Education Funding
My wife taught at Centennial Elementary School for many years, and my daughter currently works at Springfield High School. This is why I strongly believe in providing our schools with the funding they need and will push for additional funding as your representative. Despite the additional resources provided by the Joint Student Success Act, which I supported and was approved in 2019, adequate funding for education in Oregon, continues to be a challenge. These increased resources were targeted at early learning opportunities, reducing class sizes, enhancing high school Career and Technical Education, expanding support for mental health services, and improving high school graduation rates. However, the challenges during the COVID outbreak delayed the impact of this increased funding on providing adequate learning opportunities.
Much work is being done to improve the funding distribution formula, and once the areas of need are identified, I will push to get more funding to get our school district back on track. Additionally, we need to support Springfield’s students post-graduation. Increased funding for Oregon community colleges and universities is needed to stabilize in-state tuition and help Springfield's graduates continue to flourish.