirements for future spending increases. Liberals commonly call a reduction in the rate of spending increase a cut. If this information is accurate, actual dollars available to education, when compared to the current numbers, have not gone down a dime. The so-called shortfall is a squeeze on spending additional money, not a reduction in current expenditure levels. Thus, Kremer's approach simply offers more bang for the same amount of bucks. Talk about an idea whose time has come.) Such strategy might be expected from a candidate who earned a master’s degree in business administration and began his career as an investment banker. Kremer, 41, exudes confidence that he can accomplish what might seem impossible, or at least anathema, to your common politician…improve education while saving state dollars. He accuses governor Kitzhaber of offering no way out of the state’s severe budget problems without cutting public school funds or raising taxes. Kremer’s candidacy aims to replace incumbent Stan Bunn, unlikely to seek re-election in the face of an investigation into his questionable personal financial practices while on the taxpayers’ dole. Kremer’s most serious competitor for the office seems to be state senator Susan Castillo of Eugene. Castillo’s political philosophy is liberal, in contrast to Kremer’s conservative bent. The state superintendent’s office is a non-partisan post. Fund-raising success
Kremer has shown fund-raising ability, amassing over $100,000 to date. Bunn rode into office on a $109,000 wave, tripling the expenditures of his nearest foe. The Kremer war chest was enriched by $25,000 this fall by a pre-Trail Blazers game reception. Supporters featured at this event included ex-Blazer player Detlef Schrempf, former NFL quarterbacks and Oregon collegiate stars Neil Lomax and Chris Miller, cartoonist John Callahan and talk show host Lars Larson. Private industry has also stepped up to the Kremer plate, notably venture capitalist Craig Berkman and Dick Wendt, CEO of Jeld-Wen, one of Oregon’s largest industrial firms. Kremer hastens to point out that none of his personal dollars are involved in the campaign, nor has he sought any loans. He seems on track to easily surpass the state fund-raising record for the post sought. School choice, local control Key planks in the Kremer platform are local control of schools and offering educational choices. He founded the Oregon Education Coalition to enable the Oregon charter school law enacted in 1999. This group has fostered the creation of new and innovative public schools in several Oregon locations. A salient example is McCoy Academy in northeast Portland, which is successfully rehabilitating public school dropouts. Kremer emphasizes local control of schools, in opposition to statewide standards coming down from Salem. “Who should be running our schools, the politicans and bureaucrats, or teachers, principals and parents?” he stresses. He adamantly opposes the statewide student testing program now employed, whose “mandated costs are $85 per student” as opposed to “nationally-used tests at only $15 per student.” Kremer notes there are sharp differences in student population characteristics from one district to the next. That, in his view, calls for local administration and creative approaches divined by authorities closest to each district’s educational institutions. The Collins approach A network television movie, “The Marva Collins Story,” and profiles on various network shows and in national magazines have celebrated the dramatic success achieved by an African-American teacher in establishing schools devoted to underachieving, problem children in the Chicago public school system. Collins stresses moral values, emphasis on the “three R’s (readin’, writin’ and ‘rithmetic)” and avoidance of relying upon technology (read “computers”) to educate students. Asked about his knowledge of Collins, Kremer says “what she has done is a terrific illustration of what my candidacy is trying to get across…that there is nothing wrong with our public schools that cannot be solved by committed people allowed to do what they know how to do…we have our Marva Collinses in Oregon. Our system must allow them to thrive, but too often thwarts them. There are many teachers in Oregon who have Marva Collins-type drive and ability. We need to get out of their way!” Kremer is a native Oregonian, raised in West Linn, and comes from a family of teachers. He and wife Mary are in the process of raising two children, Jeff and Jessica. Combining business acumen, a knack for raising dollars and demonstrably sound educational principles, Kremer seems to have a good shot at overcoming bureaucracy at the school level. Now, if a winning gubernatorial candidate were to follow his budgetary ideas, Oregon taxpayers might join our students and caring teachers in celebrating Kremer’s philosophy. (C) 2002 Oregon Magazine |
specific
plan for solving the state’s budget deficit, an expected $830 million.
This shortfall threatens school funding, which currently claims 42% of
the state general fund to support K-12 education.
