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originally uploaded by russ.

That’s Tubman Middle School. A non-affluent school in a distinctly non-affluent neighborhood of Northeast Portland.

The Portland Public Schools are in a seemingly endless funding crisis. IMHO this is largely attributable to the fiscally and socially corrosive effects of Measure 5. Passed in 1990, that Measure severely limited the ability of local school districts and governments to fund their schools from locally collected property taxes.

On Sunday (today, as I post this), the Oregonian ran my “Repeal Measure 5″ letter. Since that free link will eventually go away in favor of a pay-to-view file that lives in the O’s archives, I’ve decided to post my letter word for word:

Public policymakers and legislators who are scratching their heads about how to solve the public-school funding crisis need to stop dancing around the issue and realize a painful truth — a truth no one seems willing to admit. The only way to fix school funding in this state is to repeal Measure 5. We had no school funding crisis before then, but plenty of crises after that noxious referendum passed in 1990. In our socioeconomic climate — when overpriced Pearl District condominiums now under construction have yearlong waiting lists of cash-rich acquirers, and the zeitgeist has swung from land-use protections to selfish private-property rights — such an effort would not succeed.

But we as a state have to ask ourselves which is more important: a few thousand dollars more of individual net worth a year, or an educated populace?

If we had a candidate running for governor who would look past the political calculus and take a brave stand backing the overturning of Measure 5, that candidate would win my support.

Well, that’s my letter, and my views. So what do you think?

BTW the URL repealmeasure5.org is available..