BS Oregon and CEP (Community Enhancement Plan) advocates can breathe easy knowing that no matter what happens the still unrealized but highly coveted Jordan Cove spoils are hardly going to benefit Portland schools. Let me explain why.
Most of the Oregon State School Fund is supplied from the state general fund. The legislatively approved 2011-13 $13.7 billion budget allocates 38.6% or $5.3 billion to K-12 education. The following numbers are still a bit rough but approximately 82% of the general fund is filled through personal income tax payments and 22.4% comes out of Multnomah County. (Compare that to .9% from Coos County). Here is the rough part. Depending upon whether you factor Multnomah’s percentage to be its share of the entire general fund and assuming the ratio still applies to the education formula, the county contributes $1.2 billion to education before it accounts for any property taxes.
Last year, after applying the equalization formula to the county’s schools and deducting property tax revenue the state provided grants totaling $503.7 million. Using the same equalization formula Coos County receives $57 million dollars which covers 74% of local education costs. Unlike Coos, Multnomah contributes almost $700 million annually in excess of its own education needs and those funds are used to support counties like ours that cannot carry their own freight. 
Washington and Clackamas counties also pay more into the fund than they receive. Admittedly, these numbers are rough estimates but provide a different perspective than we are hearing from some of our greedy local leaders. Consider this when you look at the BS Oregon ads in The World newspaper urging the public to circumvent school equalization laws.
Yeah, I would pitch in a few bucks to buy this kids some new glasses that fit. Is the Port trying to portray us as uneducated rubes or is it a sign of bad decision making?
I just can’t go any longer without commenting on that photo BS Oregon has been using for months. Cross or lazy eyed child with poorly fitting, oversized, heavy, 1950’s horned rim glasses with a hearing aid? That photo will get sympathy for the child not for BS.