Who is the Oregon legislature’s “Status Quo Lobby?”

PORTLAND, Ore.- Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s free market policy research organization, is announcing the launch of a new website focused on education reform entitled, Enough with the Status Quo Lobby.

With this website, Oregonians can discover who in the state capitol represent the “Status Quo Lobby,” which policies they advocate, and what kind of results are seen from these policies.

“This site should help Oregonians understand just how the status quo lobby stands in the way of real education reform,” says Steve Buckstein, founder and senior policy analyst for Cascade Policy Institute.

Educational progress has been stunted by “status quo lobby” policies, including putting Oregon near the bottom of educational performance in the United States, and that is why the project includes information for a solution to this problem: School Choice.

“Real education reform involves letting parents choose which schools their children attend – public, private, religious, or home school. Most Oregonians want such choices, and they shouldn’t let the status quo lobby stand in their way,” Buckstein concludes.

To help educate voters on how to keep their legislators accountable for their voting on educational policies, the website includes a report card grading every legislator during the 2011 legislative session on their votes supporting the status quo lobby, as opposed to school choice for Oregon’s children.

Oregonians also will be able to see how much the “status quo lobby” has contributed to each legislator’s campaigns, along with videos of them speaking on policies affecting the education of Oregon’s children.

The project can be seen at statusquolobby.com.