Dear PPS Bond Committee: Please Tell the Taxpayers

by Naomi Inman

Last week, Cascade’s president, John Charles, testified at Portland Public Schools’ Bond Accountability Committee (BAC). He commended BAC’s work reviewing this year’s $2 billion Portland school bond and agreed with their assessment that building three large high schools when enrollment is declining is a mistake.

Charles was pleased that their most recent report to the Board included the following statement:

“The BAC would like to share the opinion that the district should not be building such large high schools when there is not the student body to justify it.”

He asked BAC to “Speak directly to the taxpayers who will have to pay hundreds of millions in unnecessary construction costs.”

When Portland Public Schools passed the largest bond in state history to build the nation’s most expensive high schools, the measure required oversight by a citizen committee.

When the BAC reported on the bond, they expressed concern about “building such large schools…given declining enrollment and decreasing birth rates.” Their advice at the October meeting was ignored, and the Board voted to move ahead with plans to overbuild three high schools by several thousand seats.

In a not-so-distant fiscal crisis, journalists will ask the school board, “What did you know and when did you know it?” They’ll be forced to admit they ignored the warnings of oversight committees like Cornerstone Management, the BAC, and citizen research groups like Cascade. PPS board members have breached their fiduciary duty and act as though there will be no consequences.

Dear BAC, please tell the taxpayers.

Naomi Inman is External Affairs Manager at Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s voice for freedom, accountability, and opportunity.