In 1990, Oregonians passed Ballot Measure 5, which lowered taxes and "balanced" education spending across the state. While it certainly achieved the former, has it achieved the latter? The Oregonian's Betsy Hammond says no:

Oregon took nearly $200 million last year from taxpayers in Washington and Multnomah counties and shipped it to schools in poorer parts of the state, an analysis of school funding by The Oregonian shows.

The state aims to deliver roughly the same amount of money per student to every district. Its system of funding schools casts state government in the role of Robin Hood, taking money from communities with a hefty tax base to bolster schools elsewhere.

As a result, two-thirds of Oregon students attend districts that spent close to the state average of $7,200 per pupil last year, the newspaper found.

[...]

One-third of Oregon students attend districts that spent well above or below the state average last year. The main exception to equal funding: About 50 small rural districts get hefty subsidies enabling them to spend $10,000 or more per pupil.

Those high per-pupil costs, incurred mainly in rural Eastern Oregon, are paid chiefly by taxpayers in the Portland area, Bend, Corvallis and communities on the north coast.

Is it fair for urban and suburban students to get a substandard education to pay for the expensive education of rural students? Is it fair to gut Portland-area schools to finance Eastern Oregon districts? As a product of Portland Public Schools, where I had great teachers but extremely old textbooks and oversized classes (and the art and music programs were consistently cut), I would wholeheartedly say no to these questions. I have a feeling that many Oregonians agree with me, too. Perhaps it's time to relook at Measure 5 to bring some real equity to the state's education system.